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But Leon cuffed me to the old-school radiator near the window. Then, he and Mishka wandered into their respective bedrooms and closed the doors.
I presume they’re both sleeping soundly—though I can only hear Mishka’s snores.
I, on the other hand, can’t sleep a wink. Despite my exhaustion. Fear drives me to search for any possibility of escape. But the cuff is too tight to wiggle out of, the metal too hard to break. And the radiator is so solidly bolted to the floor, I can’t get it to budge.
“Fuck.”
On the brink of tears after hours of struggling, I sit heavily on the floor and lean against the wall. Dropping my head back, I stare up through the window to watch the first rays of sunlight break across the sky.
It’s a beautiful sunrise—pink and peach and gold coloring the pillowy clouds that creep along the horizon. Gabby would have loved it.
I swallow the lump in my throat and close my eyes. Bumping my head against the solid wood, I try to replace my emotional pain with a more bearable physical substitute.
“Alright, princess, I hope you got your beauty sleep. It’s time to go see your soon-to-be husband,” Leon says.
My head jerks up, my eyes snapping open as I turn to face my captor. He leans casually against the doorjamb of his bedroom, his large arms crossed in a smug display.
“Beauty sleep. That’s cute,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “You could have at least given me enough slack to lie down.” I lift my cuffed arm, rattling the metal to prove my limited range of motion.
“Man, you are a princess. You’ve spent too many nights on your back, feet in the air, screaming Jesus’s name, haven’t you? Now you don’t know how to sleep without a feather pillow and a down blanket,” he sneers.
“Funny how men only ever seem to think of me as a virgin or a whore,” I snap.
“Well, we both know you’re not a virgin,” he quips.
I flip him off. Now that Gleb and Gabby are safe—and hundreds of miles away, I don’t really care what he does to me. It’s not going to be any worse than a future with Vinny.
But rather than angry, he chuckles darkly. “Nah, I’m good. You’ve probably had all sorts of cock up in that cunt, haven’t you? I know how the girls from Pearl’s line their pockets.”
“You really are a charmer,” I observe flatly.
“Leave her alone, Leon,” Mishka says, coming out of his bedroom.
“I’m just having a bit of fun before we deliver her.”
“Yeah, well, Vinny’s about as stable as TNT, so I’d rather you not wind his girl up before you find out if he’d like that or not.”
“Pussy,” Leon gripes, but he saunters back into his bedroom to get dressed.
Shaking his head, Mishka stoops to uncuff me, avoiding my eyes as he gets to work.
“You don’t have to take me to him,” I suggest gently, seeing a kindness in Gleb’s one brother that I might just be able to exploit. “You could let me go. Say I escaped.”
Mishka’s demeanor shifts in a flash, his expression hardening as his eyes meet mine with cold mistrust. “You think just because I was willing to spare my brother’s life that I’ll put my neck on the line for you?”
I lean away from him, my fear spiking as his presence seems to grow and fill the room. “N-No. I just…” Shut up, Mel. Shut. Up.
Clamping my lips closed, I drop my eyes, and it makes my stomach revolt to check myself. But I sense that pushing my luck with Mishka could prove far more dangerous than I’d hoped.
The cuff drops from my wrist, and he leaves it hooked to the radiator as he hauls me to my feet. No need for restraints now, it would seem. Between the two of them, Leon and Mishka will be able to manage me.
The skin of Mishka’s palm sears my flesh as he grasps my upper arm, and he jerks me toward the front door with unnecessary force. Leon joins us a moment later, amusement curling his lips as he follows us outside.
Boston’s a bustling flow of people on their way to work. Mishka steers me expertly through the crowd—not a hard task, considering everyone goes out of their way to avoid him.
A black SUV picks us up a block down the street, and they both join me in the back seat this time, cramming me between them. I glance around nervously, wishing I knew where we were going.
Finally, the car pulls into a driveway in the fancy, tree-lined neighborhood of Brookline—where people with money enjoy impressive-sized residences.
