Page 7 of Turned By The Pawn


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“You are not fighting tonight.” A shiver runs down my spine as memories of what those lips felt like on my skin race through my mind. I shake away the thoughts, not needing to be distracted while he is this close to me. Gage is a distraction I don’t need and can’t afford to have. Sadness enters his gaze, making all the fight flee my body as I stare up at him. His grip on my wrists loosens and I pull my hand free and cup his cheek. His features soften at my touch, this moment begins to feel so intimate and I don’t know how to feel about that. “Why are you fighting? You’re in no condition to go a single round with a kid let alone a grown ass man.” The concern in his voice confuses me. Last night he wanted to strangle me and today he’s tender and caring like a lover would be.

I smile sadly up at him. Gage is beautiful in a ruggedly handsome way, he doesn’t even need to try to look a certain way to be noticed. “I don’t have a choice,” I answer honestly. “I was never supposed to make it out of that cage last night.” His eyes harden and his body tenses above me. “Vlad needs me gone for some unknown reason. He can’t outright kill me himself, so he needs it done publicly so there are witnesses.”

His eyes search mine trying to decipher what is running through my mind. God, the first man that I find that doesn’t give a shit about who I am, or is too scared to make a move because of who my father is, finally comes into my life and I have to give him up before I even have a chance to see where this thing between us goes. I hate that this is the life and family I was born into—but you can’t choose your family.

“How long do we have before you have to leave?” I furrow my brow confused by his sudden change in demeanor.

“We need to leave here by five tonight. Why?” He scrambles off me and I quickly sit up, flinching slightly as I scoot to the edge of the bed, watching him pace. He stops every so often, looks at me, then shakes his head before continuing. He keeps this up for at least five minutes. I grow tired of watching him wear a hole in my bedroom floor, so I open my mouth ready to ask him what the hell is going on, but he just turns and stalks out of my room. I stare at the open doorway for a good minute before I snap myself out of my stupor and return to packing my bag, trying to distract myself from Gage’s strange as fuck behavior.

Gage

I sit in the back seat, next to Anya, lost in my own thoughts. I should be celebrating and feeling like I’m on cloud-fucking-nine that I managed to get into Vlad’s office undetected. Luck must have been on my side because Koby’s birthdate was still the fucking code! I won’t lie, I was dropping my nuts the whole time and had a cold sweat dripping down my back. I managed to get in and out without anyone noticing. Knight and Vin will have been alerted the moment I plugged the key logger in, and I managed to plant a bug under his desk as well so they will be able to listen in on any conversations or meetings he has in there. I made sure to reset the alarm and lock the door on my way out, even wiping the handle down, just being extra cautious.

Vlad’s office is a mess. How the guy can work in that or even find anything is a mystery to me. I was dodging stacks of papers, files and God knows what else just to get to his desk. He has live in staff and yet he doesn’t even trust them enough to clean his office. A part of me feels like it was almost too easy to get in and out without being caught. Nothing in my life has ever come easy. I’ve fought for everything I have, literally. So, to be able to get into his office and out without being found out doesn’t really sit well with me. I’m pulled from my thoughts when a loud sigh escapes Anya. I lull my head to the side to see she is gazing out the window. Vor sits behind us while Alexi and Krill ride up front. I don’t see the point in her having her own guards if all Vlad wants is for her to die, it makes no sense to me.

I stare at her in wonder. She may look like she lives a lavish lifestyle being the Bratva heiress but that couldn’t be further from the truth. At first glance she looks the part, wearing all designer clothes, her hair is always styled perfectly and her makeup is on point. She is the image of perfection. The way she conducts and holds herself, you would never know that she is suffering or fighting to stay alive daily. This girl isn’t what I expected, she is so much… more. My attention is pulled from her when we pull into the same carpark from last night, except tonight, it’s packed and there isn’t an empty spot insight. I sit forward and look out the window. People loiter in the lot, all their gazes are on the us, allwhile the blacked-out SUV rolls through the lot.

“They know you are fighting tonight.” Krill’s ominous tone fills the small space, he doesn’t stop the car until we are in front of the door, which has a line nearly a mile long by the looks of it. I turn to Anya to gauge her reaction to this. I expected to see her freaking out or silently crying but instead, I find her putting her Air Pods in each ear and scrolling through her phone to find a playlist before she hits play. Krill and Alexi both hop out. I follow after them, then the sound of the gathering crowd’s boos and shouts hit me. I grind my teeth together as I make my way around the car to her side. I shove Alexi out of the way as I help her out and wrap my arm around her ready to tuck her into my side. She pulls free of my hold, straightens and ignores the people around her, taunting and shouting for her death. Krill leads the way through the crowd as Alexi and I stand at her sides and Vor covers her back. The head phones make sense now, she knew they would be shouting and wanted to block them out.

* * *

It is taking everything inside me not to grab her and run out the back door. Unlike last night when we were here, I don’t turn away like the other three. I stand here and watch as she strips down. Bruises cover her body and she tries to hide her pain, but I can see it on her face with every move she makes. I don’t miss the slight flinch when she changes her bra for her sports one or even when she bends to change from her jeans into her spandex shorts. She reaches up to tie her hair and sucks in a sharp intake of air, her ribs are hurting her but she refuses to acknowledge the pain.

“You standing there judging me isn’t helping anything.” Her voice is firm and laced with anger but it isn’t directed at me. She’s pissed her own father is doing this to her and I can’t blame her. I close the space between us not giving a fuck if the others see, but keep a couple inches of space between us. Her blue eyes sear me, begging me not to try and intervene. I release a long exhale as I scrub a hand down my face, at a loss as to what the fuck I am supposed to do here.

“Is there any way out of this?” I ask, barely above a whisper. Her gaze softens as a tender smile graces her beautiful face.

“No. This is how it has to play out. This is my life, Gage.” I hate that she isn’t fighting this. She should be running for the hills but she isn’t. A part of me respects that but another part of me fucking hates it. Why I’m so strung out over this, I have no fucking idea. I’ve tried to tell myself it’s because she is a woman and shouldn’t be subjected to something fucked up like this, but I can’t even lie to myself. Ever since arriving here in Russia and getting inside the Bratva, I have done nothing but look into each member. I started looking into who Anya Volkov was since I met her that first night. I’ve stared at a picture of her I managed to snag the night she left the club for hours—meeting her for the first time and seeing her beauty up close was something else. Pictures don’t do her justice. Her strong will and stubbornness only add to my already growing attraction.

“You’re not ready for another fight, I can’t let you do this.” Her brows pull together confused. “If my plan A doesn’t work then I’m going to plan B but that means I can’t give you what you want in the end,” I say low enough for only us to hear. Both plans mean I blow my cover inside the Bratva and fuck everything up, but I can see my redemption in her eyes which makes what I have to do worth it.

“Time to strap up.” We step apart at the sound of Krill’s voice. I move out of his way when he steps in front of Anya and begins to strap her hands. Once Krill is done and steps aside, Vor makes his way toward her to pat her down. I shoot him a scathing look in warning. He kneels down in front of her and I wait for him to cup her sex or inhale her scent but… he doesn’t. It’s as if in the past twenty-four hours everyone in this room except Alexi has grown some form of respect for each other.

“She’s clear,” Vor announces as he climbs to his feet and steps aside, then motions for her to head out. I close my eyes for a second to gain control of my emotions and lock my feelings down, just hoping that I don’t fuck this up. Alexi leads while Vor and Krill walk either side of her, leaving me to take up the rear. As we exit the corridor and move toward the cage, the crowd screams. They are demanding her death. It’s so packed in here that we literally have to push our way through and even with the four of us blocking, some fuckers manage to land a hit on her. I wrap my arm around her waist and keep her flush against my chest, Krill and Vor push in closer wrapping an arm each around me and using their own bodies as a shield for her.

We make it to the cage door and I drop my hold on her, keeping my gaze on her back as Vor, Krill and I stake a step back. I dart my gaze around looking for Alexi but can’t spot him. That has my hackles raising. I open my mouth to alert Krill but Anya spins away from the cage door and stalks toward me. She grips my face, pulls me down to her and smashes her lips against mine. Before I can even comprehend what the hell is happening or kiss her back, she is gone and marching through the cage door. I look around the ring and can’t find her opponent anywhere. Last night he was already in there waiting for her.

“Something isn’t right,” Vor shouts over the noise of the crowd. I look to him then Krill and see both of them look worried.

“Where is Alexi?” I ask. Both of them shake their heads as they look around the crowded pub. I do the same and that’s when I spot them in the back. Three of them stand there with black hoods over their head, they can shield their faces but I could spot my brothers anywhere. Relief washes over me, it worked. They heard me through the bug asking them to help. It was the only way I could contact them. Once I found out about the fight, I took a calculated risk and went back to Vlad’s office to ask my brothers to help me save Anya. I search around for Vin but can’t spot him, which means he is on the roof with a bird’s eye view and a sniper rifle ready to strike down anyone. My attention is drawn back to the cage when the referee begins to speak. I can’t understand a word he is saying because he is talking too fast and I’m not that good at Russian.

“We have a surprise guest fighter tonight.” I keep my face blank and stand up straighter as Krill begins to relay to me what the ref is saying. They know I’m not Russian! “He hasn’t been home in years. He was a crowd favorite and it’s about time he came home to help run things.” Anya looks behind her and outside the cage I can see the crowd parting for whoever it is. Unlike Anya, they don’t boo or throw things, they cheer for this bastard. “A family feud will be settled tonight–” Krill’s words fall on deaf ears as the crowd parts and Anya’s opponent becomes visible to me, my body stiffens and my blood turns to ice inside me. I fucking knew it.

Hasn’t been home in years.

Help run things.

Family.

The words play on a loop inside my mind as I watch my brothers most trusted man climb into the ring with a smile on his face.

Anya

The moment I see him enter the ring, I cut my gaze to Gage. His eyes are wide with shock, as he flicks his gaze to me and that’s when guilt sets in, the look of betrayal on his face stings. I may feel guilty but it’s not like I know him or even really trust him in order for me to tell him we had a sleeper inside his brother’s network for years. Alek was the only person Vlad was ever able to get close enough to the Murdoch’s. The fact that he was brought into the inner circle was something no one saw coming. Alek is the reason Vlad has been able to stay one step ahead this whole time since the previous Don, Tony, was murdered by the hands of his own son.

“Choroso byt doma, dvoyurodny bratt.” (It’s good to be home, cousin.) The shouts of the crowd become white noise as I stand here and stare at my cousin. I haven’t seen him in years. He’s changed so much. Gone is the soft looking boy I grew up with, in his place is a man hardened by this life and the tolls it takes on them. “Mne priyatno govorit’ na moyem rodnom yazyke.” (It feels good to speak in my mother tongue.)

“Why are you here?” I ask. A cruel smile stretches across his face as he leans in to whisper in my ear and I fight the shiver that wants to break free at his close proximity.

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