Chapter 28 #2
There was something over my face when I woke up. Not my eyes. It wasn’t a blindfold. It sucked into my mouth when I inhaled.
Panic gripped me as the memories of Manda pressing a sharp little knife into my back assaulted me, but that panic was nothing compared to the fear that assaulted me as the hood was ripped from my head.
Whimpering, I looked around. Manda was in the limo opposite me, looking perfectly composed and beautiful, if you ignored the crazy glazed look in her eyes.
I didn’t know whether it was drugs or a mental illness that put that look in her eyes, but I was guessing both. It made me wonder what Viktor had seen in her to begin with. Maybe she had hidden the crazy from him. More than likely, he had just used her for her body.
“Where am I?”
Next to me, someone cleared their throat, and I turned in shock to see a stranger staring at me. Only he wasn’t a stranger because I was sure I had seen him before.
He had dark hair, kind of floppy, that fell into his eyes, and my eyes raked down his scarred cheek. Acne scars, bad ones.
It hit me all in a rush. Of course, I had seen him before. I had danced with him at Boris’s Christmas party. “Piotre,” I said out loud, and he nodded his head.
“I’m glad you remember, Leah. I have to say it’s a pleasure to see you again.” His eyes darted towards Manda in disgust. “Even if it is under such horrible circumstances.” Steepling his hand under his chin, he studied me. “I hope you won’t hold that against me.”
Hold that against him? I huffed. “And why would I hold you punching me and kidnapping me against you?”
His eyes flashed angrily, and I made a mental note to rein in the anger. I was in a really dangerous position, and I had to be careful.
“I don’t think it’s me you have to worry about,” I said because it seemed like my mouth couldn’t shut up. “My husband is going to kill you.”
From her seat, Manda cackled. “Viktor doesn’t give two shits about you. Trailer trash scum.”
I glared at her. “Never lived in a trailer, you crazy bitch.”
Whoa, even in my own head, I was being stupid, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
“He doesn’t want you, Manda,” I spat. “He has never wanted you. Viktor chose me.”
She leaned forward, the knife flashing in her hand.
“We will see who he chooses when I cut that brat out of your belly,” she slashed forward and would have sliced me open if Piotre hadn’t caught her wrists and squeezed so hard the knife fell to the floor.
He picked it up easily, and with it still in his hand, backhanded the woman across the face so hard that blood poured from her nose.
Ok, I sucked in a breath, leaning back against the seat. Manda wasn’t the one I needed to be afraid of. It was him.
“I told you to behave, Manda.” He went back to sounding bored. “I need Leah in one piece.” His eyes appraised me, and a cruel smile spread across his face when he saw the fear. “At least, for now.”
I swallowed hard and wrapped my arms around myself.
This was bad, really bad.
“So, Leah. Let’s talk.”
I hugged myself harder, forcing my body not to shake, even though I was suddenly so scared that I could pee myself.
Where was Viktor? Surely he had realized what had happened by now and was looking for me, but how would he find me?
I glanced out the dark window and didn’t recognize the neighborhood we were going through.
It looked to be mostly warehouses. How was he going to find me if I didn’t even know where I was?
“Now, now, no tears.” Piotre leaned forward and swiped his thumb under my eyes, but it wasn’t a gentle gesture. He grabbed my chin. “Tears might work on Viktor, but I’m not him.”
His fingers dug into my skin, and I fought the urge to cry out. Yes, it hurt, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I wouldn’t, even though it felt like he was grinding my face into dust.
“I’m not going to cry,” I ground out. “But if you don’t let go of me, Viktor is going to kill you.”
He let me go so suddenly that I fell back, and he cackled out a laugh. “Is that right, Leah? You think my darling big brother will murder me for you?”
I did a double-take. “Brother?”
“Well, half at least,” he shrugged. “You didn’t know?
” He didn’t let me answer. “Not surprised. I don’t think many people do.
It’s all rumors, of course, but I know the truth.
Viktor has everything that was meant to be mine.
He gets the power and the prestige and the beautiful wife.
” His eyes raked over my body, lingering on the curve of my breast. Although you getting knocked up by him makes it more complicated. ”
“What do you want?” I asked again.
“I want what’s in your head, Leah.”
Fuck, did that mean he was going to shoot me?
Catching my look, he laughed even harder. “I want information, Leah, not your brains on the floor. If I wanted you dead, then you would have been dead by now.”
“I won’t betray my husband. I won’t spy on him, and I know nothing about his businesses because he has never confided in me. I’ll tell you what I told his dad. I won’t betray Viktor. I am loyal to him.”
“Yes, you are, and I like that, but tell me, Leah? Do you think he is so loyal to you? Do you think he is keeping you around for any other reason than that you are the incubator for his child?”
“Viktor cares about me.”
“Has he told you that? Has he told you he loves you?”
My lips snapped shut, and my heart sank. Both of them could see it in my face that he hadn’t. And both of them knew Viktor better than I did. Maybe what they said was true. I set my shoulders and sat up straighter. “I love my husband. I won’t betray him.”
Piotre’s eyes glittered with malice. “We will see if you change your tune after—”
“After what?” I couldn’t help the fear that made my voice tremble.
In answer, he nodded to Manda. “Do what you need to do, sweetheart,” he told her, “kick that baby right out of her. It’s one way of getting your man back, but don’t kill her. I don’t need her dead yet.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but Manda grabbed my hair and slammed me into the floor of the car, and then there was nothing but pain as her fists rained down.