“Just for the fun. I won’t hurt you. I don’t get off on beating women. I just want to make Maksim scared. I want him and Nikolai and those other fucking Russians to know that they can’t mess with me. That they can’t take me down. I will have power. I will overtake their territory.”
A sob escapes my mouth. “Please. I’m innocent. I didn’t choose to marry Maksim. I had to. Let me go. I’m not a part of this.”
He kneels down before me and wipes my tear away. “But you are. The second you married Maksim, you became a part of this.” He nods at the burly man. “Put her in the second floor guest room. I don’t want her trying to escape out the window.”
“Got it, boss,” the man says in a gravely tone before picking me up. I try fighting once again and once again, it’s pointless. I’m thrown into the guest room and the door is shut behind me. I gasp when I hear the lock click from the outside.
I’m Enzo’s prisoner and there’s no way out for me.
Maksim
I watch in horror as Natasha is taken away from me. My head is ringing from when the airbag smacked me in the face. Glass from the broken windshield covers my car. I wince when I feel a pain on my forehead and after I touch it, my fingers come back with blood.
None of that matters though. All that matters is that Natasha was taken from me.
When we first married, I was angry. Getting married to a stranger was the last thing I wanted. But in these couple of weeks since we’ve been together, I’ve grown to care for Natasha. Hell, I think I started to care for her on our wedding night. Seeing how scared and vulnerable and innocent she looked. I couldn’t help but care.
I saved her from those men in Greece. I helped her with Alexandra. And I stood up for her against her father.
The urge to protect Natasha is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and it’s only grown stronger. I need to get her back.
And I’m fairly positive I know who took her.
I call my father and inform him of everything.
“You lost Natasha?” he sounds aghast.
“It’s not like I meant to, Dad. Some asshole took her. I think it was Enzo. He was at the charity event tonight. He saw her and saw an opportunity. I don’t know who else would take her.”
“We have to be careful about this. If we invade Enzo’s territory, it could spell disaster.”
“We were already trying to take him down. This isn’t anything new. We find him and we kill him for taking Natasha.”
“Maksim, slow down. We can’t just kill Enzo. Yes, we’re trying to weaken him, but we can’t kill him. That will in fact lead to a war that will only end in disaster.”
“But Natasha is my wife. I doubt Lev will take it too kindly that his daughter has been kidnapped. He will want Enzo dead too. And you don’t want to piss off the man you just made an alliance with. That will lead to another war.”
Gregor sighs. “I’m sure of it but we have to be hundred percent positive that Enzo has Natasha. We can’t just kill him without proof.”
“Then I will find fucking proof. You told me to try with this marriage and now I am. So don’t stop me.”
My father goes silent for a long moment. “You care for her?” he asks quietly.
“I do,” I admit.
“Then I won’t begrudge you that. But if Enzo does have her, we don’t even know where he lives. He’s kept that a secret from us.”
An idea hits me. “I know one person. Kira. She was at a party at Enzo’s house.”
“Kira? My sweet Kira? She never goes to parties.”
“Dad, don’t be naïve. Your precious Kira isn’t as innocent as you think. She went to a party at Enzo’s house with my wife. Natasha told me all about it. Kira will know where Enzo lives and if he has Natasha, he’ll hopefully have her there. He didn’t know who Natasha was tonight which means he probably didn’t know that Kira was my sister. He doesn’t know that we have information he doesn’t.”
“No. Kira did not attend a party at our enemies house. I know she didn’t.”
“I’m going over to your house to ask her.” I hang up before he can object. He might want to see Kira as a little innocent bird forever but I know differently.
I let myself into my father’s house after I arrive. Gregor pulls into the driveway right as I’m walking in through the front door. “Kira! Kira!”
