Page 51 of The Bratva's Hunted Bride
I don’t smell tea or hear the kettle. The house is unusually quiet, and it’s unsettling me.
The kitchen is empty. There are no used tea cups on the counter; it’s spotless.
I shake my head, knotting my brows, trying to figure out where she might be as I hurry away from the kitchen to the living room.
She’s not there. She’s not on the patio. The house is still locked up.
I start running, rushing in a panic as I search every single room for her.
Talia is gone, and I feel sick.
In a flash, I remember she has her phone and I run to grab mine from next to the bed. I dial her number with fear aching in my heart. It rings and I wait.
I’m waiting for the worst possible thing.
For a kidnapper to answer.
For some dark male voice to laugh on the other end of the phone and tell me he has the woman I love.
I’m already envisioning tearing this man apart. Ripping his limbs from his body and slicing him to pieces while he drowns in a pool of his own blood…
“Timofey.”
Her voice.
Quiet and hollow.
“Talia?” I utter in shock. “Where are you? Are you alright? Did something happen?” Relief washes over me because it’s her, but confusion settles heavy on my shoulders.
“I’m at home, Timofey.”
“No, you’re not,” I snap immediately.
“No…I mean…I left the mansion…and came back to my family home,” she says softly.
“What do you mean, Talia? What the hell is going on?”
The silence is heavy.
It stretches on for what feels like eternity before I hear her sighing softly.
“I decided to leave, Timofey. I can’t be with you.”
My mouth drops open, and bitter laughter spills from my lips.
“That’s not funny, darling. Don’t say things like that.” I refuse to believe it.
“I’m not joking. I’m so sorry. But we can’t be together. We were never meant to be together. It’s just not…it’s not the way the world works.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I blurt out, anger blurring my hurt.
“You need to accept this. It’s over. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be,” she says, her voice a little stronger, but she hardly sounds like herself.
“Talia, you get back here immediately,” I growl in rage.
“No,” she says coldly. “It’s over. Accept it.” Her voice cracks. “It was never…real.”
“You don’t mean that. Iwon’taccept it.”
