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After dressing in some sweats and a shirt, I make my way back to her room. I make sure no one is watching when I slip inside her room and quietly close the door behind me. I make my way to her bathroom only to find her standing in the middle of the room with a towel wrapped around her, her hair wrapped in a towel as well. I frown at her before closing the space between us and gripping her arm as I lead her back into her room.
“What the hell are you doing?” she snaps.
“I told you to wait for me, you could have fucking slipped on the tiles and in your state, you wouldn’t have been able to break your fall.” I turn her and crowd her space until the backs of her legs hit her bed, she gently sits down, winces a couple times but doesn’t make a sound. Her face is free of blood but bruises cover most of the surface, her chest is also black and blue. I clench my hands into fists at my side and grind my teeth in anger. What fucking twisted fucker could do this to a woman?
“It’s worse than it looks,” she says quietly as she grips my hand in one of her tiny ones. I shake my head denying her claim.
“Don’t bullshit me. I fight for a living, Anya. I run the fight scene back home and there is no fucking way I would have let that fight happen tonight at my gym.” Her eyes soften as she gazes up at me, a small smile lifts the corner of her mouth.
“I would love to visit this place you described. The school I was at in America was just as bad as it is here.”
“Why the fuck would you want to stay here then? If you help me do this–” She leaps from the bed so fast ignoring her pain as she clamps a hand over my mouth. Her eyes are wide with fright as she shakes her head and leans forward, I lean down so she can whisper in my ear.
“The bath was running before to hide our conversation, the walls in this house have ears Gage. You need to watch what you say because I assure you, someone is always listening and you have already said too much.” I want to blame it on the fact that I am still riding the high of my own orgasm but the truth is, I just want to see her reaction.
“So, you mean your father was probably listening to me get myself off in the shower to thoughts of his little girl?” She gasps and reels back in shock, her flushed cheeks, wide eyes and the way her mouth parts slightly, has a small chuckle escaping me. “You need help to change?” She nods but the move seems robotic. She tells me which drawers to grab clothes out of, once I have everything, I dump them on the edge of the bed as she drops her towel. This time, I don’t stop for a snack as I help her into her lace panties and sleep shorts. She hisses and flinches as I help her into her shirt and my anger spikes all over again.
“Tomorrow, Vor and Alexi have to head back to town for a few hours, you will have about forty minutes to do what it is you need to before Krill arrives.” I nod my head. “Vlad’s office is on the second floor, third door on the right. I’ll distract Mora while you do your thing. You need to be fast, Gage. If you’re caught, I won’t be able to help you. You won’t be able to bring your brothers in. I thought the place would be empty, I was wrong.”
“Who else is here besides the butler?”
“There are always guards stationed at the gate round the clock, four more patrol the grounds but none of them come inside the house unless called for. He has a separate security system in his office, the code was Katarina’s birthday but it has been years since I have been in there. If the alarm sounds, all the guards will be notified and so will Vlad and the other captains.” Well fuck, that makes this whole thing a hundred times fucking harder to accomplish. I’m not like Knight and can’t hack. He and Vin could probably crack the code in five seconds, me on the other hand, I suck at that type of shit.
“How long do I have before the alarm sounds?” The uneasy look on her face tells me I’m not going to like her answer.
“You have thirty seconds from the moment you open the door.” I curse beneath my breath. Vlad is a paranoid motherfucker to have a separate alarm system for his office. One thing is clear though, for him to be that paranoid means everything I need is in that office. I’m taking a huge risk here. If I’m caught, I’m dead. If I don’t do this, I lose the only chance we may have at taking him down for good. “If you trigger the alarm, the whole house will go into lock down and there will be no way out. This is the only chance you will have. After Vlad returns, my cousin will be staying here.”
Nodding my head, I hold her gaze as I speak. “I do this, I get the intel I need and we take your father down and replace you as the head of the Bratva, you give me Rook.” For a nano second, her eyes shift and I tense. I’m good at reading people, really fucking good and the shift of her eyes just now, tells me she is hiding something. I grip her arms and yank her to me, she flinches in pain but I don’t give a shit. I bend so I’m right in her face, she tries to hold her composure, but it falters. “Tell me the fucking truth, where is my brother?”
She tries to pull free but I tighten my hold, not caring that I’m hurting her. “I told you, give me what I want and I’ll give you your brother but not before then!” I release her with a hard shove. She stumbles back and catches herself on the edge of the bed, giving me a filthy look.
I eye her up and down with disgust. “You fuck me over, Anya, and I will take away the thing you want most in this world, don’t fucking push me!” I spit out as I storm from her room, uncaring if I’m caught by any of the other guards. Right now, I could use a fucking fight to take my frustration out on someone. That girl is a mind fuck. She got under my skin tonight and I can’t allow that to happen again.
Anya
Sitting at the breakfast counter sipping my coffee has me feeling all types of emotions. I used to sit up here and watch my mother bake shortbread cookies for Christmas. We would decorate them, then leave them out for Santa on Christmas Eve. I hate that I don’t have many memories of her, I was seven when she died of some unknown illness. I was stupid to believe that lie. I know deep down inside of me that Vlad had her killed. He only married her out of duty to the Bratva. He never loved my mother, just needed her to make him an heir and even then she failed. There were complications when she gave birth to me. I was too young to understand why but I got a hold of her medical file a couple years ago and found out she had to have an emergency hysterectomy. She would never be able to carry another child–a son. Therefore, she was now useless to Vladimir and there was no reason to keep her around any longer. I’m surprised he even let her live for seven years after my birth.
I push away those memories when I hear the back door open and close. Footsteps sound out in the living room and I wait for whoever it is to come to me. Since Vlad isn’t here, I’m in charge and every one of these assholes hate it. Vor, Alexi and Krill stalk into the kitchen with grim looks on their faces. I straighten on my stool and keep mydon’t fuck with memask in place. All of these men that surround me daily see me as a cold-hearted bitch. I like it that way as it keeps them on their toes and me out of their fantasies.
“Vyplyunut ego,” (Spit it out.)I snap. Vor and Alexi both look to Krill, waiting for him to say whatever it is that has them looking like they swallowed a lemon.
“We need you to pack a bag and be back in the city tonight.” I eye Krill warily. He won’t hold my gaze, which can only mean one thing. Out of the three of them, Alexi is the one I don’t trust. Krill and Vor may leer and enjoy patting me down but I know they hate it when Vlad lays down the law and punishes me. Each of these men has tried to shield me from it, they can’t stop it though and we all know it.
“Alexi, find Gage and bring him to me,” I bark. He looks to the other two, who refuse to pay him any mind. He mumbles under his breath as he stomps from the room like a spoiled child not getting their way. I give a minute before I focus back on the two guards in front of me. I may trust them but not enough to divulge any of my secrets as at the end of the day, they still work for Vlad. “Why does he want me back?”
Vor drops his gaze to the floor. Krill doesn’t cower, instead he meets my stare as he speaks. “You have another fight tonight.” My eyes widen in surprise, Vlad has never made me fight two nights in a row. I’m still fucking hurting from the beating I took from Andreas, there is no way I will make it out of that cage tonight. I know it and by the looks on both the guys faces, they know it as well. Today is going to be my last day. I’m not going to fucking waste it sitting here with these assholes.
Resigned to my fate I stand and place my mug on the counter, then pat Krill on the shoulder as I pass by. His shoulders hunch but I don’t need his pity. I do the same to Vor but before I can pass by, he grips my wrist. I halt, looking from him to the grip he has on my wrist. His eyes search mine, I can see the struggle in his gaze. He wants to help me but he doesn’t know how–he can’t help, no one can.
“My life was never my own,” I say in a firm tone, proud that my voice doesn’t waiver. “At least this way I can go out swinging and say I fought to the very end.” Vor takes a shuddering breath, his eyes close for a couple seconds, and when they open again, they shine with guilt and pity. I shoot him a sad smile and slowly pull out of his hold. I appreciate their sympathy but it won’t help me. No matter what, even with all these injuries, I’ll fight until my dying breath tonight.
* * *
I shove my runners into my bag and double check to make sure I have everything inside that I will need for the fight before zipping it closed. My bedroom flies open, banging against the wall. I spin around in fright nearly losing my footing but manage to catch myself at the last second on the edge of the bed. Gage stands there glaring at me, his chest is rising and falling rapidly, hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“You are not fighting tonight!” he grits out through clenched teeth. I sigh as I run a hand through my hair, bloody mafia men think they speak and we all bow to their commands. I turn my back to him, effectively dismissing him as I finish packing my bag. My duffle is yanked from my grasp and thrown across the room. I turn around and gasp. He’s right there. He’s so close my chest is against his, I have to crane my neck all the way back to see his face.
“What is the–” I’m cut off when his hand wraps around my throat and he shoves me back on the bed. Before I can even process what the hell happened, he is on top of me. He straddles my legs keeping them in place. I grit my teeth as I swing out and manage to land a solid left hook to his jaw. His head swings to the side and I smile victoriously up at him. A growl tumbles from his chest before he strikes out gripping my wrists in his hands and pinning them above my head. I thrash beneath him, bucking my hips and trying to roll side to side but he doesn’t budge. “Get the hell off me!” I shout. His eyes narrow to slits as he bends down getting right in my face, his lips skim mine as he speaks.
