Page 17 of Turned By The Pawn


Font Size:  

“What happened?”

“Vlad called her back early, we leave tomorrow to go back to the city.” I hear him curse and relay what I just said to the others.

“Why? What changed?” I take a deep breath and blurt it out.

“Mav is alive and Vlad has us all over the news. The four of you can’t leave that bunker. The local army is patrolling the streets and so are the cops. As soon as I can get you safe passage to a private airport, the four of you are to get the fuck out of Russia.”

“You don’t give the fucking orders around here–”

“I do now, Bishop! I can’t fucking fight to stay alive while worrying about the four of you being discovered. Go home to the girls andwhenI finish this shit I’ll come back.” A beat of silence passes before he finally speaks again.

“You listen and you listen well,little brother.” Hearing those two words from his mouth has a lump forming in my throat and tears welling in my eyes. “One thing you need to learn is, Murdoch’s don’t leave each other behind. Murdoch’s stick together till the fucking bitter end. It is our greatest strength but also our greatest weakness at the same time.”

I don’t know why I do it but I can’t hold in this secret any longer, if I don’t make it out alive I need them to know. “Rook is alive.” The sharp intake of breath from the other end of the phone tells me he heard me loud and clear. “I can’t explain everything right now but the Bratva have Rook. I’ll get his whereabouts out of her. If shit goes south, you find Rook and save him.” I decide to tell them something else I learned since I’m apparently in the mood to share secrets. “Mav hired Vin to kill Car. Tony also knew he was a rat. He brought Mav in as part of the deal with Vlad. He had to teach Mav everything but you ruined that plan when you shot him.” I can hear the other three in the background shouting and promising to kill me, hurt me, help me blah blah blah. I ignore them as I wait for Bishop to speak. I know I fucked up by keeping this secret from them but I had no choice!

“Why are you telling me this now?” At the sound of Bishop’s voice the other three quieten down. I know now that I’m on speakerphone, so I speak to all of them and hope like hell they will forgive me for not coming to them sooner.

“I should have told you when I first found out but I couldn’t. Then when I finally saw you all at the fight I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to give you false hope.”

“How do you know he’s alive?” Comes from Knight.

“Anya gave me a picture of him,” I answer honestly.

“What did you see in the picture?” I want to lie and tell Bishop he looked well and safe but I don’t.

“He was chained up, blood and dirt covering him, he… he looked terrified, Bish.” Chaos erupts from their side, I can hear things being smashed and shouts ensue.

“Give me that!” Is all I hear before King is barking down the phone. “Fuck the Bratva, fuck that bitch, your one job is to find the whereabouts of our brother. I don’t give a fuck about anything else. You find Rook, Gage, and don’t fucking ever hide shit like this again!” he roars down the line before he ends the call.

“Fuck!” I mutter beneath my breath before scrubbing a hand down my face. I knew they were going to be pissed but I didn’t expect them to be this mad. The fact Bishop didn’t rebuke King tells me that he agrees. He wants our brother home safe more than he wants to end the Bratva.

But what if I can do both?

* * *

Laying here next to Anya with my arms wrapped around her, a deep ache begins to form in my chest. I lied not only to my brothers but to her as well. The first night she came to me and gave me the picture of Rook wasn’t the first time I’ve seen her. I watched her come and go from the club for weeks. She always came in with a vibrant determined look in her eyes, when she left she always looked defeated and beaten down. A few times I spotted bruises on her arms, legs and face. Now though, I can feel it in the pit of my gut that those bruises weren’t always from her fighting in the cage.

My hold on her tightens. I pull her in closer and love feeling her naked body pressed against my own. When I finally made it into the room with our dinner, we ate in silence then she lead to me to the shower where she stripped us both, then gave me the best fucking blow job of my life. Of course, I had to return the favor numerous times and make sure she was sated and knew that her pleasure belonged to me. I told her that until I leave Russia, my cock would be the only one, she would be coming on, but the truth is, each time I bury myself in her heat, the need I feel for her grows rather than lessens. When the time comes, will I be able to let her go?

I startle slightly when she speaks, I thought she was asleep. “Tomorrow, you need to act like nothing has happened between us. The Crows don’t view me as a person, they see me as Vlad’s heir and assume I want what he does. You cannot show them that you care for me, Gage, they need to think you hate me.”

“I don’t give a fuck what people think, killer.” She rolls over in my hold and cups my cheek with her tiny hand, her eyes are filled with anguish.

“I’m getting that but this isn’t about you. If anyone knows I mean something to you they will use me to get to you.” Not wanting to acknowledge the knot that is forming in my chest from her words, I decide to change the subject all together.

“Why have you not spoken to Koby?”

“Why do you care?” she counters with a slight bite to her tone.

“Because she is… well I guess her, Ally and Kiara are like best friends–no, they’re more like sisters to me. Her not hearing from you really fucked her up. She thought you had died.” She takes a shuddering breath and closes her eyes as if she’s in pain.

“Someone did die, but it wasn’t me,” she whispers, agony is clear in her tone. I tighten my hold on her and place a tender kiss to her forehead, somehow this conversation has transported us from just fucking to–more than fucking?

“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask.

“I don’t regret for a second helping Dimitri and Katarina–sorry, Koby escape Russia. I just wish saving one friend didn’t cost me another but I wasn’t that fortunate.” I can see the pain etched on her beautiful face and I want to wipe that look off her and never see it again. “My cousin, Dante, he is… was Alek’s younger brother, was murdered by my father. Vlad blamed him for his wife being able to flee and because I wouldn’t give up her location, he made Dante pay the price for my sins.” The pieces all come together for me now.

“You didn’t call because you knew he would be watching you and waiting for you to contact her so he could hunt her down?” She burrows her face against my chest and nods. Fuck, this girl has been through as much shit as my family and yet she somehow is able to still see the good in the world. I make a promise to myself right here, when I leave Russia, I’m not leaving her behind.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like