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“Ah, it sounds like you’ve arrived. Excellent.”
I cannot make sense of his surroundings. His camera is shaky, like he’s on the move. It’s far brighter on the outside than in, making for an annoying amount of camera flare. The only reason I pause is because I catch a glimpse of something. A wisp of red hair.
“Aurora?”
The camera steadies slightly on her form. There’s a thick cloth gag in her mouth and her hands have been bound behind her back with zip ties. Beside her sits Catherina and Charlotte, both similarly restrained and gagged.
For a moment, I feel relieved. Thank fuck they weren’t caught in the fire. The sensation doesn’t last long, however. Now all I feel is fury.
The roar of a powerful engine almost drowns out my uncle’s voice. They’re not in a car. No, this is something bigger—something faster. One quick glance at the harnesses of the seats gives me my answer. They’re on a plane. I only need one guess to know where they’re going.
He doesn’t show his ugly mug on camera, keeping the phone pointed at Aurora. There’s a frantic look in her eyes, along with something much darker and angrier. She glares, not at Konstantin, but my mother. Aurora attempts to scream something at me, but the cloth in her mouth prevents any intelligible sounds from getting out.
“Let them go,” I snap.
“We’re about to take off, my dear nephew. I’m afraid there aren’t enough parachutes onboard. But if you really want me to—”
“Stop it,” I hiss. “Fuck, just…”
“You will come to me,” Konstantin says calmly. “Once you have landed in Moscow, I will have my men pick you up. Then, and only then, will I return your women to you.”
I want to scream. Curse. Put my fucking fists through a wall. This son of a bitch… Is there no limit to his depravity? They’re all innocent. Why is he so desperate for me to join him at his side? Doesn’t he understand this is the worst thing he could do to inspire any semblance of loyalty?
All I can do is stare at Aurora, whose eyes are red and swollen from crying. I thought she’d be safe here. If I kept tucked away, I thought my uncle wouldn’t be able to harm her. I don’t understand how this could have happened. Her location was only known to me and my brothers. Could there have been some sort of leak? Did someone squeal? I can’t imagine Dimitri, Pyotr, or Luka betraying me or putting our mother in harm’s way. They have no motivation to do such a thing. Sowhat the fuck is going on?
“Don’t keep me waiting, Misha,” Konstantin says before the call ends.
Chapter 24
Aurora
The flight is long and disorienting. They’ve got my wrists tied so tightly my fingers pulse with pain, tingling uncontrollably from the lack of circulation. The moment the call ends, Konstantin helps Catherina to her feet in the hull of the airplane, removing her restraints and gag with an apologetic smile.
“I’m glad to see you never grew out of the theatrics,” he tells her, dipping down to kiss the back of her knuckles like some seventeenth century aristocrat.
“You said you want Mikhail back. This is how you do it.”
I open my mouth wide, forcing my gag out with the tip of my tongue. The fabric slips just enough to let me form proper words. “How could you do this?” I demand, every muscle in my body seething. “You could have just told him the truth.”
She scoffs, glaring down her long nose at me like I’m a worm to be stomped on. “You will never understand,” Catherina says coldly. “You’re not one of us.”
“Enlighten me.”
“He was never going to agree to join me,” Konstantin says. “This is the only way to get him to return to Russia.”
“Mikhail’s going to kill you the second he has a chance,” I snap. Naturally, I don’t know if this is true. He may be uncompromising, but I don’t think he’s capable of murder. I return Catherina’s glare. “And when he finds out you sold me out, he’ll never forgive you.”
“He will,” she says simply. “Once we are made Bratva again, he will understand that everything I’ve done is for a reason. He will thank me.”
I shake my head. “You make no fucking sense.”
“It is not your place to understand our ways.”
I’m convinced the woman’s gone crazy. Does she not understand how giving me up to Konstantin to be used as bait is a betrayal? Is she so desperate to be a part of the Bratva again that she would force her son’s hand? There has to be something bigger going on here. Something I’m not seeing.
Catherina may be a heartless bitch, but she’s not stupid.
What am I not seeing?
