Page 9 of The Bratva’s Captive Flame

No one has ever spoken to me like this. I have literally killed men for lesser things, and this stubborn, rebellious streak is infuriating me. "Your father's going to work for the Roshin Bratva, Isabela. That part isn't up for discussion. The only thing left to decide is how much pain you'd like to watch him go through before he understands his situation."

She bolts to her feet and I watch pain flicker across her face. She's furious, and she's letting me see it, which is either the bravest or the most foolish thing she could possibly do in my presence.

"Just put me back in my cage," she snarls again, and I stand.

I take my time about it, pushing back from the desk and coming around the side. She holds her ground while I do, which surprises me. Most people give a step or two when I come toward them, whether they mean to or not. It's instinct. The body knows what's coming before the mind does. But she stays planted right where she is, chin up, watching me close the distance.

I stop a foot from her and look down at her face. I could break her without much effort, and she has to know that, and still, she stares up at me like she's the one with the upper hand. Grown soldiers who outweigh her twice over go quiet when I walk into a room. And here she is, beaten half to death, puffing out her chest at my words.

I reach out and close my hand around her throat, not quite squeezing but applying enough pressure to scare her. It's a warning and nothing more, my palm against the soft skin under her jaw, my fingers wrapping easily around the side of her neck. I can feel her pulse racing under my thumb, but she doesn't grab at my wrist. And she doesn't try to pull back, and the only thing that moves is her chest as she breathes, which catches and then steadies.

"You have a lot of opinions," I say, "for someone whose life I own."

Her skin is so warm and soft. I slide my thumb along her jawline and resist squeezing, but the thought of it makes my body warm to the idea. Yet she never looks away from my accusing gaze. She has fire in her, I'll give her that. And what it's doing to my body is sinful.

I feel myself swelling, wanting to see just how far this defiance will go, and the ungodly urge to choke her while I fuck this rebellious nature out of her rises so quickly, I have to move back. I drop my hand, stepping back from her before the moment can suck me in. Then I turn toward the desk so I'm not looking at her face anymore. My pulse is up. I can feel it in my own neck now, which makes no sense, because I'm not the one who was just held by the throat.

"Mishka," I call out, and the door opens almost immediately. He stalks in and looks between the two of us, reading the room. "Take her back," I tell him, keeping my eyes on the maps. "She's done for now."

"Yeah, Boss."

He crosses to her and takes her by the arm, and she lets him turn her toward the door without a fight. But she stops at the threshold and looks back at me.

"You can threaten me all you want," she says. "It doesn't change my answer."

He wrangles her out the door and shuts it as I lean over my blueprints and try to calm myself. What the hell was she doing to me?

I pride myself on having self-control, and that was the farthest thing from it. I could've done unspeakable things to her just then, and not the violent kind I'd have done to any man in her position. A man would've left with a few more bruises.

Isabela would've left with my cum soaking her panties.

And I'd have been left reeling.

Fuck, I'm reeling over just thinking about it. I can't let this distract me. I can't afford to allow a beautiful, angry woman to pull my attention away from this for one second. My uncle depends on me to secure that chemist, and with the information I have, I have a good start toward achieving that goal.

If Isabela Cruz thinks I'm going to go soft on her because she fights back, she's wrong. I'm going to stop holding the devil back soon enough. She’ll learn…

7

ISABELA

I'm sitting on the edge of the bed picking at a loose thread on the blanket when the lock turns. I expect Danya with a tray or one of the guards coming to drag me somewhere again. Instead, Demin fills the doorway, and I sit up straighter. I'm still not sure how to take this whole plan of busting my father out only to make him work more, but going back to Solano isn't an option. They'll kill me.

And getting my father out is really my only option. I need to be with him to make sure he's okay and being taken care of. Having him here, even if he's still being forced to work, is what has to happen. So I have to convince him to come here.

"We're close," he says. "A few more pieces and I'll have a plan to get your father out."

The ambivalence I feel is nauseating. Hearing how close we are to getting Papa away from Solano is encouraging, but the idea of his being a continued object is so dejecting. I feel tossed between wanting to celebrate and hating this man standing in front of me.

"When?" I ask.

"Soon…" He crosses the room and stops at the foot of the bed, looking down at me. "I need to know how he'll react. Do you think he's going to fight us?" Demin's massive frame is towering, almost scarily so. But part of the draw I feel toward him is his willingness to go in and get Papa out. It's the only reason I came, and I've found a man who is willing and powerful enough to do it. And he's damn good looking to boot.

The hope drains out of me as quickly as it came, because I already know the answer. It's not the one he wants. "He'll fight you," I mumble, dropping my head. No way in hell my father walks out peacefully. If someone is powerful enough to break into the Solano Cartel compound, they're way scarier than Solano. He'll resist for sure.

"Then talk me through it. How do I make the old man cooperate?"

Scowling, I glower up at him. He's talking about my father like he doesn't care one bit. "You don't." I stand up so I'm not staring up at him like a child. "You're not listening. He thinks I'm gone—probably dead. You know as well as I do that a man who's lost the only thing he has left doesn't have any reason to keep going. He gives up. He'll do whatever Solano's men tell him and he'll die in that lab without ever fighting for himself, because there's nothing left for him to fight for."