Page 59 of Gilded Cage (Kovalyov Bratva 1)

Glancing up, I see that the keys are in the ignition.

Bingo.

I start to clamber over the divider to get in the driver’s seat and put the pedal to the metal. Driving off is better than running away, anyhow.

That plan doesn’t last long, either.

I’m halfway over the center console when the back door opens again. Artem sticks his head in, sees me wriggling my way to freedom, and lets out a weary, exasperated sigh.

“Tsk, tsk,” he mumbles.

Reaching over, he grabs my ankle and tugs me back into the rear seat.

Once again, I land with an oof.

Once again, he grabs the coat I dropped and throws it in my face.

“Sit down and shut up,” he orders.

I get ready to tell him what I think of that particular set of instructions, but before I can find the words, the door on the other side opens and another man gets in.

This one is tall and broad with a shaved head, dark sunglasses, and a gun in a holster at his side. He looks even less friendly than Artem. Like a villainous mob goon straight out of central casting.

The goon looks up at Artem with an arched eyebrow as if asking permission. Artem sighs and waves a hand as if to say,Go ahead.

At that cue,the man pins me back against the seat with one meaty paw.

With his other hand, he makes quick work of my buckle. Hardly even notices as I thrash and scream against his hand pressing into my torso.

When the buckle clicks, I realize I’m trapped. All the fight goes out of me and the scream dies on my lips.

“That’s a good girl,” Artem murmurs when I’m quiet again. “You were starting to give me a headache with all that screaming.”

Up front, the car door opens and another suited goon climbs into the driver’s seat. He doesn’t look back as he starts up the car and we go careening out of the airfield.

“You realize you’re abducting me, right?” I ask Artem once we’re underway. He’s gazing out of the window, ignoring me as I glare at his face in profile. “Which is illegal. Just telling you as a heads up, you know. You don’t seem like the type who likes cops.”

He doesn’t look at me but he scoffs with derision. “I suppose you would know quite a lot about what’s legal and what’s not.”

“My dad was the criminal. Not me.”

“True, but you’re the one paying for his sins. Doesn’t seem fair, does it?”

“You can’t do this,” I hiss. “Let me go.”

He closes his eyes for a moment as though he’s trying hard to block me out.

“No,” he replies, when he opens his eyes again. “I don’t think I will. You may as well just except the inevitable. Make my life easier.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck about making your life easier,” I snap. Then my curiosity gets the better of me. “What’s inevitable?”

I expected him to kill me back in the garden. I was all ready to end my life right next to Cesar’s grave.

It’d be kind of poetic, really.

But when I said that, Artem had actually laughed. His final words before I passed out are still seared in my brain, even when the rest of my memories of last night are fuzzy and indistinct.

Kill you? No, darling. We’ve got something very different in mind.

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