“Get your dirty hands off me.” I spat on his face, and he moved a step back to clean it.
“Impressive. I see you have the heart of your husband.”
“No, I don't. My husband is a lot worse than you think. I've seen him in action. I know what he can do and the things hecan't. His incapabilities are less because of his strong will. I've watched him kill, I've watched him take and possess. If you think abducting me is the key to his fortunes, think again. This might just be the key to your death. So while I'm here, I'll wait for him to find me, and I know it won't be long before he does.”
“Don't get your hopes up, honey.”
“Oh, my hopes aren't up. They're high. My husband would burn the whole world if he had to, just to save me. My only fear is to watch the look on your face when he finally gets his hands on you.” I stretched backwards in a careful recline after I'd spoken.
He doesn't move, and I wonder if he could breathe. His eyes were wide open, and I sensed the tension. His men didn't move either. I guess the weight of my words made them stop to think.
Isabella's face flashed across my mind, and I thought of the day she came to speak to me about my dad's abduction. All the days I've had to live, I'd never seen a woman as willful, fearless, and strong as Isabella, yet she was terrified of Viktor.
“You're lucky to see the best side of Viktor, sweetheart. Up till this day, I wonder what he sees in you that makes him get so soft. I guess love is a science of the stupid.”
If Viktor got so soft because of me, I was certain that all hell would break loose. My husband wasn't just a man but a monster and a lover.
It amused me to think I'd care and hope for him. Isabella was right when she said that the moment I stopped wishing to leave, is the moment I become one of them. The soft girl nature in me flew out the window after weeks of my stay in his mansion. Truly, he treated me like a queen. He met my needs and still managed to be romantic. His power never hid his charm.
“I can protect you, and I will.” Viktor's voice came through my mind, and I was calm. He promised to find my dad,and he did, but with it came chaos. One that made me hate Dad even more than I ever did. Damn, I wasn't different from any of the members in the Bratva. I was one of them now, and it took me weeks of readjusting to come to acceptit.
My goodness, I still wanted to kiss him. My body itched for his hug, my nose longed for his cologne. He wasn't known to smile, but I liked it when he smirked at me like I was the only person in the world who had the ability to make him smile.
The things he did for me weren't an act at all. I took it as a privilege to be loved by a mafia boss who had the whole of New York answer to his voice. It dawned on me that without Viktor, my dad wouldn't be as important as he posed himself to be. Borrowing millions of dollars that he couldn't pay back was the most irritating thing I ever heard, and all it did was put me in jeopardy.
“I like you already.” The bald-headed man grinned to the point I feared his cheeks would tear. He leaned closer, placing his lips close to my ear. His breath smelled of onion, and I had to block the passage of my nose.
“I guess we'll both have quite an amazing time together, honey. Don't panic, I'm the real deal.”
“If you were the real deal, you wouldn't capture me like a runaway animal and hide yourself from someone you know you can't face.”
He smiled again. His silvery canine reflected the white light that came from the headlights of his car.
“We'll see about that.” He said before walking towards the car. They all entered, and he sat in the driver's seat. I didn't see much of his face before he drove out of the warehouse. The dust made me cough, and I found myself praying that Viktor came to my rescue. If he didn't, I knew I'd be as good as dead.
Nonetheless, I had flashes of how it all started. How Dimitri and others cuffed me and put a bag over my face. It wastraumatising to think of it, but this was a similar case. I tried to cut myself free, but the ropes dug into my wrists. My rage still lay in the knowledge that I wasn’t here because of my own choices. I was here because of him. Because of my father.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Viktor’s face as he ran at that last moment. His beautiful blue eyes were burning with fury, and I couldn't tell him to calm down because I wanted it. I wanted him to make them pay in the most gruesome way possible.
Viktor would come, I assured myself. He had to.
And yet the fear crippled me. What if they hurt him? What if this was all just a trap?
“No,” I said out loud. That wasn’t Viktor. He wasn’t a man who broke down easily. The man who married me wouldn’t let himself fall into a stupid trap.
Still, the pain I felt inside was unbearable. I wanted him in ways I couldn’t even say. Not just for safety, but because Viktor had become the only person who saw me for who I was. With him, I didn't feel like collateral. I was his wife.
Tears trickled down my face, and I tried to blink them back. But I cried, not because I was weak, but because I had grown in wisdom from when I first came.
While I sat in silence, I thought of my dad and how he once spoke about sacrifice and the cost of power. What he really meant was my sacrifice because it cost him, my being able to gain power.
I didn't know the moment a laugh escaped from my mouth. Man, was I foolish to believe that my own father could love me better than anyone else. He treated me nicely because I never asked for much. But Viktor, on the other hand, showed me what love was like. I was the one thing, I knew, that he couldn’t afford to lose. And that was the difference.
I imagined what I would say to my father when this was finally over. I’d stand before him and show him how much of a woman I've become. A woman who had survived being abducted, forcefully married, and nearly destroyed by the very people he feuded with. I would tell him that I wasn’t his little girl anymore. That he had gambled me away too many times, and I was done being the price for his mistakes.
For the first time in my life, I believed I could challenge my father, and I was willing to. Not because I had suddenly grown fearless, but because Viktor had shown me a strength I hadn’t known I carried. His love for me turned out to be a fire that ignited my hidden courage.
And while I was still lost in thought, the door creaked, and I heard footsteps echo around me. I raised my head and scanned the surroundings.
