Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
KATYA
“ I ’m getting tired of men wanting to have fun with me,” I snap before I can stop myself.
Luca stares at me in surprise before laughing. “You’re a spitfire, I’ll give you that. Now, come sit beside me. It will be the best thing for you.”
Unlike Anton, who I know doesn’t want to hurt me, Luca is a mystery. He obviously kidnapped me to get back at Anton, but does that mean he’ll hurt me? Or will I just have to wait here until Anton arrives?
Don’t be na?ve . Men like this always want to hurt women.
I look toward the door and consider running.
“I wouldn’t,” Luca says, making me startle. “You wouldn’t get far with my guards out there. Just come sit by me, and all will be well.”
“You want Anton to come, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Is he already on his way here?”
A slow smile creeps onto his face. It’s not a good look. “Not yet. Not until you sit down by me.”
I weigh my options and realize that my best one is Anton saving me. God, I can’t believe that. I have to put all my trust into the husband I’m not sure I can trust at all.
Slowly, I sit on the bed next to Luca.
“That’s a good girl.”
I internally cringe. If Anton were to say something like that to me, I wouldn’t be bothered, but with Luca, I feel revulsion. It’s not because Luca is ugly. In fact, he’s handsome in an older man sort of way. But Anton just does something to me I can’t explain. This man doesn’t. All Luca makes me feel is scared and disgusted.
Anton makes me feel scared and aroused.
“Now,” Luca continues, “I want you to lie on the bed.”
My heart skips a beat. “Why?”
“Because I want to touch you. Obviously.”
My entire body reacts on instinct, and I bolt toward the door, but the minute I open it, I’m confronted by the sight of one of his guards. The driver.
He doesn’t say a word as he stares down at me impassively.
“Move,” I demand.
He only shakes his head.
“Come back to my bed,” Luca says. “Now, Katya, this will all be easier for you if you come back now.”
I don’t want to consider the harder option if rape is the easier option.
“I can’t. I can’t let you touch me.”
“See, that’s not up to you, is it?”
The driver grabs me around the waist and plops me on the bed. Before I can get up, he holds me down. No. This can’t be happening. This can’t actually be happening.
Luca grabs onto my breast and squeezes. I flinch, but there’s nowhere for me to go.
“I can see why Anton likes you. You have a great body. One I’d like to take for myself. Tell me all the ways Anton has taken you.”
I go still. If I tell this man I’m still a virgin, I don’t know what he’ll do to me. If I make up a lie about how Anton touched me, then he might be able to spot it, and that could get me into trouble.
“He shaved me,” I say. This, at least, is the truth.
Luca frowns. “Shaved you?”
I nod toward my waist. “Down there. Those are the things he likes to do.”
He lets go of my breast and sits back. “Interesting. You know, Katya, today is your lucky day. As you can see,”—he motions to the bandage around his waist— “I’m hurt. So, I can’t take you how I want. But what I really want is to make Anton suffer for thinking he could get out of our little arrangement. Jack, take a picture of her.”
Jack let’s go of me and pulls out his phone. before snapping a picture of me lying on the bed with my dress around my waist and fear in my eyes. I know there’s fear in my eyes.
The only question is: will Anton see that fear? And will he come for me?
Luca’s smile is smug. It makes me want to smack him so hard he sees stars for weeks. “Let me see.”
Jack hands over his phone, and Luca nods. “Good. Send that to Anton. I want him to come. But not here. Take Katya to the warehouse, and send Anton there. I’ll be there shortly.”
Jack nods like the good employee he is, grabs me around the waist, and hoists me over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” I demand.
“We’re inviting Anton to join the game,” Luca says.
His words chill me to my core.
ANTON
I get the picture of Katya when I’m at a meet up with Dimitri, Maxim, and Nik.
“How have you been treating my sister?” Dimitri asks as we sit at a private booth at Dimitri’s new club. He had to buy a new one after I blew up the previous one. Not going to lie, that was pretty funny.
“I’ve been treating her like a princess. Just ask her.”
Dimitri looks away from me.
“Ah. You haven’t spoken to her since you married her to me. Why’s that, I wonder? Filled with shame?”
“Just shut the fuck up,” he growls.
“Enough,” Nik says, holding his hand up. “It’s time to discuss expansion ideas for our gun shipments. If we could get them around the country more easily, we’d turn a much bigger profit. Anton, any ideas?”
“Actually, yes. We need fewer middle men and more men we can trust. A few loyal people will strengthen our position. There can’t be any doubt about anyone we work with where their loyalties lie.”
“Funny,” Dimitri remarks, “considering I’m still not fully sure your loyalty lies with us.”
“I married your sister for peace. I’m loyal.”
“You better be. Because I could take Katya back. Save her from you.”
“And if you do that, we’ll go right back to war, and I don’t think anyone wants that,” Maxim says. “Let’s just keep the peace.”
My phone pings with a text. It’s an image.
When I pull it up, I see it’s Katya lying on a bed, her dress disheveled. Utter terror in her eyes.
There’s a caption with the image: I’ll be waiting for you with your wife . An address is below it.
Luca.
I check Katya’s tracker on her phone and find that it says she’s near the library. I just figured she was still with Evie. I was trying to give her the freedom she asked for.
But now, Luca has her. Look how that turned out.
Fuck.
I clench the phone in my hand. “I need to leave.”
“What’s going on?” Nik asks.
“I have something I need to handle.” There’s no way I’m going to tell Dimitri about Katya. If I did, he’d probably try to kill me right now, and I’d have to kill him, and it would be ugly, and then Katya would never forgive me for killing her brother. The whole thing would be messy.
And while I normally love a good mess, right now, I need to save my wife.
Dimitri stares at me with distrust. “What do you need to handle?”
“That’s for me to know.”
“We’re business partners now. If you’re involved in something, Anton, we should know about it.”
“I agree,” Maxim says. Nik also nods.
Damn it.
“I understand. But this is a personal issue … with my mother.”
“Oh,” Dimitri says, slumping back in his seat.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re itching at the chance to kill me despite the deal we made?”
Before Dimitri can snap back at me, Nik cuts in. “Just go, Anton. We’ve got this.”
“Thanks, Nik.” I pat him on the shoulder, and he tries not to flinch. Good for him.
I hurry out of the nightclub and head to the address Luca gave me. Am I walking into a trap? Obviously. You’d have to have no brain cells to see it’s a trap.
But I can’t let Katya get hurt because of my own actions. I like her too much to watch her die.
Or worse.
I arrive at an old warehouse. Why is it always warehouses?
My gun is drawn and ready to fire at anyone who might come at me.
But no one does. There’s no opposition as I make it into the warehouse. Still, I keep my guard up.
I walk into a large, open room, Katya is in the center of it tied to a chair. A man stands behind her.
Behind him is Luca, who’s leaning on a cane. Well, I did just stab him in the abdomen a couple of days ago. I’ll give him a pass on the cane.
“Anton,” Katya gasps. She looks so relieved to see me, as well as … surprised? Did she really not think I would come for her?
Not going to lie, that fucking stings a little bit.
“Hi, Anton,” Luca says.
“Hi yourself.” I nod toward his cane. “Looking a little worse for wear there, aren’t you?”
“No thanks to you.”
“I figured.”
“If you shoot me right now, I’ll have Jack here shoot Katya in the head. So, keep that in mind. It would be in your best interest to drop your gun.”
“But if I drop my gun, you’re clearly going to kill me.”
“What gave you that impression?”
I smirk. “Funny.”
Katya’s eyes flick behind my shoulder. “Anton!”
I turn around too late. Someone slams something against my head, and I crumple to the floor. I can’t see anything for a couple of seconds. When my vision finally clears, I see that another of Luca’s guards just smacked me in the head with a piece of wood.
Luca hobbles over and takes my gun from the ground. “There. That wasn’t so hard, was it? You see, Anton. I thought we could have fun together. And I still can’t wait until your new business partners find out what you’ve been up to. But just to be on the safe side, I’ve rigged this entire place to go up in flames in a matter of minutes. Death by fire for you is so poetic, don’t you think?”
He nods at his guards before limping out of the warehouse. His men follow and shut the door behind them.
Immediately, I run to Katya and begin to untie her.
“You actually came for me,” she says.
“Of course, I did. You’re my wife.”
Her cheeks flush. “I just wasn’t sure.”
“Baby, you’re mine now. I’m not letting you go just yet.”
She offers me a tentative smile, which gives me a spark of hope. But that hope is dashed when I smell smoke.
The walls around us begin to light up with flame. Within seconds, an inferno surrounds us.
“We need to get out of here.”
“Obviously,” she snaps.
“I can tell you’re scared, so I’ll forgive you for that.”
She clings to me—actually clings. I never thought Katya would be this grateful to see me. It’s kind of refreshing. Most people run from me screaming. I don’t think anyone has ever been grateful to see me before in my entire life.
“We’ve to get to an exit. The issue is, we can’t get to that door.” I point at the one Luca left from. It’s already covered in flames. “And that one”—I nod toward the back of the warehouse— “is too far away. By the time we get there, it will be too difficult get out of.”
“You’re the one who likes to blow things up. Surely, you know how to handle this.”
“Normally, I bring a mask with me to help with the smoke.”
She pauses, then rolls her eyes. “Of course, so, we’re screwed.”
“Pretty much.”
She nods, resignation in her eyes, and the sight of it disappoints me. I never thought Katya would give up.
“So, this is it,” she says. “We’re going to die in here. I’m going to die a virgin.”
“Normally, I’d say we could rectify that, but I don’t think so at this moment.”
She manages to laugh a little. “Anton, thank you for coming for me. I wasn’t sure if you would.”
“You’re my wife now. I’d go to hell and back to save you.”
Her eyes widen. Slowly, she takes my hand in hers. “So, if we’re going to die in here, I want to know something special about you. Anything. It needs to be personal.”
I consider her words, my mind flicking through all the things I’ve been through in my life. “I’ve never been in love,” I finally settle on. “But I think, if given the time, I could have fallen in love with you.”
“You mean that?”
“I have nothing to hide if we’re going to die here. But if we survive, then that doesn’t mean you have free rein over me. I still have to keep you in your place, baby.”
“I’m not sure if I could ever fall in love with you,” she admits.
“Ouch.”
“It’s the truth. But … I’ll never get the chance to see if that can change.”
The sadness in her eyes is too much. “Fuck this. Katya, we’re not going to die here. We can find a way out. We can go through a window if we can’t go through the doors. I’m not a man who ever gives up. Can you say the same?”
“Seeing as I’m not a man at all, I can’t.”
“You’re messing with me, right?”
She nods, and a slow smile breaks across her face. “I don’t like to give up either.”
“So, then, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I take in the burning building around us. So far, the flame is at a distance. We’re not in danger of burning. Yet. What we have to worry about is smoke inhalation.
“Here.” I rip off a piece of my shirt. “Wrap this around your mouth.” She does as I tell her, and I do the same with my undershirt. “This will only help a little.”
“What do we do next?”
“We move slow but fast.”
“How the hell is that possible?”
“If we run, we’ll inhale too much smoke, so we need to take even breaths. But if we go too slow, we’re going to die in here.”
“Ok. Slow but fast.”
I take her hand. “Don’t let go of me for anything. I’m gonna get us out of here, baby.” I pull her along toward a hallway near the back of the warehouse. The flames haven’t reached this part yet, so it’s a little easier to breathe back here.
There’s no door in sight, but my eyes land on a window far down the hallway.
“Come on.” I tug on Katya’s hand, and she follows me without complaint. I guess it only took a dangerous situation to get Katya to listen to me. Who would have guessed?
Once we reach the window, I slam my elbow into it, but the glass doesn’t break. It doesn’t even crack.
“What the fuck?” I snarl.
“Here.” She bends down and picks up a brick. “Try this.”
“Good thinking.”
“Thanks.”
I throw the brick through the window, and the glass comes shattering down onto the ground. There’s nothing blocking the window, which is good.
“Come on. I’ll hoist you up.”
Katya steps into my hands, and I help her over the window. She cries out once she gets onto the ledge.
“Are you ok?”
“Glass.”
“Just get out. We’ll deal with the glass afterward.”
“Ok,” she whimpers before bringing her other leg over the edge and dropping down on the other side.
I hoist myself over and drop down onto the ground beside Katya.
We both stare at each other for a long moment before she throws her arms around me. I don’t hesitate to hug her back.
“We made it out,” she says.
“We made it out.”
She pulls back and takes her makeshift mask off, giving me a large, beautiful smile. “We made it!”
“God, you’re beautiful.”
“Anton, now is not the time.”
“Right.”
I help her stand up, taking off my own mask. Sucking in a large breath of fresh air feels like really good sex. Even better, in fact. We’re alive.
Katya’s legs are bleeding from the window glass.
“We need to get you to the hospital,” I say.
We run around the side of the warehouse, then stop when we see Luca and his guards waiting. For us, I realize. Luca knew a burning building couldn’t keep me down.
“Ah!” he says. “There you two are. I was wondering when you’d make it out.”
“Katya, run.” I push her back the way we came, and she doesn’t hesitate to move. I quickly follow her. I hear footsteps right behind us. A quick glance back shows Luca’s two guards are chasing after us.
Just fucking great.
I don’t have a gun, so I just need to improvise.
We run past a trash can, and I stop to grab the lid.
“What are you doing?” Katya screams.
“This.” I chuck the lid at one of the guards, making him stumble. Not what I was hoping for, I’ll be honest.
“Why did you do that?” she asks as I resume running.
“I was hoping to hit him in the head.”
“That didn’t work.”
“Clearly.”
I push Katya behind the other side of the warehouse. All around us are other old, abandoned warehouses. I think that will work just fine.
“In there,” I say, pointing at another warehouse.
“Why? They’ll find us.”
“We need to hide until I can turn the attack on them.”
“You make it sound easy.”
I flash her a grin. “It’s easy for me.”
I try the door only to find it’s locked. “Fuck.”
“Great idea.” She looks behind her and gasps. “They’re coming. Anton!”
“This way.” We run around the side of the new warehouse. The closest window will have to do. “Find something for me to throw at the window.”
She looks around before picking up a piece of wood.
“This isn’t strong enough.”
“I’m trying here! Don’t criticize me.”
“Ok, ok. Jeez.” I look around, conscious of the footsteps getting closer, before I spy a dirty glass cup rolled onto its side. Picking it up, I throw it at the window, and the glass shatters.
I eye Katya’s bloody legs. “This won’t be fun. Be careful.”
“I’m already hurt.”
But you could die . And that’s the last thing I want.
I help Katya into the warehouse, then drop down beside her. “This way.” We run down a hallway and into a small back room. It must have been an office once upon a time.
“Get down,” I whisper, nudging her behind the only desk in the room.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to do what I always do. Survive.”
By some miracle, there’s a baseball bat in the corner of the room. I grab it and lie in wait.
Soon, two sets of footsteps can be heard getting closer to our hiding spot. My heart is pounding in my ears, matching the beat of their footsteps.
I can see Katya from where I’m standing, and I hope they won’t see her. I give her a nod, and she returns it. This is the first time we’ve ever been on the same page. If we make it out of this, I guess I’ll be able to thank Luca for helping my marriage.
How fucking sweet is that.
The footsteps stop outside the room we’re in. The door slowly opens, and before the guard can even react, I slam the baseball bat against his chest, making him grunt and fall backward.
The other guard, Jack, starts firing his gun. The bullets land in the desk. I sneak a glance toward Katya and see she’s still alive. Huddled into a ball and looking scared shitless but alive.
The second Jack stops firing, I run out from behind the wall and slam the bat against his head. He stumbles back and drops to the ground.
The other guard lets out a snarl and runs at me, but I dodge his attack and hit him in the knee. He falls right to the ground, too.
“This is so easy now,” I say, swinging the bat around.
His eyes widen right before I smash the bat on his head. His eyes practically explode out of his skull before he falls over, dead.
Jack is still alive, though.
He tries to get back up but fumbles.
“Head injury, huh?” I ask. “Such a bitch. You know something? It’s incompatible with life.”
The bat slams down on his head, killing him instantly.
Both guards look good dead on the floor. Just for the fun of it, I slide my finger through the blood on the bat and give it a taste.
“Are they dead?” Katya asks, poking her head out. “What are you doing?”
“Having fun.”
“I can see that.” Her eyes settle on the dead guards. “You actually did it.”
“I told Luca not to underestimate me. Nobody ever listens, you know?”
“Anton,” she snaps. “I just want to get back home.”
Home.
I think it’s the first time she’s ever called my house her home.
“First, a doctor.” I nod at her legs. “You’re all cut up and bleeding. You could get an infection. I didn’t work so hard to save your life just for you to die.”
“Ok. Doctor first. Then take me home. I’m just … tired.” She stumbles, and I catch her before she can hit the ground. Katya feels good in my arms. What can I say? I think she was made for me.
“Come on.” I lift her up and carry her out of the warehouse. It’s easy to unlock the door from the inside.
Luca is gone by the time we make it back to the front of the burning warehouse. Coward. Sent his men to do his dirty work and didn’t stay around to watch the results.
He probably expects his men to report in and tell him how they killed Katya and me. Well, he’s going to get a surprise, that’s for sure.
I take Katya to the nearest hospital. Cuts on the legs won’t require a police report like a gunshot would.
Since Katya is actively bleeding, a nurse quickly takes her into a room to be looked over. She tries to keep me from coming inside, but Katya tells her I’m her husband.
“All right,” the nurse says, eyeing me over in a way I don’t like.
The nurse inspects Katya’s cuts. “Nothing looks too deep. You got lucky. But we’ll have to clean them up, and I’ll need the doctor to look you over in case you need a prescription for antibiotics.”
“Ok.” Katya’s eyes flutter closed.
“Is she ok?” I ask.
The nurse gently shakes Katya’s arm. “Katya?”
Her eyes flutter back open. “I’m sorry. I’m just exhausted.”
“Let me get the doctor just in case. Stay awake if you can.” The nurse rushes out of the room.
A minute later, a young man enters with the nurse. Dr. Casey, his nametag reads.
“Let’s get you looked over,” he says, giving Katya a charming smile. I hate him already.
“We’ll need to ask you some questions,” the nurse says to her. “In private.”
“Without me?” I ask.
“It’s procedure,” she explains.
“Fine. I’ll wait outside.”
“Wait,” Katya says. “No. Anton. Please, stay with me. I want you here.”
I never thought I’d hear those words in a million years, but they settle into me with a happiness I’ve never felt before.
I ignore the wary look the nurse gives me and plant myself by Katya’s side, where I belong.