Katyapacedthekitchenfloor. It had been hours since Matias and his brothers left to raid Jorge’s vineyard and she hadn’t heard from him. Nothing good would come from tangling with her father, and everything about this smelled of him.
“Miss Ivanov?” Eli, one of the guards, called her.
“Yes?”
“There is a call for you on the house phone.”
“For me? Are you sure?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Katya didn’t know who would call her at Matias’ house. Aside from his family, Jorge was the only other person who knew she was staying there. Her mind raced, worried it was someone calling to tell her Matias was hurt, but surely, they would have come and got her.
She took the phone from Eli and smiled. “Hello?”
“Dearest Daughter,” her father’s Russian accent filled the line. “I see you’ve whored yourself out to the wrong man.”
She gasped into the phone. “Father. How… how did you find me?” she stuttered.
“Jorge told me you ran away from him. It didn’t take him long to learn you were fucking the enemy.”
“You have no right to speak to me like this, Father. I was nothing but a commodity you sold to better yourself.”
“Yes, that’s true, and now you’ve betrayed me like your whore of a mother, but I digress, Katya, I didn’t call to hash out your sexapades. No, I called to discuss an important matter.”
“We have nothing to discuss.”
“Tsk.” He made an irritated noise before speaking. “I beg to differ. My men have nabbed your boyfriend. As we speak, he is being taken to an undisclosed location. If you want to see him alive, you’ll do exactly what I say.”
Her fingers tightened around the phone as she spoke. “What are you talking about?”
“You see, Katya. If you want him to live, you’ll go where I tell you. I’ve had an even better offer for your services; an offer I won’t miss out on.”
“This is crazy. You can’t just sell me to the highest bidder. I’m not property, Father.”
“Wrong again. You’re my property, and until the sins of your mother are paid off, you’ll owe me a lifetime of repayment. But you can ignore my offer and risk Matias’ life. His life depends on your cooperation.” Katya could hear the smugness in her father’s tone and knew she had no other choice but to do what he wanted.
“What do I need to do?” she asked, fighting the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.
“It’s simple. Go to the address I give you, and I’ll let him live. Don’t, and his head will be delivered to you within the hour.”
Katya bit her lip. The phone in her hand was held with such force that her palm was aching beneath her clutched fingers. “You swear he’ll be returned alive?”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes and inhaled. If she didn’t do this and he really had Matias, she’d never forgive herself. But what if he was lying, and he killed him anyway? She would just be feeding herself to the lion once again. In her short time in Chile, Matias had burrowed his way into her heart.
“What will it be, Daughter?”
Katya swallowed, her stomach churning with bile. “I’ll do it. Where do I need to go?”She listened as he spouted an address off to her with specific instructions on how to get there. He thought of everything, down to the driver.
Katya tossed the phone onto the table and ran her fingers through her hair. She had thirty minutes to get down the driveway and out to the road, or her father would assume she was reneging on their agreement. Grabbing a piece of paper, she penned a note for Matias to find. He needed to know she was doing this for him, not because she was betraying him.
Folding the paper in half, she laid it on the counter. She hoped someone would find it. She didn’t need him thinking she was a traitor. Peeking at the guard sitting in the living room, she slowly walked around to the front door. She eased her hand on the doorknob, opening the door as quietly as possible. Once she got outside, she noticed another guard walking the property. Getting past him would prove more difficult.
“Excuse me!” she hollered out to him. “The guard inside told me to come and get you. There is an issue around back.”
He nodded at her and took off around the side of the house. Katya took off running down the gravel path. She needed to hurry if she wasgoing to make it to the awaiting car. Nearly out of breath, she spotted the dark sedan on the side of the road. Pulling the door open, she cringed when she saw Igor, her father’s right-hand lackey, behind the wheel.
