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It was his boss, Erasmo, then. It seemed I was in his house.
Aware that we had just been in the middle of integrating Nik into my family, I knew that fact alone put me in an incredibly dangerous position. If he wanted to get back at Nik, then there was no telling what he’d be willing to do to me.
As he drew closer with a toothpick lazily dangling from his mouth, I pulled back, shuffling as far away from him as I could get. I didn’t want him close enough to even breathe near me, let alone touch me.
Erasmo clicked his tongue in vague annoyance as he turned and made his way over to the windows. With his arms folded behind his back, he looked out at the space around him pensively. “Relax, Anastasia. I’m not going to hurt you. Not yet, anyway,” he said, lacking any real sincerity in his voice. “But I thought you would’ve been used to this by now, given how Nik stole you before. I didn’t think the road would lead you back here again, but I’m quick on my feet when it comes to planning.”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, gritting my teeth at the thought of anyone believing they could get away with kidnapping me right in front of my family.
With that in mind, the thought did occur to me straight away that we had been in that meeting when the hit went down, which meant Nik was more than likely still with the others. So long as everyone was alright, that made my chances of being rescued significantly higher.
Between the Levov manpower and Nik’s knowledge about Erasmo and his dealings, surely they’d find a way to get me back. Nothing needed to be a secret anymore, and if they all had my best interests in mind, they would work together.
As anxious as I was about being here with a man I hardly knew, at his mercy and likely surrounded by his guards that I couldn’t see yet, I had to have faith in Nik and the others. If I could just wait it out, they’d come around sooner or later.
Erasmo absently stroked his chin. “I offered Nik the promise of a good, comfortable life in exchange for his loyalty. I was unsure about hiring a Russian I didn’t know on a whim, but he was quick to impress me. He moved fast through the ranks, did as he was told, and even went the extra mile. I saw promise in him, and I thought he was going to be my white knight in this feud, so to speak. I offered him some stake in the business. I promoted him. And just when I thought I could depend on him, he turned tail the moment the burner got too hot. And that is all because of you.”
Taking in his words, my attention snagged on the detail about him being promoted and having additional benefits because of it. He had clearly been one of Erasmo’s favorites, which likely contributed to why he was so afraid of turning on him. He was in too deep, and with the conflicting interests of me and my family, he was afraid of being caught in the middle.
Even if I still felt it was the right choice, I couldn’t ignore the guilt swirling in my chest for making him choose between security and me. For putting him in that difficult situation.
Yet despite how hard that choice was, he picked me and our marriage. He was willing to put himself on the line for us, and risk being tracked down by Erasmo.
“As difficult as it might be for you to understand exactly why you’re here, you've been my only bargaining chip since Nik brought you to my attention, and I mean to keep that advantage over your family, and now Nik himself.”
“You didn’t have to do any of this,” I returned, annoyed by how women who found themselves sucked into the mafia world were always treated like something that could be stolen and traded. I wasn’t a bargaining chip. I wasn’t prized livestock. And yet, it seemed like a never-ending pattern. “I’m not involved in any of this.”
“But you are, and I did have to. Nik thought he could simply turn away from this family and he’d be safe under the wing of your cousins. Try all he’d like, I won’t let that happen. I won’t be disrespected by some love-struck dog,” Erasmo grumbled, wearing a look of disgust. “Don’t feign ignorance with me. You hail from this life whether or not you want to accept it.”
Anger coursed through me watching him look outside as if nothing was wrong. Every fiber of my being seemed to ring with desperation to get out of here. “None of that matters. Nik will find me, and you’ll wish this never happened.”
“Nik is a filthy traitor!” he snapped, visibly tense with that burning anger. “You’d be wise to not put your faith in disloyal individuals. Nonetheless, that is exactly what I hope will happen.”
Confused, my brows pinched together in question. “What?”
“Your family will be up in arms soon enough, and they’ll be scrambling to rescue you. However, they will be lured where I want them. Where I have more than enough men to bring them down. It doesn’t matter how big their forces are when they’re all mowed down with bullets. I hope that Nik will be right in the middle of it,” Erasmo explained, sporting a satisfied smirk as he turned to face me again. “That being said, you’ll just have to deal with being hauled away again.”
As much as I wanted to believe my family had the manpower and the know-how to get themselves out of any trap their enemies might lay for them, the absolute confidence emanating from him made me nervous.
Erasmo seemed to have a lot of faith in his plan, and if he was being honest about how deadly his trap was, then I couldn’t help but envision the worst-case scenario.
If they were to track me down and run in without thinking it over, there was a high chance they would find themselves in a shootout. Nik especially. And if it were to come down to it, there’d be no way of stopping them from getting hit with the others.
The mental image made my skin grow cold.
“I have those gears turning in that head of yours now, don’t I?” he questioned, looking far too pleased with himself. “Good. You should question everything, especially your involvement in the grand scheme of things. That of your family, too. Just how complacent are you willing to be while your family stomps on everything in this city?”
“That isn’t what it’s like,” I muttered, growing more irritated as the old man assumed he knew so much about us.
“Is that so? I thought you had nothing to do with the business?” he proposed with a small, critical grin. “I believe you know more than you let on, Anastasia. If your husband takes his time getting here, perhaps you’ll be even more useful to me.”
I wanted to lash out at him and throw as many curses at him as I could think of, but I knew I was in no position to do that. I was in his possession whether I liked it or not, and to better my chances of Nik finding me, I had to keep myself alive. To do that, I needed to keep my mouth shut.
With a sigh, Erasmo Capris flicked the toothpick around with his tongue. “And if not, I will bask in the glory of my men gunning down your family. One by one, they will fall, and once the Levov empire is dead and rotting, I’ll see that my sons have their piece of the pie. I won’t be around forever, of course, and I know Ezra has been itching to make something of himself. Now, that will be one for the history books.”
Before the old man could continue his rambling, the door opened again, and two men dressed in suits similar to the one Nik used to wear came in. They looked toward their boss for confirmation, and when he nodded, they headed straight for me.
“Wait,” I mumbled as they reached for my bound arms. They hoisted me up as I fought against them despite their strength. “Don’t touch me!”
