Page 19 of Cruel Bratva King

His presence evoked his dominance in the room. He was in charge here, and it was obvious from the confidence and authority oozing off him. How did I miss how big and terrifying he was when I first met him? I’d looked at him the first time and seen a prince charming. Now, all I saw was a villain. Pheromones were a scary thing, I tell you.

“It’s okay if you don’t say it. I can say it for both of us.” He took a step closer, and the scent of his cologne invaded my nose. His smell was addictive. “It’s a pleasure to meet you again.”

I furrowed my brows, unimpressed at his attempt to tease me after he had the nerve to kidnap me. “I can’t say the same about you.”

My eyes locked with his for a brief moment before the kidnapper with the short hair walked to him and whispered something into his ear. I glared at him to show him how upset I was. The monster didn’t look away. His gaze burned a hole in my heart, forcing me to dart my eyes toward the direction of the stairs.

What was he going to do to me? How was I going to get away from him? Was it even possible for me to escape from here?

I looked up when I heard the sound of his suede shoes against the marble floors approaching me. He knelt down in front of me, and the corner of his lips lifted in a smirk. “Hello,moy tsvetok.”

I rolled my eyes. That darned Russian accent of his. “You’re known for being a heartless bastard. Do you also kidnap pregnant women?” The logical thing to do was keep quiet and try to talk myself out of harm’s way, but I was too angry to care.

If he wanted to kill me and his child, he was free to. Sucking his balls wouldn’t change anything; it would make me look pathetic and weak instead.

He chuckled and guzzled his drink. “Only if that pregnant woman is carrying my child.”

Arrogant jerk.

I wanted to kick him in the nuts, but he would probably swerve before I reached him. I’d always been slow, but I was even slower now that I was pregnant. I wouldn’t even make it to his balls. I needed to talk my way out of this mess. “The child I’m carrying is mine, not yours,” I heard myself say.

“Is that so?” He raised himself from his knees and sat on a sofa across from me. “That wasn’t what you said when you came to me yesterday.”

“I lied.” What was wrong with me? I was looking the devil in the eyes and lying to him. He probably didn’t buy my lie, but I couldn’t stop once I started. I was going to try to make him believe the baby wasn’t his, hoping he would let me go. “I’m broke. I needed money, so I lied that the child was yours to get cash.”

He laughed ruefully. “Lilianna.” That was the first time he called my name, and it sent chills down my spine. “The child you’re carrying is mine. I detest liars, don’t lie to me.”

I stared at him in silence. Who was I kidding? Sergey had probably seen all types of liars. He would know without a second doubt that I was lying. I supposed a guy like him could read body language and whatever men like him did to fish out traitors and enemies in disguise.

Lying wasn’t going to cut it. I had to think of a way out of this mess. “You can’t keep me here,” I yelled, stressing my brain for what to say next. “My best friend saw you take me; she’ll call the cops if I’m missing for too long.”

Sergey didn’t give a reaction to my threat. It was hard to read him, impossible to decipher what he was thinking. If he was half as mad about this situation as I was, he didn’t show. He took another sip of his drink, acting utterly indifferent to my anger.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Hell, I sounded deranged, yelling like that. “Let me go, please. You don’t plan to keep me here forever, do you? What do you think will happen when someone reports me missing?”

I’d heard mafias had a lot of connections in the city. I wondered if being reported missing would actually change anything. Whatever crime Sergey committed to staying on top in this disgusting dark underworld surely didn’t go unnoticed by the authorities. If he was still a free man despite them, then I was confident he had some serious connections, one that could probably save him from anything.

One that could save him from being punished for kidnapping me. In a bid to forget my problems, I’d ended up in the worst-case scenario. Pregnant by a cruel monster like Sergey and kidnapped by the same man.

A deranged laugh escaped my throat. I had the worst luck possible. In the space of one month, I’d gone from losing my job and being homeless to getting everything back, and now I’d lost my freedom too. I wondered what Eva was doing right now. She’d been horrified when I left.

She was probably pacing my living room, thinking of how best to handle the situation.

“I can’t let you go,” Sergey finally said, although they weren’t the words I wanted to hear. “The reason is that you were planning to run off somewhere with my child, and I cannot allow you to do that.”

“You knew I was planning to run away? How is that possible? How did you find out?”

His lips quirked up in a cocky smile, making him look all shades of evil. “Your phone.” He glanced at my phone on the coffee table beside me. One of my kidnappers had insisted on bringing it along. I’d pretended to be mad about him taking my phone, but Eva and I had shared our location with each other a year ago, just in case something like this happened. I hoped she would be able to find me soon.

Maybe if she went to the cop first, then they would be able to get me out of here, right? No, I had already thought that through before. I couldn’t be too sure of the police. I couldn’t trust them. The best thing I could do right now was probably play my cards right.

A lump formed in my throat, making it hard for me to get air down to my lungs. Endless possibilities of what would happen to me if Eva never found me filled my thoughts.

He could lock me forever or keep me until I had the baby, then get rid of me. Sergey didn’t come across like the kind of guy who would hurt me, but maybe I was making excuses for who I thought he was. This man was a mafia king who kidnapped me because I wouldn’t marry him. He could do worse to me if he found the need.

My stomach tightened with horror when I realized he could even kill me right here and now and get rid of me. No one would ever find out what happened except Eva, and he could kill her too.

“I installed a listening device in your apartment.” He crossed his legs, appearing too relaxed for someone informing another person that he had invaded their privacy. “You didn’t notice, but I could hear everything.”

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