Page 28 of The Bratva’s Captive Flame

"Say your goodbyes," he says. "The boss wants you back in his room now."

I kiss my father's cheek. "Tomorrow," I tell him, softly, hoping tomorrow, he will listen to some sense. I'm not as strong as he thinks I am, and trying to pretend I have a backbone while Demin or his men hurt me will only destroy me.

And regardless of how smart he thinks I am, with the leash that Russian has me on now, even Hernando Cortés couldn’t find a way out.

My father holds my hand until I walk away, and the last thing I see before the door shuts is the fear on Papa’s face as his eyes move from me to the man and back. I step into the hall and he locks the door up, then the stranger falls into step beside me as we head back toward Demin's wing of the house.

He smells nice—not as nice as Demin, but good. And for a few minutes he's very quiet, though I feel his gaze raking over me salaciously. It keeps my head down and my eyes straight ahead so I don't inadvertently encourage any more of the same—or conversation, which would be worse.

But my evasive behavior isn't successful. The man starts talking as if I wanted to chat like old friends, and I feel my throat constricting.

"My name is Sergei," he says, like I asked. "I'm running security for Mr. Roshin now. You'll probably see a whole lot of me around here."

The words don't mean much to me. It doesn't matter which ogre walks me across the house to see my father as long as one of them does it. So I say nothing and keep walking the path my feet know well by now.

"Nobody told me the chemist's daughter looked like this." His eyes slide over again, and he puts hair from my shoulder behind my back. "And no one mentioned that girl in the crate was a present waiting to be unwrapped." His hand slides down my back until it rolls across the curve of my ass and squeezes.

I wince, biting back a swear, and walk a few steps farther away from him. "I can find my own way."

"I'm sure you can." But he moves closer again, like he has to be my fucking shadow or I'll get lost. "But then I wouldn't get to walk with you, and a man takes the good parts of a job where he finds them." When he growls from low in his chest and says, "You have some very good parts," I shudder again. This man is vile, speaking to me like I'm an object he can pluck and confine.

If I run, he'll chase me, and if I scream he'll act like he's done nothing—or maybe no one will care if he does something. It wasn't much different with the Solanos, just shocking to have it happening after three weeks of not having to deal with it here.

"You don't talk much," he purrs. "That's alright. I talk enough for two." This time, when he leans in, his hand isn't groping my back. It's gripping a fistful of my hair, forcing me to slow down as we near the bedroom. It makes my pulse kick against my ribs. "I bet you have parts that are just as pretty as that face of yours, maybe prettier… I could really enjoy that."

"Veta a la mierda," I snarl, ready to spit on his face as our progress comes to a grinding halt and he breathes down my neck.

"A girl who looks like you, in an organization like this…" He runs his tongue over his teeth and growls again and clicks his tongue. "The boss is wasting you…"

My stomach turns as I realize what he's saying. "Mr. Roshin protects me." I look him dead in the eye, wondering for the first time if Demin really is protecting me. Would he say something to this beast of a man for touching me like this? He said he owns me. Would he stop another man from touching me?

The man laughs darkly and licks his lips. "Maybe he's saving you for me…"

"Go to hell," I tell him in as plain of English as I can muster. The whimper hovers at the back of my throat as I press my palms flat against the wall behind me and swallow hard around a lump. He's so big. There's no way I can stop him if he wants to do something to me. No way I'd ever overpower him or break free.

"Maybe if I pay him enough, you'll belong to me…" His frame is hulking and he runs a hand up my inner thigh, proving how strong he is, how weak I am.

"I don't belong to anyone."

"Not yet," he says, taking his hand out of my hair, but I don't stick around to find out what he'll do next. I turn and run straight for Demin's room. My entire body is thrumming with adrenaline, though he's not giving chase, at least.

My steps slow as I turn the corner and see Mishka standing outside the bedroom door leaning on the wall looking bored. He glances up when he sees me and relief floods every cell of my body.

I race through the door and wait for him to shut it, but my heart is racing now and my hands are shaking. That asshole could really hurt me if he wanted to.

"Didn't know the boss kept her watched this close." God, his voice is so sleazy, and to think I thought he smelled good. The hair on my arms rises and I get nauseous. I'm going to remember that stench for a long time and it's going to make me feel so creeped out.

"Day and night," Mishka says, "and she stays alone in there." I like him. Suddenly, Mishka is my favorite person in the world. I sink onto the edge of the bed trembling and wring my hands in my lap.

I can't see him, but the awkward silence tells me he's not happy about not being permitted in this room. Probably because it's Demin's room and they have orders not to let anyone else in here. But I'm glad for it. At least Demin doesn't speak to me like that.

"’Course," he grumbles, and I hear his footsteps retreating up the hallway.

When the door shuts, no lock clicks, but this time, I honestly wish it would. I'd feel safer knowing that sick fucker couldn't get to me.

I curl up on the far side of the bed and wait, knowing at this hour it won't be long until Demin comes to bed for the night, and I think about how he hasn't touched me since the shower. Not once. He climbs into bed and sleeps—that's all. There've been a few times I felt his body aroused, but he hasn't attempted to be aggressive with me in the least bit.

It makes me wonder why this new guy is so different and what the rest of those guards are like. I don't know if I feel safer here than at the Solano compound, but with Mishka around, I know Sergei wouldn't touch me. So Demin must not tolerate bullshit from his men.