I want adventure, and while I'm with him, it seems like the best chance I'll ever have to experience that adventure.
I may as well make the most of being kidnapped.
I keep realizing that I'm smiling. Even now, arriving at his mansion and climbing out of the car. My stomach is filled with butterflies of excitement. I shouldn't be excited. I should be thinking of my family. I should be considering how worried they are about me and negotiating for my release—not negotiating for adventure.
Guilt steals the smile from my face, and I let out a frustrated sigh.
Come on. It's not like I kidnapped myself. And Ididtry to escape. I'm not the one who put my family in that position of being so stressed.
But you are the one choosing to enjoy your time here with this man instead of thinking about the people who love you and think you must be hurt and in danger.
Bardil's mansion is gorgeous. Sitting on the outskirts of the city, there is a private beach right in front of his home. His garden leads right onto the sandy shore, and sitting in the living room the night we first arrive, I can hear the waves lapping right outside the window.
It's beautiful and peaceful.
And it makes my guilt worse.
Dammit.
I still have no idea what Bardil's plan is with me, but for some reason, I get the idea that he cares about me. Somewhere in there, I see a decent man. He could easily have locked me up instead of letting me walk freely in his space. He didn't have to deal with me daily. He didn't have to take me rock climbing. He didn't even have to let me cook and eat good food. He could have slid porridge under my door every day and left me in solitude.
Maybe, just maybe, he cares more than I think he does, and he might care if I ask him a favor. A real favor.
From my heart.
Nervously, I stand up, wondering if I'm pushing my luck and making a mistake. I've seen him when he's pissed off, and it's terrifying. But for my family's sake, I have to try.
The way I see it, he might be able to send an anonymous message to them. Something just to let them know I'm alive,being held captive, but that I'm not harmed in any way. Just knowing that will give them some relief.
And he doesn't have to give himself up. It can be totally anonymous.
Maybe he can send a strand of my hair for authenticity. You know, so they don't think it's a hoax to distract them.
I don't really know how this whole Bratva kidnapping thing really works.
With my heart in my throat, I walk through the mansion in search of Bardil.
It's a massive place, and it takes me a while, roaming high-ceilinged hallways with glass panels and views of the stars, until I hear his voice coming from somewhere near one of the end rooms.
He's talking to someone.
I slow my steps, walking quietly.
When I reach the doorway that leads to him, I stop, pressing myself close to the walls to listen to what they're saying.
Through the speaker of a phone, I hear whoever he's talking to. Angry and impatient. "Bardil, you can't keep doing this. You have to apologize and make it right. This animosity will never end!"
I recognize the guy's voice. It's his brother, Simon.
"So what? You just take their side over your own brother?" Bardil snaps back.
"You need to make it right."
"How am I the one in the wrong here? I got betrayed by people I put my trust in. People who made promises to me and didn't bother honoring those deals. People who literally threwme under the bus, and now you and the Shevs and the Abashins are siding with those people!"
"The Sokolovs?" Simon asks, confused.
"Yes, the fucking Sokolovs. They allied with the Shevs and them, and then you allied with the same people, effectively kicking me in the face," Bardil growls, clearly hurt by what happened.
