Page 75 of Til Death Do Us Part (Kornilov Bratva Duet 2)

“I tried to keep Theo safe, too,” she says softly. “I wanted him to stay home the day of the photo shoot. I didn’t want him to be there for whatever was going to happen.”

Hannah was insistent that morning, and I didn’t understand why. Now it all makes sense, and my stomach turns. I thought she missed her son and wanted to spend time with Theo. Instead, Hannah knew we were going to be ambushed and attacked. Luckily, what she didn’t know is that Viktor had a security team in place.

So many thoughts are running through my head, but one separates from the others and rises to the forefront of my mind. “Why are you telling me this now?”

Hannah doesn’t have a chance to answer.

I hear a car door open behind me and turn around just as Fedor steps onto the curb, gun in hand.

“Because I want you to suffer the way I did when you took my son and my brother from me.” His eyes are narrowed on me, but the gun is pointed at Hannah. “She’s telling you this now because her mission is over.”

Hannah sobs and folds over, her body going slack. “Please. No. Please. I did what you asked.”

All of my animosity towards Hannah fades the second I realize Fedor is going to kill her.

She doesn’t deserve this. Regardless of what she did, she doesn’t deserve to die.

A smile spreads across Fedor’s face, and for a moment, I’m startled by how much he and Theo look alike. They have the same smiles and the same pointed chins. But where Theo’s eyes are warm and brown, Fedor’s are electric green. And right now, they are deadly.

I lunge forward before I can second-guess myself and shove Fedor’s arm up into the air. “Run, Hannah!”

She takes off running.

Fedor grabs my hair with his free hand and yanks my neck to the side, but I don’t let go of his arm until he drops my hair and swings for my stomach. I want to save Hannah if I can, but I won’t sacrifice the safety of my baby for her.

I jump back and Fedor aims the gun at me. His smile has been replaced with a sharp frown. His nostrils are flared, and he is breathing heavily. He looks crazed, and I’m convinced he is going to execute me on the spot.

Then, his demeanor changes in a flash. His mouth tilts up in a cocky smirk, and he is all swagger and confidence. “My men will find and kill Hannah later. Right now, I don’t care. The slut did her job. She got you here.”

The idea of being taken by Fedor is even more terrifying than a sidewalk execution, but just as I spin around to run, more men step out of hiding and move towards me.

I scream, hoping to draw some attention, but before the sound can even leave my throat there is a hand clamped over my mouth. I thrash and flail, but strong arms pin my limbs to my sides and throw me in the back of a waiting van.

* * *

The room issmall and white and secure.

I walk the small perimeter countless times, desperate to find a secret hatch or a boarded-over window or a key to the door. But even that wouldn’t help. The door is locked from the outside and there is no handle on the inside.

I walk along the edges of the small room until hopelessness settles over me like a weight, dragging me to the floor.

Eventually, I lie down and try to rest.

In the van, the men tied my arms and legs, and I prayed they wouldn’t notice I’m pregnant. I’m still early enough that it isn’t obvious, but if they’d lifted my shirt, they might have noticed the bump. It’s popping out a lot sooner than it did when I was pregnant with Theo.

Thankfully, they didn’t look at my bare stomach, and I didn’t have to endure any additional violence.

Fedor didn’t talk to me as we drove across town. I was left to lie in the back of the van, guarded by two of Fedor’s men, and he stayed in the front.

Then, when we arrived at our destination, I was blindfolded and carried inside. I could hear gravel crunching under their feet, but that did little to tell me where we were going.

The inside of the building is cold, and even after hours locked inside, I haven’t grown accustomed to it. I slip my arms from the sleeves of my sweater and wrap them around my middle, trying to warm up with my own body heat.

I don’t know whether Fedor is keeping the room cold to torture me or whether there is simply no electricity. There are no lights in my room or any lights visible through the small, barred window set into the metal door of my room, so I can’t be sure.

Guards walk up and down the hallway every so often, and I don’t know if I’m the only prisoner Fedor has or not. I can’t hear any other voices, and the silence is starting to make me crazy when suddenly, there is a loud metallic scraping noise.

I yelp and jump to my feet, shoving my arms through the sleeves of my sweater as fast as I can, wanting to be ready for anything. Then, the long, thin rectangular cut into the bottom of the door opens and a tray filled with food is pushed through it.

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