Page 46 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
He looks down at my hand, and then draws it back, tugging it out of my grasp like he can hardly believe I would bother with such a thing.
“You know, Maya,” he replies, his tone almost mild. “I don’t believe you could.”
And, with that, he takes the key in his hand, unlocks the door, and leaves, making sure to bar it tight before he goes. I stand there for a second, still staring at the spot he was standing, trying to make sense of what he just said to me.
And I realize that he’s right. There’s no way I could ever just walk away from Anton, especially not now I’m carrying his child. The connection the two of us share already feels intense in ways I have never experienced before, and I would not be able to live with myself if I just turned my back on it like it was nothing.
Besides... I know what it’s like to grow up with an absent father. Even when my own dad was technically around, his mind was always on his next bet, never with me.
And it killed me growing up, to have that gap in my life, to see other children with their happy families and to know that I would never have it for myself. It was the reason I stuck by him till the end, the reason I was close enough for his debts to be transferred to me.
And even despite that, I don’t want my child to go through the same thing, with a father who is never around, a question mark that they never truly get an answer to. Anton’s world might be dark and dangerous, but he is a light in the midst of it—fiercely protective, willing to do just about whatever it takes to makesure that the people he cares about don’t come to any harm. I know he’ll extend that same attitude to our child, if not an even more intense version. If I can just get out of here, I know that he’s the man I want to do this with, no matter what danger might come with it.
But the question is whether I can survive whatever Artem has planned for me.
And it’s one I still don’t yet know the answer to.
22
ANTON
“Answer me!”
I roar into Doctor Anatoly’s face as I land another blow on his jaw, sending blood spraying across the wall of the bar storage room that one of my businesses operates out of. He groans, twisting his body away from me, but I’m not about to let him get away that easily.
I grab his hair, forcing his face to mine. “What did you tell him?”
“I didn’t tell him anything!” he protests, squirming, as two of my men stand at his sides to pin his arms in place. “I thought—the two of you were family, I thought that he knew anyway!”
“So why do we have footage of you in one of his bars, getting drunk and speaking to him all night while he slipped you pills under the table?”
The doctor tries to wrench himself loose, but there’s no point, my men have him in an iron grip. I straighten up, pacing, my jaw clenched as I try to think of a new method of interrogation that will get the information I so desperately need.
The doctor is the leak, the one who let Artem know that there was more to Maya’s presence in my life that just a grudge against him. One of my men, who had been watching Artem’s bars to ensure that the girls were safe, had mentioned seeing him there the other night, and it hadn’t taken long till we had pulled the footage and proved the obvious.
“Did he say where he was going to take her?” I demand, turning to him once more, making sure he catches sight of the gun on my hip.
He shakes his head. “He didn’t say anything about taking her at all!” he replies, blood gurgling briefly at the back of his throat as he tries to get the words out. “If he had, I would never... I would never...”
“You’ve worked for him before, hmm?” I press. “So where did you work for him? Where did he have you tending to his men?”
The doctor’s eyes—well, the one I can still see, since the lid is mostly unswollen—droop to the ground as he tries to remember. I know that he will do anything to save his own life right now, and I need to be certain that he is not going to try and bullshit me to get me off his case.
“I... there were these office blocks,” he replies, finally, pressing on one of his loose teeth with his tongue and wincing. One of the guards at his side yanks his backwards, forcing him to sit up straight and look at me.
“Ah,” he grunts in pain. I make no effort to stop them. He deserves to suffer, for the danger he has put Maya and the baby in.
“They used to be for this old paper factory,” he goes on, furrowing his brow, hair matted to his skin with sweat and blood. “I can take you there, I remember the directions...”
“Give me the address,” I insist.
His eyes dart from side to side, like he is calculating his chances of getting out of here if he does what I say. “No,” he shoots back. “I can show you where to go. But Artem never gave me the address, I don’t know exactly where it is.”
I growl in irritation. I know what he’s doing, but every second that ticks by is another wasted. We’ve already passed three hours as it is, and Artem’s warning is echoing in my head. Just a couple more hours, and she’ll be gone.
I can’t allow that to happen.
“Put him in one of the cars,” I order my men, straightening up and turning for the door. “You fuck with me, Anatoly, and I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in your brain. You hear me?”
