Page 12 of Forced By the Bratva

I stopped in my tracks because, by my calculations, she should be running into me any moment now.

Three. Two. One…now.

She turned a corner, and before she even realized what was happening, her chest slammed into my torso. Her eyes widened in shock, and her body stiffened as she looked up at me.

“Going somewhere?” I asked softly, fingers wrapping around her wrist.

She hesitated, blinking rapidly as if trying to hide her fear. “Let go of me, or I swear to God, I’ll scream.”

I tightened my grip. Not hard enough to cause pain, but enough to hold her in place. “Go ahead. Scream.”

Her lips trembled, her eyes glassy as if she were about to cry. So innocent. So fragile.

I held her wrist with one hand and, with the other, held her lower back, keeping her pressed against me. In such close proximity, I could feel her warm breath and could almost hear the sound of her racing heart.

My eyes traced the gentle curve of her mouth, my grip loosening around her wrist. Her chest rose and fell slowly, and despite her fear, I could tell she was starting to relax.

She yanked out of my grip and pulled away from me, her hazel eyes refusing to meet mine. “Please, just let me go. Accessing those files was a mistake, and I promise I won’t say a word to anyone.” She managed to look at me, her vulnerable expression almost thawing something frozen inside me.

I knew she regretted her actions, and a part of me believed genuinely that she was going to keep her mouth shut. She was too scared to jeopardize her life over this.

But it didn’t matter what I believed. She was still a witness who had sensitive Bratva information stored somewhere in her brain and on her hard drive. Even if I let her go, she wouldn’t survive the dawn of tomorrow on her own.

She’d be eliminated as quickly and efficiently as possible. Unless…

I thought for a moment. “You’re coming with me.”

Her brows arched. “What?” She pulled away, tears filling her eyes. “I swear to you, I won’t say anything—just let me go. Please.”

The sound of her voice and the look on her face poked at a part of me I’d buried a long time ago. I almost felt guilty because, at this very moment, her life had taken a completely different turn.

I reached out and seized her by the wrist again, my grip firm but not too tight.

She tried to squirm out of my grip to no avail.

“Stop struggling,” I said, pulling her close, my eyes boring into hers.

I wasn’t sure exactly what made her comply: the firmness of my tone or the intimidating glare I cast at her. Whatever it was, it worked.

She stopped struggling.

“Now here’s what’s going to happen,” I began, refusing to look away from her face. “You’re going to walk with me to my car, and you’re not going to make a sound.” A pause. “Do you understand?”

Her throat bobbed, lips still quivering as she nodded.

“Good.”

With our fingers intertwined, she walked beside me in absolute silence as we strolled toward my black SUV.

Chapter 5 – Iris

I sat in the back seat beside my captor, my wrists bound in front of me. The car’s cabin had been silent this whole time, filled only by the low hum of the engine.

My heart was racing because I had no idea where he was taking me. Maybe I should’ve taken my chances back in the neighborhood and screamed for help.

Who knows, maybe someone would’ve heard me cry out and come to rescue me? I remembered reading somewhere that it’s unwise to follow your kidnappers to a second location. Now I couldn’t help thinking that coming willingly was a bad idea.

He hadn’t looked at me since we got in the car, and somehow, that unsettled me even more. I glanced out the window, watching the rain slide down the glass in long crooked lines.