Page 63 of Disgraced (Russian Sinners 3)

Scarlett

It has been three days since Michail and I called a truce. True to his word, he let me roam the property and I kept my word. I stopped trying to escape. When I roamed outside, Michail would join me.

Kidnapping and the fact he worked for my future husband aside, he was rather entertaining. He talked about his childhood and his parents. He got in trouble a lot. He was quite mischievous.

“You didn’t do that?” I laughed at his words.

“I did,” he admitted. “And I got a good beating for it.”

I chuckled. “Serves you right. Putting a snake in your sister’s bed.”

“It was dead,” he tried to justify but his eyes twinkled.

“Still! It would give me a heart attack,” I admitted. “And I would refuse to sleep in that bed forever.”

“All women must be the same because my little sister did exactly that,” he admitted. “So I ended up with a small bed too.”

The way he spoke about his sister, he cared about her greatly. I noticed each time he spoke about her, it was always in the past. I wondered what his story was but my gut was telling me he wouldn’t reveal it to me. I didn’t want to ruin this fragile friendship, if you could even call it that, with my nosy questions.

Instead, I chuckled. “All my brothers are older, but none of them tried anything like that. But they did manage to scare a lot of boys in high school. It was hard to get a prom date with them hovering around.”

“That’s what brothers are for,” he jested.

Just as I was about to ask about his other siblings, his phone rang. He answered and spoke in Russian.

“It’s for you,” he handed me the phone.

Hesitantly, I took the phone from him and pressed it against my ear, unsure what to expect. “Hello?” I spoke into the phone.

“Scarlett?”

“An- Anastasia?” I usually didn’t stutter but I swore it had to be hallucinations. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Hearing her voice was a huge relief. “How are you calling? Aren’t you kidnapped?”

“No, not anymore,” she replied. Her sudden and unexpected call made it hard to grasp what and how. I felt like I just woke up and someone gave me too much information while my brain still struggled to wake up and absorb it all. Or maybe my pregnancy hormones have made my brain too slow? “Are you okay?” she continued to ask me.

“Yes, but how did you know who to call? Where am I?” None of this made sense. I threw a glance at Michail who was watching me, as if he expected me to break our truce any second.

“It’s a long story and you’ll hear it soon.” I could hear annoyance in her voice. “It seems you were kidnapped to be kept safe by one of the men that Dad hired. Please don’t ask for logic here. So you are kind of kidnapped but not really. More like tucked away in a safe place. Did they scare you?”

“Hell no, although they pissed me off more than anything,” I told her. It was true; I was pissed off in the beginning and tried to escape. Now I was just resigned to my faith but there was no need to dump more worries on Anastasia’s shoulders. She didn’t need that right now. “Between you and I, this is like the nicest kidnapping ever, although I will kill whoever did it.” I tried to sound light and unconcerned. Besides, it wasn’t like I could give Anastasia a rundown of my events and worries about being pregnant while Michail stood next to me. “Areyouokay?” I questioned her instead.

“My kidnapping wasn’t that nice,” she replied in a dry tone. I cringed at trying to imagine what that meant. “I met your dream boy though. Actually, he is an asshole if you want my honest opinion.”

“Oh my God! Is he the one that kidnapped you?” I asked in disbelief. My brain was slow, very slow at connecting all the dots.

“No, he’s not the one that kidnapped me,” she replied after a few seconds of silence. “He is part of the good guys helping... I guess.” None of this made sense. They knew where I was, and one of the good guys kidnapped me? My eyes shifted to Michail. He has been holding me for my future husband. Anastasia continued explaining, unaware of my internal turmoil. “He wanted to make sure Boris’ men didn’t get to you as well. It’s a long story. I’m fixing him up, and he’ll come to get you soon. Two days maximum.”

“Fixing him up?” I repeated, dumbfounded.

“Yeah, he was shot.” I took a sharp inhale. “Don’t worry, he’s not dying.” Then she added teasingly, “Although he might wish he was.”

“Thank God,” I muttered but the wheels in my head were turning.Sergei was shot. Anastasia patched him up. He will come here. Michail kidnapped me for my future husband… or was it to keep me safe from Boris’ men, like Anastasia said.

“I have to go but just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Anastasia commented softly.Was Sergei my future husband? What the hell was going on?

“Are you sure you are okay?” I asked her worriedly.

“Yes, I’m sure. Be careful.”

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