Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Nikolai
It doesn’t take me long to realize that Irina is gone. It’s been too long since she went into the bathroom. She’s either hiding out in there or…
I rush over to the bathroom and barge inside, not caring at all that it’s a woman’s bathroom. Not surprisingly, Irina isn’t in here. So where is she?
With a quick scan of the room, I don’t see her. Did she run from me? Again? After she promised not to?
I did spank her tonight after I promised not to hurt her. But I was so caught up in my anger over how she broke her promise, that I didn’t even consider breaking my own promise.
Irina has run from me. I know it.
And I need to get her back.
Running outside, I look around to see if I can spot her. Hopefully, she hasn’t gotten far.
That’s when I see her… getting into a car. I frown. An uber probably.
But that’s when I see a man shut the door behind her. A man I know. Alexei Smirnov. One of my rivals who’s been trying to steal my territory for years. I didn’t even see him tonight. That’s how good he is at hiding in the shadows.
And the fucker has my wife.
“Alexei!” I shout, making him jump. He takes one look at me before diving into the driver’s seat. “Stop!”
Of course he doesn’t listen. He drives away within seconds. It would be pointless to run after it on my feet. But I can try to catch them by car.
“Get my car,” I snarl at the valet. “Fast. It’s an emergency.
” I caught the license plate number, so I call one of my men, Simon, who’s good at finding information for me, and tell him about the car.
“Track it if you can. Find out Alexei’s home address.
Anywhere he might also own properties. And fast.”
“On it,” he replies before I hang up. Simon is a fast worker but it will still take him a few hours to find all this information for me. And I don’t have hours to waste. I need to get Irina back now.
Alexei will hurt her. He has a reputation for harming women. Raping and beating them is a common occurrence for him.
I can’t let that happen to Irina.
A thought hits me in my gut. Irina didn’t willingly go with Alexei did she? Is she that desperate to get away from me that she’d run off with my enemy?
No. That can’t be. Irina may not love me – yet – but she wouldn’t leave with Alexei of her own accord. She’s been kidnapped by him. I know it.
And I will do everything in my power to save my wife.
My car finally arrives but before I can get inside of it, Ivan comes striding down the front steps. “Nikolai, we should talk.”
“Not now,” I snarl.
Ivan has the fucking audacity to look offended. “I thought about your offer some more. And I’m… I’m willing to work for you. To pay off my debts.”
“That’s great, Ivan. Now I won’t have to kill you. But I don’t have time to discuss this. Your daughter was just taken by one of my enemies.”
Ivan has no reaction, like he doesn’t care about his daughter at all. “If you lose her, then you’ll have no reason to keep me alive.” That sparks fear on his face. Fear for himself. Not his daughter.
“Ivan, we’ll talk about this later. Now I have work to do, like saving your daughter.” I get into my car before he can speak more and rev the engine. I have to get to Irina in time. Before Alexei can hurt her.
And it’s obvious that I’m the only one who actually cares for her safety.
Irina
Alexei doesn’t say a word to me as we drive through the city but I can see the tension in his hands as he grips the steering wheel tight.
He’s anxious… about kidnapping me. Is he worried Nikolai will come for me?
Because I’m sure of it. My husband my still be a stranger to me in some regards but I know one thing: he wants me to be his.
He’ll do anything in his power to get me back.
That’s a comfort I need right now. I should never have run from Nikolai. Yes, he spanked me and it hurt that he broke his promise to me but at least I knew he wouldn’t kill me.
But this man? Alexei. I have no idea what he’s capable of.
He eventually pulls the car up to a small house far outside the city. Its seen better days from the peeling paint to the dirty windows to the overgrown lawn out front. This is a house that people avoid.
What better place to take me to when you don’t want to be found.
Alexei pulls a gun from the glove compartment and aims it at my head. “Get out of the car and if you try to run, I will shoot you.”
I can only nod.
The moment I’m out of the car, Alexei grabs my arm – nowhere near as gentle when Nikolai would touch me – and brings me into the house. He doesn’t let go of me until we’re in a dirty bedroom. The mattress on the floor has stains on in and the carpet is riddled with garbage. It stinks in here.
I can’t stop myself from gagging.
“If you vomit, you’ll have to live with it,” he says. “So I suggest you don’t. You’re going to be here for a while.”
“How long?” I whisper. “What do you plan on doing with me?”
“I plan on making Nikolai give over everything he owes to me just to get you back.”
“But Nikolai and I have only been married for less than a week. He doesn’t love me. He won’t give up everything just to get me back.”
He brings the gun to my temple and taps it. I flinch. “Let’s just see about that. I’ll give him a few days to give everything over to me and if he doesn’t… well, then I’ll kill you. I won’t have any other use for you.” His eyes flick down my body. “Unless you want to become mine.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Do you love your husband? I heard the story. That Nikolai brought you into his life overnight. That you two don’t love each other.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“So, you don’t love him then. If you did, you would have said so.”
I snap my lips together. I have to be smart about this.
Alexei smirks. “You can become mine. Become my wife.”
“I’m already married.”
“Then I’ll kill Nikolai and steal everything he has… including you.” He brings the gun down to my stomach. “I can fuck you. Claim you as my own.”
I shiver.
“Trust me… I’m a better fuck than Nikolai is.”
Something in my expression must give me away because Alexei narrows his eyes and stares at me with a confusion and a slow eagerness that terrifies me. “Unless… Nikolai hasn’t fucked you yet.”
“What?”
“Has he claimed you? You’re young. Are you a virgin?”
I swallow hard. Something tells me I shouldn’t say a word. I can’t give Alexei any more ammunition.
He huffs and backs away from me. “I guess I’ll find out when I fuck you.”
In one quick motion, he swipes the gun against my temple, hitting me so hard, I immediately slump against the mattress. Alexei gets on top of me and punches me in the stomach.
I groan and cough but otherwise, I can’t make a sound. It’s like my throat has seized up. From the hit to my head, my eyes have gone woozy. I can’t make sense of the room.
Alexei punches me in the stomach again. This hurts so much more than Nikolai’s spanking did. Nikolai only did that as a warning but Alexei is hurting me to seriously hurt me.
I’m going to die here.
I can’t let that happen. Not after how my father treated me. Not after everything I’ve been through this past week. It can’t end like this.
That’s when I see a dirty plate on the ground near the mattress. When Alexei raises his hand to hit me again, I dive for the plate, grab it, and smash it against his head. He flinches back and that gives me the chance.
Using the adrenaline inside my body, I kick him in the stomach and scramble to my feet.
Alexei is right behind me as I run from the bedroom, towards the front door.
He grabs me around the waist. One of his hands clamps over my mouth but I only bite down.
With a hiss, he lets me go and I run with everything inside of me towards the front door.
I storm outside but Alexei only catches me. That’s when I scream and scream and scream. A neighbor opens their front door.
“What’s going on out here?” It’s an older man. Frail looking. But he doesn’t hesitate to run over to me when he sees Alexei trying to drag me back into the house. “Let her go. Now.”
“Stay out of this old man,” Alexei hisses.
“Help me. Please,” I beg.
“I’m calling the police.”
At the mention of the police, Alexei lets me go and runs to his car. He drives away in an instant.
I slump to the ground. “Thank you. Thank you.”
“Are you all right?” the old man asks.
“No. I’m not all right. I need my husband.”
“Can I call him for you?”
“I…” I don’t even know his number. “Just call me a taxi. I can get home.” I do know his address, fortunately. It’s my new home after all.
The old man stays by my side as we wait for the taxi to come. “Who was that man who tried hurting you?”
“I don’t know,” I lie. It’s better to not involve this man in mafia business. “It will all just be better once I get home.”
The man pays for the taxi after it arrives.
“You don’t have to do that,” I say.
He gives me a kind grin. “I want to help.”
In an instant, tears stream down my face. I forgot how kind some people can be in this world.
I make it back home and limp inside. It’s hard to walk with my stomach in pain. I fall onto the couch and sleep overtakes me in an instant.
I wake back up to something touching my face. With a jerk, I open my eyes to see Nikolai kneeling beside me.
“Irina?” he asks, surprise in his voice. “How did you get home? How did you…”
“Alexei. I managed to escape.”
“So you came back here?”
“Where else would I have gone?”
“To the police. To the… hospital.” His eyes narrow as he takes in my appearance. “Did that fucker beat you?”
“Yes.”
“And you came here. To our house.”
Seeing how worried Nikolai looks for me warms my heart. He does care, even if he’s a scary Bratva man.
“I tried looking for you,” he explains. “I was searching all of Alexei’s properties I could find but I couldn’t find you. I came back here to regroup and that’s when I saw you.”
“You were out looking for me?”
“Yes. I had to make sure you were ok.”
“You truly care for me, don’t you?”
His eyes soften as he kisses my hand. “I do.”
Without hesitating, despite my pain, I throw my arms around him and hold onto him with all the strength I can muster.
After a beat, Nikolai hugs me back and I know in this moment, Nikolai is the only person I can trust.