Page 10 of The Bratva's Forced Kidnapped Bride
“See what?” I asked. There was no keeping the fear from my voice. We were both lucky I wasn’t puking up that glorious meal from the night before.
“The fun’s about to start,” he said, ignoring my dug-in heels and dragging me out of the room.
Chapter 8 - Anatoli
Some of my men were already working in the big room I had set up for them. They stopped sifting through data to stare at Masha as I yanked her through the door. Was I disappointed she didn’t attack me this morning? My nose was happy not to get knocked out of joint again, but where was her fire?
The fear in her eyes should have been enough. The fact that she was practically trembling as I dragged her downstairs was a bonus. But it wasn’t enough. Maybe nothing would be enough as far as Masha was concerned. Now it was time to get some work done.
Shoving her into a chair next to my desk, I smacked a pile of papers in front of her. Pointing to the top of the first one, I said, “These are the keywords I want you to find as you go through these. If you find one, highlight it and set the page aside for me to look at later. Don’t ask questions. Simple enough?”
She goggled at the pile, then at me. “You must be crazy if you think I’m going to help you,” she hissed.
Pushing aside the edge of my jacket, I showed her the small whip I had strapped where I normally carried a gun. For some reason, I thought this would strike more fear into her heart, and I was right. At the sight of the coil of leather with sharp metal barbs embedded in it, she blanched and swallowed hard.
“Gentlemen,” I said, loud enough to have the whole crew turning our way. “Meet my wife.”
They all laughed, in on the joke, but quickly went back to work, not daring to look at her for too long. I smiled down at her, then sat in my own chair, close enough to reach out and punish her if she tried anything stupid.
“I think you will help,” I told her. “I know you love to dole out pain, but do you enjoy being on the receiving end? If you step out of line, I’ll invite all of them to join in.”
Of course, no one was touching her but me, but she didn’t have to know that. She believed the bluff and got to work, biting her lower lip so hard I expected to see blood at any second. She was clearly about to blow a gasket, but there was nothing for her to do but comply.
With anything I wanted.
So why was I making her sort through all the information I’d gathered on the Collective instead of something that would be much more pleasurable for me? Making her suffer was the goal, but I had to remember that I had plenty of time. She was all mine and would remain so until I grew bored of her or she was dead. There was no reason not to keep her dangling on the hook of confusion.
I could barely concentrate with her so close, hearing her soft, disgruntled huffs that she couldn’t hold back, watching from the corner of my eye as she squirmed in the hard chair I chose for her. There was no way she was actually doing what I instructed. No way in hell she’d ever help me, but I wanted to keep an eye on her while I made her wonder about when the real torture would start.
I could tell myself all day long that she was safely confined in the bedroom prison, but she was as resourceful as she was easy on the eyes. It wasn’t hard to admit I liked looking at her, the same way I’d enjoy the sight of any of my other possessions.
After an hour of barely getting through a few pages, I was sick of the game. I lived in the twenty-first century, and poring over all those papers was a fool’s errand meant to frustrateMasha, not me. I was ready to quit when I sensed her looking at me and not her work.
I turned, fixing her with a steady glare. She gave me one right back, going so far as to raise an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Why are you letting me see all this?” she asked. At a glance, I was surprised to see she had actually highlighted a few words. On closer inspection, they weren’t the words I asked her to look for.
It was true that all the papers contained highly sensitive information about my family as well as the Collective. There were even plans in there that might have benefited the Fokins if they ever found out about them.
I leaned close, close enough to smell the fresh apple scent emanating from her glossy dark hair. Close enough to see her lip tremble, though she didn’t back away from me as she continued to scowl.
“It’s funny that you think you’ll still be around by our first anniversary, let alone ever be able to get that information to anyone I don’t want seeing it.”
She blinked, her eyes darkening as the color drained from her cheeks and her pretty face went slack with fear. There. That was what I wanted. Unadulterated terror that she could be dead at any moment, by any means, especially very painful ones. Quite similar to how I felt when I was her captive.
I had put a lot on hold for this little detour into the sweet land of revenge, even going against my family’s best interests when they needed me most. Now it was finally starting to be worth it.
Chapter 9 - Masha
I didn’t think I could be more surprised when Anatoli dragged me into a big room full of his lackeys, only to shove me into a chair to sift through endless reams of information.
Paperwork. I had been kidnapped and forced into marriage to my sworn enemy to do paperwork. Of course, there were no computers in sight. He wouldn’t dare risk me getting in front of one for even a second, or I’d find a way to get a message out. He had to be messing with me; this couldn’t be an efficient use of his people’s time.
I risked a few quick glances at everyone, each of them more musclebound and scarred than the next. Clearly not office types. It was unnerving to be in a room full of my enemies when I wasn’t deep undercover. Every single one of them knew I was fair game if I stepped out of line, and they were probably hoping I would. What better way to break the monotony than by breaking some of my bones?
Anatoli was carved out of stone, never glancing my way as I snuck peeks at him, yet I could feel his eyes all over me while I pretended to do his bidding. Instead of doing what he ordered, I was scrubbing out all sorts of what I hoped was valuable intel with a marker, all while taking it all in.
So he was working for the Collective. I had always figured him as more of a lone wolf, especially after being such a recluse in Silicon Valley. More of an evil genius type than someone who joined up with any old thugs. It did make sense in a way, though, since he could never take my family down on his own. And he was definitely still trying to take us down if any of what I was reading was true. Well, that and the fact that I was there at all.
