Page 46 of The Mobster's Forced Marriage

So I try to deliver the message to Misha with an encouraging smile, a glance at Boris, and a small shake of my head. Don’t make him mad. Don’t give him an excuse to hurt you. Be quiet and trust me, it’s gonna be alright. Misha sniffles and nods, leaning back into his seat with an intense glare Boris’s way.

“That’s better,” Yuriy comments all of a sudden, and I only then realize that he’s watching us through the mirror. “You have to learn how to obey people in power.”

“You talk like Father,” I grumble under my breath and lean back into the seat, looking out the window. Of course we’re on the way to the Bratva’s territories.

“I believe Nikolai and I had some similarities,” Yuriy keeps talking, relaxing in his own seat and turning his head toward me as if I want to have a goddamn small talk right now. “He was a good man. Not perfect, of course, but good. I have to admit I’m a little disappointed that he was weak enough to let you get so close to him. He paid his price for it, though.”

I huff and glance at him with my heart tight and overflowing with resentment. “Do you call being close with your children a weakness?”

“Of course.” Yuriy even chuckles in disbelief and shakes his head. “I’ve never made such a stupid mistake. Do you remember Lydia, my daughter? Ah, you probably don’t. You were, what, fifteen back then?”

He turns to look at me over his shoulder as if assessing my age, and I tense up and purse my lips, glaring back at him. It’s not gonna help me get out of here, but I just want him to know how much I despise him. It doesn’t bother him, of course. Yuriy hums and turns away.

“Yes, probably. Lydia must’ve been a few years older than you. Very smart, very competitive, you know? She started plotting against me at the age of eighteen, and not every girl can go that far! It’s a shame I had to kill her, but you know, how could I trust her after that?”

He chuckles, and I feel a wave of cold horror and resentment wash over me. I glance at Misha and see his eyes widen, his whole body tense, and I clench my fists tighter.Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here, even if it means sacrificing myself.

We spend the rest of the ride in tense silence, only Yuriy comments something about the weather or hums a melody under his breath from time to time until his mansion appears in sight. It’s quite an impressive building, let me tell you, but for a man of his status, I guess it’s the first thing to have.

The mansion has three floors, two wings, and a pointed roof that makes it look like a freaking castle. There is a flower garden and a pool on one side of it, a wide parking lot on the other, and a whole damn golf field behind it that I’ve never seen but heard plenty about from Father. I’ve been here a few times before, mostly for celebrations or so-called family parties, but the place doesn’t bring any positive memories. On the contrary, I’d rather not see it for the rest of my life.

“Well, here we are.” Yuriy claps his hands, and as if on command, Boris grabs Misha’s shoulder.

“Mom?”

“Hey, what are you doing?” I immediately sit up, but before I can do anything Ivan opens the door from my side, grabs the back of my neck and my shoulder, and yanks me out of the car.

“Don’t worry, I’m not cruel enough to take away the only thing that keeps you under control.” Yuriy smiles sweetly and pats Misha on the shoulder before turning away to the mansion.

It’s my best chance. The second car hasn’t arrived yet, Yuriy’s attention is elsewhere, and my obedience in the car has been enough to lower their guard. So I glance around, gather my strength—and swing my elbow into Ivan’s side. He doubles over in pain, and I turn around just enough to kick his balls with my knee.

“What the—”

But I don’t let Boris finish the sentence and barrel into him with my shoulder, yelling, “Misha, run!”

“But—”

“I said run away!”

Boris’ grip on him is strong, but I clench my fists and swing them at his wrist, forcing him to let Misha go. Thankfully, my boy knows when to listen, so after a moment of hesitation he does turn away, sprinting somewhere over the lawn. God, may they have enough humanity left to spare him the bullets.

But I can’t watch him for too long as Ivan regains his composure, Boris shakes out of his momentary shock, and they both lunge at me. I sneak away from their attack just a moment before they catch me, and they almost bump into each other before turning to me with a growl. But I’m good at running, so I step back, keeping my eyes on them and ready to bolt in the opposite direction.

“What are you gonna do now?” I chuckle, playing with their attention and forcing them to focus on me. “Do you think you can—”

But a gunshot interrupts me, a bullet hits the ground just two feet away from my toes, and it startles me so much that I hurry to step back and, caught off guard, fall on the ground. Another bullet explodes a foot from my face, sending dust and heat at my skin, and my heart almost bursts with adrenaline and primal fear, forcing me to crawl away from the source of it.

“You are very lucky that I need you alive,” Yuriy growls, walking closer, and through the ringing of the gunshots I hear screams and cries.Oh no, Misha!

I immediately sit up, still disoriented from the fire, and look around. Yuriy is just a few feet away from me, looking genuinely pissed, and behind his back I see Sergei dragging Misha to the mansion by his collar. Shit! I grit my teeth, ignoring the wave of despair trying to grow in my heart, and follow Ivan’s and Boris’s hands forcing me to get up.

“Why do you need me? What do you want?” I turn to Yuriy and see his expression shift back to the calm and confident mask he likes to wear. He puts his gun away in his holster, dusts himself off, and looks at me with a fake smile.

“You’ll see.”

God, I hate his fucking theatrics.

I purse my lips and obediently walk after him, nudged from behind. “At least let Misha go. Whatever you’re planning, he has nothing to do with it.”

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