Page 78 of Captivated By the Bratva

Gunshots interrupted him. We were near the warehouse his deceased partner had tipped him off to finding. The passenger window shattered, and the agent groaned in pain.

He slapped his hand to his neck, right over his shoulder. Blood stained below his clutched position, and I knew he wouldn’tmake it. It sounded like two shots, and as he parted his lips, blood trickled out.

“Fuck!” I grabbed my gun and aimed at the car that sped perpendicular to the SUV I was driving. I fired out the shattered window, killing the driver and sending the car swerving to the side.

“Tom. Tom!” I grabbed his arm and shook him. Fuck, he was dying.

“Get that motherfucker, Maxim. Kill him. For me.” I nodded, watching him struggle to keep his eyes open.

“Tell… Don.” He coughed on more blood.

“Don?” I volleyed my gaze between the dying agent in the passenger seat, too hardened to be freaked out about the violence and gore, and the road. I scanned the mirrors, keeping an eye out for any other scouts who’d shoot me.

“Don Freemen.” He gagged. Blood and bile spilled out onto his lap. “My… my…”

“Who?”

“Tell my boss. Don. If you can’t kill the fucker… tell Don to bring him down in my memory.”

“Don Freeman. CIA.” I repeated it only so he’d hear me. I wouldn’t promise to get involved in the law’s goals, but I could pass on the word that Tom died going after Lev. It was, honestly, the least I could do after he’d directed me to where Nadia was taken.

“FBI,” he corrected. “Tell—” He coughed harder yet and slumped toward the door. “Tell Don.”

He wheezed out a few more breaths but then seemed to seize, perhaps choking on his blood.

Those shots were aimed to kill, and within the minute, he was dead.

I stared ahead, ignoring the cooling corpse riding shotgun.

He wouldn’t slow me down. He wouldn’t stop me. My phone rang, and figuring it was Henry or someone else within the family, I ignored the summons.

With tunnel vision, I looked up at the warehouse in the distance and vowed to keep going until I got my girl back. Now, more than ever, I was determined to be her hero and get her away from the Avilovs for the final time.

28

NADIA

They drove me to another building along the lakeshore. I was still gagged, but on the way there, I fiddled the best I could with the zip ties on my wrist.

Being moved didn’t improve my odds. But losing one of the bindings had to help. Erik and his friend hadn’t noticed that one strap was missing. Even though I was sure I could lower my arms and break the last tie, I bided my time and waited.

I had to run wisely. If I took off on foot, they’d catch me. I was dehydrated, starving, tired, and overwhelmed by constant stress and anxiety. Any of these Avilov men around this second storage-like building would catch me. They’d easily overpower me, too.

I needed a weapon. I had to secure a means of fleeing other than on foot. And as I was pushed to walk past a room where it looked like children were beaten and chained up, I knew I had to think of others, not just myself.

I’d always considered myself a loner on the run. Never making attachments—other than Maxim. Seeing those captive here, Iwas filled with a sense of wanting to do good. To protect. To get away but enable others to run too.

Now was not the time to get a hero complex. I knew I couldn’t save the world. But it almost seemed like Maxim could. With his family’s wealth, with Alek’s leadership and the whole Bratva’s power, they could help free these children who were likely being held before transportation to who knew where.

Deep down, my heart hurt for them. I’d been expected to be given to another against my will, and while it wasn’t slavery—yet—the threat of something so very like it had always loomed over my head.

“No. Don’t take her near the Valkov,” Erik ordered the man who led me.

Dmitri!He was here, in this building, and I felt a triumphant sense of pride in my logic to act like my hands were actually still bound. It might be impossible to really save the day and free all these children here, but I bet I could more realistically plan to free Maxim’s brother. Just one person. Maybe he could help me. Once I located him, he could help me get these kids out of here. I had to assume Dmitri was made of the same character as Maxim. That he’d care. That he’d be a protector like his younger brother.

The man leading me wasn’t one of the crew who’d kept me at the first warehouse, and I got the impression that Erik had a small number of loyalists who knew of his plans for me and his uncle.

They argued. Erik insisted that Lev wanted to see me deliverednow, but this other Avilov man wouldn’t budge. He had orders to keep her here for Lev’s arrival, but too many things were shouted and argued about as I was taken further into thisstorage building. I couldn’t follow all the arguments. They were too loud and often slipped into other languages, mostly Russian.

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