Page 1 of The Pakhan's Kidnapped Bride
Chapter 1 - Emmanuil
Patience. It’s a concept I am far too familiar with.
It was Tolstoy who said that the most powerful warriors are patience and time.
I’ve endured both. I guess, in the end, they go hand in hand.
And good things come to those who wait.
Like revenge.
And I’ve waited long enough. It’s been five years.
And now Kristopher Ilyin must pay for what he did. Kristopher is the reason I lost the love of my life. He took his sister from me. So now, I will take the thing that means most to him in this world.
He’s a strong, capable, and dangerous rival. A Bratva leader like myself, we’ve never gotten along, despite our territories being fairly close.
I own San Diego.
He owns Phoenix.
It took years of watching him, studying his movements and his habits. The surveillance was done meticulously to ensure that in the end I could exact my revenge by taking away what would do the most damage.
The same thing he did to me.
Footsteps pull my attention towards my office door.
I’ve been staring blankly at my laptop for heaven only knows how long. I’m distracted and on edge today.
“Sir, the girl arrives back at her dorm in San Diego tonight. Her flight left Phoenix this afternoon.” Logan slides his phone into his back pocket as he walks into my home office. He doesn’t knock, which aggravates me. I’ve spoken to him about this before. Even if the door is open, I expect him to knock.
A low growl of annoyance rumbles from my chest as I sneer at him, my eyes narrowed.
Logan hesitates and steps back, realizing his oversight.
“Sorry, sir,” he mutters, looking down.
“What time will she be back?” I snap. My stress levels are high. I’ve been planning this for so long now that to finally have the moment arrive is consuming me in ways I didn’t expect. I can’t focus on anything else. I want every detail to be perfect.
Logan walks to my desk and drops a piece of paper next to my laptop. It’s a printout of a conversation between Kristopher and Georgie. I glance at it, but reading his tender words to her churns my stomach.
I used to know what love was. I don’t have it anymore, so why should he? Why should he have this softness, this care, this connection?From the messages back and forth, it isn’t obvious whether or not they aretogether, but he clearly has deep affection for her.
He clearly wants to keep her safe.
At first, when I was looking into him, trying to find his ultimate weakness, I didn’t pay much attention to the fact that he took care of his sister’s best friend, Georgie; I thought she was under his protection for the sake of his sister. But it turns out it was a lot more than that. Georgie Thompson is his entire world.
I slam my hand down on the paper and curl my fingers inwards, scrunching it on the surface of the table.
“I don’t want to read this shit. Just answer my question.”
Logan clenches his jaw and nods. “Her plane lands at half past eight tonight. She’ll be back at the dorm by nine thirty.”
“And we’ll be waiting for her,” I mutter under my breath.
“Yes, sir,” Logan replies.
“I want you to double-check everything. Run over the plan with the men, I don’t want any mistakes tonight.”
