Page 16 of Forced into a Bratva Marriage
Whatever they’d planned to do to me before would be nothing compared to what they’d do to me now.
“I’m gonna kill you!” one growled.
I stole a glance over my shoulder and saw the first guy take off his mask and wipe the blood from his nose. He looked upset. Very upset.
Come on!I literally begged the door to open, and finally, it did.
However, my excitement was short-lived when I collided with someone at the entrance. He was tall and muscular, witha familiar scent that invaded my senses. Running into him was like hitting a brick wall, and his presence left me weak in the knees.
His physique filled the doorway, leaving no room for me to slip through. Like a stumbling block, he stood in my path, rigid and unmoving.
Slowly, I raised my head, my heart thumping in my chest. My breath ceased when I saw his face. It was him. The same man from the restaurant. The Mafia boss.
Fuck.
Goosebumps crawled over my skin, and I swallowed hard against the dryness in my throat. He didn’t speak a word, but that cold look in his eyes was enough to quench the fire burning within me seconds ago.
He took two steps forward while I simultaneously took two steps backward. The proximity was suffocating. The scent of cologne filled the air around me, rich yet intoxicating.
I locked eyes with him as I quietly backed away, struggling to steady my heartbeat. His gaze shifted to the men behind me, and his expression tightened ever so slightly, almost as though he were shocked by the state he found them in.
When he halted before me and leaned in, I felt his warm, fresh breath against my skin.
“Resist again, and I’ll forget you’re a lady,” he said, his voice deep and calm, laced with warning.
I swallowed.
For some reason, I lost the will to fight. Not because I was afraid of him, but because his presence made me feel something I had yet to name.
He straightened, brushing off the invisible dust on his black coat. “You’re coming with me.”
My heart sank, yet I didn’t resist. I couldn’t. I just stood there, frozen in place, wondering what it was about this man that weakened me.
Was it his powerful presence? Or the aura he exuded? Whatever it was, I hated how much of an effect it had on me.
This man was able to subdue me without lifting a finger or even trying at all. What the hell?
Who was he exactly?
Chapter 6 – Karik
The air was thick with the scent of tobacco and whiskey as I sat at my desk, cradling a half-empty glass in my hand. The two men across my table couldn’t look me in the eyes. They just stood there, heads bowed in shame.
One had a bandage on his nose, with fresh blood visible beneath. The other was balanced on one foot, his right leg dangling inches above the floor. From what I gathered, the girl had driven a kitchen knife into his boot, pinning his foot to her wooden floor.
The looks on their faces were a mix of embarrassment and anger. If they had the chance right now, they’d rip her to shreds for what she’d done to them. Jaws were locked, and eyes blazed with murderous intent.
I sat there in the quiet of my study, sipping from my glass while admiring her handiwork. These were trained men—murderers, each at least twice her size. Yet she somehow managed to leave permanent marks on their bodies and almost got away.
Interesting.
If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought she was some kind of secret government agent, trained in combat. But that wasn’t the case. She wasn’t a trained fighter. She didn’t have any combat skills. The girl acted on sheer survival instinct. She did whatever it took to stay alive.
For that, she’d earned a fraction of my respect. This was the second time she’d proven she wasn’t crippled by fear. Clearly, I’d underestimated her. She was more dangerous than she looked.
“You mean to tell me that she did this to you two,” I began, my gaze shifting between them, “with her bare hands, alone?”
Vlad, the one with the broken nose, swallowed hard and locked his jaw. “We didn’t expect that kind of resistance from her.” He raised his head and finally met my gaze. “You said you wanted her alive. So we held back our punches.”
