Page 22 of Cruel Bratva King

“How can you make a bet on a human’s life?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted? Consider it a negotiation for your freedom. The choice is yours.”

I waited in silence for her to make her decision. She tightened her grip on the knife and pressed it on Marina’s throat until there was a visible bruise and a stain of blood on the knife. Her hands were shaking, and her forehead slicked with sweat. My flower couldn’t even take a person’s life. She was not a killer.

“Just let me go, please. I won’t say a word about this to anyone, I swear,” she pleaded as her breath hitched and tears puddled around her eyes. Before a tear could drop, Marina overturned her and kneed her hand, causing the knife to fall. Marina caught the knife mid-air and held it around Lilianna’s neck.

The first rule of surviving in the mafia world was never to go up against an opponent you couldn’t defeat. My flower didn’t know that yet, but she’d learn it soon.

There was one other lesson she needed to learn first. I pushed back from my chair and walked to her. Marina let her go. I tilted her face up until her hazel eyes were boring into mine.

“I can’t let you go,moy tsvetok,”I told her. “Once you become entangled with the mafia, there is no going back.”

Chapter 11 - Lilianna

Once you become entangled with the mafia, there is no going back.

Sergey’s words played in my head on a loop, eating away at my sanity like a virus attached to my brain and refusing to leave me be. I didn’t need him to say it for the hundredth time to know what he meant. I was stuck here now and would forever be unless a miracle happened, and he let me go. The chances of that miracle happening were zero.

After my fit with Marina in the living room, Sergey dragged me all the way upstairs and tossed me into a room. It was well decorated in here. My new room had a glass wall from where I could get a good view of the city. The walls and bedding were dressed in purple, which was my favorite color.

I had a sixty-inch wall screen TV and a king-sized bed that was softer than a feather. Sergey was rich, and there was a chance I would never work for anything in my life if I chose to remain here with him as he wanted. A lot of women wanted that type of life, but I didn’t.

I hated waking up early in the morning to prepare for work, my boss was shitty, and the pay wasn’t very appropriate for the stress I got in return. But that was the life I chose for myself, and no matter how hard it got, I was determined to make it work. I preferred it to being a princess locked up in a mansion, like fucking Rapunzel in a tower.

The sound of voices outside my room caught my attention. I recognized one of the voices as Sergey’s after he’d locked me inside the room. The other two voices were strange to me, however. They must’ve belonged to more of his men that I hadn’t met yet. Screw meeting his men; I had to get the hell out of here.

I stood from the bed and glanced around. There was no balcony where I could tie the blanket to the balustrade and jump down like I used to see in movies. The only way I could escape was through the door, and Sergey was standing on the other side of it.

I sighed and fell flat with my back on the bed. I laid out all the things that could go wrong if I tried to escape.

One: Sergey would find me before I even reached downstairs, and he’d probably tie me up after that so I couldn’t repeat my attempt to escape.

Two: I could be mistaken for an intruder and shot on the spot the moment I stepped outside, though the chances of that happening were slim, considering I’d been able to sneak out the first time I came here.

Either way, wasn’t it better to at least try? My first attempt had landed me in confinement, but I didn’t think things could get worse than they already were. I was in a place I didn’t know, with a bunch of murderous-looking Russian men in suits who could kill me if they wanted. And a lady who was a better fighter than Bruce Lee.

My life was doomed.

The door creaked open, and I sat up quickly. Sergey walked inside the room and leaned on the wall across the bed, staring at me as if I was a piece of artwork in an art museum. He had a glass of whiskey in one hand, and the ice on it clinked on the glass as he swirled it.

What was the use of not smoking when he drank as much as he did? I was surprised he was never tipsy when he loved to drink like a fish.

“What do you want?”

He huffed. “You,” he said. “You’re beautiful to look at, even when you’re angry.”

Is he kidding me right now?“And you sound like you’re insane. Who kidnaps a pregnant woman and says something as cringe as that to them?” I didn’t wait for a reply. “Get out. I want to be alone.”

“So you can plan to run off? Save your strength; this place has maximum security.” He slid his hand through his dark curly hair, and for a flimsy moment, I forgot how to breathe. His shirt wasn’t buttoned all the way up, meaning I could see his chest, and damn, he was firm and well-toned.

Sergey had an athletic build, as if he worked out constantly. He was hot. So hot that my cheeks reached a hundred degrees just looking at him. If things were different, I’d run up to him and kiss him right now. But I hated him, so kissing him wasn’t even an option.

You look like you’ve fucked me ten times in your head already.” His words were so sudden I actually gasped as I heard them. The room grew hot in an instant, and my blood warmed.

Don’t let him get to you, Lilianna. Don’t let him get to you.

“I’m jealous of your thoughts.” He temptingly bit his lower lips. I wanted to taste him too. “Think of all the ways you’d like me to fuck you. They’ll come in handy later.”

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