Page 12 of Broken By the Bratva

“You’re acting like one and thus I will treat you as such,” he shot back.

“I…,” I started saying then decided to keep my mouth and turned my head away.

“Just like that,” he added. “Your attitude speaks volumes. Sit down.”

Realizing I was giving him ammunition, I straightened myself and sat back down. “It was child’s play disarming your system,” I said grinning. “Maybe you should consider an upgrade if you intend on keeping people out or in!”

“That is why I asked you to tell me how you did it. I have to know so I can make adjustments.” Vadik responded sipping his wine, rolling his eyes at me.

Shaking a finger in the air, I responded sarcastically. “Oh, you can act childish, but I can’t. You know rolling your eyes is childish too?”

His brows narrowed as he stared at me. It felt like he was piercing through my skin. Shifting in my chair, I cleared my throat before speaking again. “I took apart the alarm that was closest to my room to see what system you had. Once dissembled it was easy to figure out what I needed to break it.

His brothers just sat staring at us. Every now and then they shared a strange look but didn’t say a word. “Why are the two of you so quiet? You know you can talk, I don’t bite,” I said.I held my hand up closing my mouth on one side as if we were whispering to each other.

This upset Vadik more as he slammed the table drawing everyone’s attention. “You still haven’t given me the answer to my original question,” he huffed.

Turning in my chair, I faced him as I spoke. “Okay, what is it you want to hear?”

Looking into my eyes I noticed the light in the room softening them. They were beautiful and I felt my stomach turn. Lowering my gaze to his full lips, I found myself licking mine. Lifting my head, I took a deep breath. The breeze blowing in over his shoulder filled my senses with his minty musk odor.

Feeling the smile forming on my lips, I couldn’t help but flutter my eyes. Why was my mind drifting suddenly? As he spoke, I noticed his voice was rough but smooth as butter. “How did you finally disarm the alarms?”

Shaking my head, I slapped myself in my mind. ‘Get a grip,’ I scolded myself silently. This wasn’t a good sign. I had to keep my emotions out of this, he was the enemy and feelings didn’t belong here.

Picking up my knife and fork, I cut the steak on my plate as I responded. “I used a metal clip and a small magnet I found in one of the drawers as I searched the house. I know most alarm systems. Placing it correctly opened it with ease.”

I could see his brothers were impressed but neither said a word. They appeared to have a clear set of boundaries or rules they adhered to. I guess in some families’ things like that worked. With our family, it would never. My brothers were too opinionated. I grinned as I took a bite.

“Interesting,” Vadik replied.

listening to them talking to each other.

The last part of dinner went smoothly with no one asking any questions. Yet, my mind would not settle. I felt bombarded by the flood of thoughts coming and going. Before I could grab one and make sense of it another one invaded. Staring at Vadik, I didn’t know why I had such strange feelings.

Dinner turned out to be more than I expected. I was relieved to be back in my room. Sitting on the side of the bed I stared out the window. The night sky was clear. The stars shone brightly. Taking a deep breath, I swore to get out tomorrow.

Chapter 7 - Vadik

This has been interesting. I was pleased to see her so annoyed at me and surprised to find I enjoyed this game of cat and mouse we seemed to be having. I installed a new security system early this morning with the latest indoor locking technology doubling what I had before.

I couldn’t wait to see her try to get out now. The system was more advanced than any she might have seen, of this, I was sure. The bonus was it was basically undetected and couldn’t be seen.

Watching her leave her room, I felt thrilled as I followed her. She moved carefully down to the kitchen without making a peep. It amazed me how quiet she was while scurrying through the house.

Tasha moved through the kitchen and tried the backdoor but didn’t come right. She moved through the side door leading to the greenhouse. As she reached the door it opened, and the gardener walked in. Tasha turned to the herbs pretending to study them.

She nodded at the young man before heading back into the house. It was amusing to watch her duck and dive the workers and guards. She mumbled to herself as she tried every window and checked every possible exit.

After taking apart three door systems with no luck opening them, she kicked at one of the windows. I chuckled under my breath as I stood back. All the windows were bulletproof, kicking them would give no results.

A string of curse words flew from her mouth as she bounced around on one leg. Tasha sat down on the floor rubbing her foot for a moment before moving on. Once she had movedthrough all the rooms on the bottom floor, she headed back upstairs.

Staying back, I watched as she opened each door, peeked into the rooms, and then moved on. She finally returned to her room. Grabbing the door before it could click shut, I held it open a crack. Looking in, I noticed her standing on the balcony.

I knew the pool was almost under her window but hoped she wasn’t insane enough to try jumping it. Tasha walked back into the room. She didn’t notice me as she was frantically searching for something.

After a while, I could see her frustration coming through. She huffed as she pulled the sheets from the bed and started tying them together. No, I thought to myself as I realized what she intended to do.

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