Page 36 of The Bratva Enforcer and His Virgin Bride

But before I can launch into another argument, he raises one hand.

“If you have family you’d like contacted for the wedding,” he says, “let me know.”

The words hit somewhere deep and immediate.

My response comes without hesitation: “No.”

His gaze sharpens slightly at my reaction.

I force myself to breathe slower.

Alec and his family have been everything to me since I was seven years old.

They gave me safety.

A home.

A second chance at something close to normal after that night destroyed everything.

And I will never drag them into this world.

Never.

That was the entire reason I left Moscow when Anton started hunting everyone connected to Valeria and the Petrovas. I refused to let danger settle anywhere near the people who protected me.

So no.

Absolutely not.

“Leave my family out of this,” I say quietly.

Something unreadable flickers across Lukyan’s face before he nods once. “Very well.”

That’s it.

No argument.

No pressure.

Which somehow unsettles me even more.

He steps toward the door.

“Please get comfortable,” he says. “A staff member will attend to your needs shortly.”

I stare at him.

Then I laugh.

Because this cannot possibly be real.

It sounds insane even inside my own head.

I don’t have my phone.

I don’t know where I am.

I’ve been kidnapped by a frighteningly handsome Russian man who talks like he’s signing business contracts instead of discussing human lives.