Page 24 of Forced By the Bratva

Everything about him screamed “danger,” making my knees weak. My heart was banging hard and fast, my pulse racing. How could a single stare instill this much fear in me? Who was the man, anyway?

Then it hit me.

He was definitely a Bratva member—most likely a high-ranking official.

Wait. If he’s a Bratva official, then he’s not supposed to have seen me at all, I thought to myself, hands trembling slightly on the railing.

Fuck.

I managed to break his hypnotic gaze and pulled away from the balcony. My legs were shaking beneath me as I rushed back to my room in quick steps. While in motion, I overheard fragments of their conversation.

They’d switched to English by now, but the only words I was able to catch were “Eliminate the witness.” A sudden chill washed over me, causing my heart to race even faster.

Whoever this man was, he seemed to have some kind of authority over Ilya, meaning my captor-slash-protector had now been ordered to end me for good.

I pushed my room door open, barged inside, and locked it behind me before withdrawing from the room. My breathing was ragged, my head filled with a million and one possible outcomes of this stupid mistake I’d just made.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

I combed my hair backward, thinking of the next thing to do. I thought about sneaking out the window and attempting to escape this mansion. But my room was on the fifth floor, and jumping down from such a height would be foolish.

Even if, by some miracle, I made it past all the guards roaming around the estate, how was I going to get back to the city? This mansion was built in the middle of a forest.

The more I thought about my current situation, the more I realized just how screwed I was.

Suddenly, the door handle began rattling violently, jerking up and down as someone tried to force the door open from the other side.

My stomach jumped, and my hands went clammy, every muscle in me tense.

“Iris, open up.” It was Ilya on the other side of the door.

I swallowed hard, unsure whether to trust him.

“Open up, Iris.”

I didn’t realize I’d been slowly retreating until my back hit the edge of the table behind me.

The rattling stopped.

But before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I heard the jingle of keys. The next thing I knew, the door unlocked with a soft click and then creaked open.

There he was, standing at the entrance with that blank expression on his face.

Instinctively, I grabbed a pencil from the table and held it up like a makeshift knife. “Don’t come any closer!” I barked, my chest heaving.

“I’ve seen this movie before, and I know how it ends.” He slowed but didn’t stop coming toward me. “Put that away.”

“No.” I held it more tightly, refusing to look away from him.

His polished shoes scuffed against the marble floor.

“Stay back! I’m warning you!”

“Why?”

“Because I won’t hesitate to stab you with this.”

His brows arched. “A pencil?”