Page 79 of Forced & Owned By the Bratva Boss

My mother glances over my shoulder at Igor. She flinches, and then her eyes meet mine. “Who is he?”

I bite my lip and lower my head. I don’t know how the hell I’m supposed to tell her I got married in the same city she lives in and didn’t invite her. She’d be heartbroken, so I lie. “He’s my fiancé.”

I can feel Igor’s glare burning into the back of my head. I’ll explain to him later.

Her eyes narrow. “You got engaged?”

I nod. “Last night. I was going to tell you this morning.” Now’s not the time to discuss my love life. “I promise we’ll bring Simon back home. But what’s he doing in Miami?”

“He came to surprise us.” She lets out a weary sigh. “Who were those men? The ones who took him? We should call the cops, shouldn’t we?”

“No.” I think of the best way to tell her the truth without shattering her heart even more. “That man isn’t someone the police can handle. Please, just let me take care of this.”

“Before they left…” Her voice breaks. “One of them said to give you a message.”

The room suddenly feels too small. Even Igor, standing silently behind me, goes completely still.

“What did he say?” I ask.

My mother slowly lifts her eyes to mine. “He said to tell you that you have forty-eight hours. If you don’t turn yourself in to Serrano, alone, he’ll kill your brother.”

My entire body goes numb.

For a moment, silence crashes over the room, and the only sound is my mother’s broken sobbing.

I don’t realize I’m crying until Igor kneels beside me and wraps one arm around my shoulders, pulling me against him before my legs can completely give out. I bury my face against his chest because if I don’t, I’m going to shatter right here on my mother’s kitchen floor.

“What are we going to do?” I ask through my sobs.

“Your mother can’t stay alone after what happened. We’re taking her to a safe house only a few of my men know about. She’ll be safe there until all of this is over.”

I nod. “And Simon?”

He holds my hand, looks into my eyes, and makes a promise I know he’ll keep. “I’ll find him, and I’ll bring him home alive.”

“It won’t be that easy. Emiliano won’t—”

“Emiliano’s last mistake was going after you and your family.” His jaw ticks, his eyes cold with rage. “He won’t get away with this. I’ll be dead before I let him hurt one more person.”

I’ve never seen Igor this angry before, and I know he means every word he says. I know it won’t take much for him to kill Serrano, but this isn’t simply about Serrano anymore.

My brother’s life is at risk, and I can’t let Igor do anything reckless. I can’t have that on my conscience.

“You can’t make a move against Serrano.”

He looks at me sternly. “If we don’t, Simon dies.”

“Exactly. One wrong move, and my brother dies.” I draw in a sharp breath. “We’ll go home and think this through, Igor. Until then, don’t make any moves. Please.”

Because I know how sick and twisted Serrano is.

And I know if Serrano feels threatened, he’ll make sure Simon is the first to die.

Chapter Twenty-two

Igor

I thought I’d dealt with pain a long time ago.