Page 85 of Born into Blood

“I didn’t want you to know about that club,” she sobs. “I never wanted you to know that I used to dance there.”

I scoot Pip off my lap and stand up to face her. Her shoulders shake as her head hangs down, and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her look so defeated. I wrap my arms around her and hug her.

“I don’t care about that, Mom. I know you needed money, and I would never judge you for doing whatever you needed to do to take care of yourself. I just want to know the truth about my dad. Did he hit you?”

“He loved me,” she insists, crying even harder. “We were going to be a family, and they took him from me. You can’t be with him, Lara. You need to end things with that boy. You can’t see him again.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I tell her. “I love him and I’m moving in with him and we’re going to be married. Nothing you can say or do is going to change that.”

“No,” she yells, pushing away from my hug and taking a step back. “I won’t have you becoming one of them. You’re mine, Lara! You’re not a fucking Melnikov!”

I take a steadying breath and meet her eyes. “I will be soon enough. We’re going to get you the help you need, Mom, and I hope one day you can see things as they truly are.”

Before she can say whatever is on the tip of her tongue, and judging by the anger and hurt in her eyes, it’s not even close to being the I’m so happy you found someone comment I’ve been secretly hoping for, the front door bangs open and three armed men walk in. Fear floods me, and all I can think is that I forgot to lock the goddamn door. Luka went through all that trouble to have the deadbolt put on, and I fucking forgot to lock it. As pissed as my mom is at me right now, the first thing she does is step in front of me, trying like hell to put herself in between me and the three guns pointed our way.

“They found us,” she whispers in a panic. “Your boyfriend probably sent them here.”

I’ve just spent the day with the Melnikov men, and I know for a fact the three terrifying men in front of me are not them. I don’t recognize any of them, and I know Luka would never do this to me. At the thought of him, my chest seizes, because I’d give anything to have him with me right now.

“Don’t fucking move,” the man on the right says when my mom starts to push me backwards and further behind her. All three of them are tatted-up and probably in their forties. They look just as lethal as Luka and his cousins, but there’s something in their eyes that lets me know it’s best to not fuck with them. Luka had said his family looks different when they’re working, and I can’t help but wonder if this is what they look like to those on the receiving end of their wrath. It’s hard to imagine Luka ever looking like this, but surely he doesn’t go about his work with the sweet smile he reserves just for me.

The man in the center steps closer. There’s rope in his hands and a cruel look in his eyes. They’re cold and distant and on some deep, instinctual level, I know there’s no talking our way out of this. These men are professionals. A few tears and sobbing pleas are not going to get them to suddenly develop a moral compass. That shit’s only for the movies.

“No,” my mom yells when he grabs her arm and pulls her toward him. Without a second thought, he raises his hand and backhands her, knocking her to her knees.

“Stop it!” I scream, lunging for him only to have him push me aside like I’m an annoying bug instead of a grown-ass woman coming in for the kill, and when I hit the ground, I let out a scream at the sharp pain that radiates through my hip.

“Shut the fuck up,” he growls, slapping a piece of duct tape over my mouth before I can scream again and then does the same to my mom. He looks over at the man on the right and says something to him in Russian before grabbing my wrists and tying them tight enough to cut off my blood flow. The wide-eyed terrified look my mom gives me says it all. Her worst nightmares have finally come true, but instead of the Melnikov Bratva that she’s been fearing for two decades, it’s someone else who’s come for us, and I have no idea if this is because of my dad or if this is because someone saw me with Luka and this is their way of trying to hurt him and his family. Luka had warned me about this. Hell, this is the whole reason he’s insisting I get a bodyguard, and the idea of being watched by Arkady isn’t looking so bad right now.

“Get up,” the man hisses, tugging me to my feet. He looks between me and my mom. “We’re walking out of here, and you will not do anything to draw attention to us. If you do something to alert your neighbors, we will kill them, and their deaths will be on you. Understood?”

He waits for us to nod, and when we do, he grabs my arm in a rough grip while the other man grabs my mom and the third guy goes to open the door. I dart my eyes to Pip, willing him to be a quiet little kitten until we can leave, and I almost burst out crying in relief when he lays down on the soft blanket he loves so much and starts kneading his little paws on it. I’ve never been so grateful for a cat’s complete indifference before. A dog would have probably barked or attacked, and then they would’ve killed it, which would have destroyed me.

It isn’t until we’re out in the hallway and one of the men is swinging the door shut that I let myself relax about Pip’s fate. He’s safe, and Luka will find him alone when he comes looking for me and know that something is wrong. He’ll find me. No matter where these assholes take me, I know he’ll find me. A little voice in my head reminds me that it took his family two years to find his aunt, but I refuse to let that thought take root. He will find me and soon.

Our building isn’t a busy one, mostly filled with elderly singles who spend their days inside, and so I’m not surprised when we make it to the parking garage undetected. The black SUV that’s waiting for us has all my instincts on edge. A second location is always a bad idea, but my mom and I have absolutely no choice in the matter. If I fight, I know they’ll hurt her, and I can’t risk that. She already looks like she’s given up. Her body is shaking as she sobs and sucks in quick, frantic breaths through her nose. I know she’s on the brink of completely losing it. This is her worst fear come to life, and her mental state is not ready for it and can’t deal with it. She’s going to be shutting down soon, and then I’ll be left alone.

The man gripping my arm opens the door and shoves my mom and me into the backseat before getting in himself while the other two get in up front. The sound of the engine starting has my breaths coming even faster. My phone is in my back pocket, and just when I think about how it’s the only thing keeping me sane right now, the man starts running his hands over me, patting me down until he pulls my phone out and tosses it out the window near Mrs. Waterford’s green Toyota. My hope that Niki or his dad might be able to trace my location through my phone dies a quick death, and I’m forced to face the fact that there’s no way in hell Luka will be able to track me.

With each passing minute, my hope dwindles until it’s nothing but a faint spark that’s snuffed out when I see that we’re not being driven further into the city. No, they’re taking us out of the damn city, and when we’ve driven for what feels like hours, we’re surrounded by woods, and I can’t even guarantee we’re in the same damn state.

When we turn off the main road and onto a gravel, narrow path, I sit up straighter and try to figure out where we are, but it’s too dark to see anything, not that there’s anything to see. It’s been so long since we’ve even passed another car. We’re truly in the middle of fucking nowhere.

The log cabin we stop in front of is massive. It’s also completely hidden away and surrounded by armed guards. The sun set a long time ago, but there are security lights, and I quickly count fifteen men—all of them armed, and all of them looking more than capable of taking me and my mom out. We don’t stand a fucking chance against these men.

“Come on,” the man next to me growls, gripping my arm and lugging my ass out of the back while one of the others does the same thing to my mom. I try to scream, but with the tape still on, it’s pointless and just wears me out and annoys him. He lets me know it does because he grips my arm hard enough to bring tears to my eyes and tells me to shut the fuck up.

The guards watch us as they drag us by, but they don’t say anything, and they definitely don’t try and stop it. The looks are impassive, completely emotionless, almost to the point of appearing bored. It makes me wonder about what all they’ve seen and done to not even bat an eye at two kidnapped women being dragged into a house in the middle of the woods.

We walk into a large living room that in any other situation would have me admiring the huge stone fireplace and wooden beams, but the room loses its luster when I’m shoved onto the floor and forced to take the brunt of the fall with my shoulder and ass since my hands are still tied together. My mom lands next to me, and I use all my strength to wiggle over to her. I press my forehead to hers, willing the life back into her, but her eyes are glassy and remain unfocused.

I make as much noise as I can, trying to get her attention, but wherever her mind is, it’s not here. In a way, I envy her ability to drift away, because there’s no denying I’d rather be anywhere than right where I am.

The sound of Russian has me turning my head, watching the three men who brought us here while they have a conversation with a man who’s just walked into the living room. His hair is longer and tied back behind him, and judging by the way he’s barking out his words and pointing down the hall, he seems to be in charge, or at least a higher rank than these fucks. When his eyes land on mine, I quickly look away, figuring it’s best to try and remain as invisible as possible. He says something else, and soon the man who’s evidently been assigned to me is pulling me up again and dragging me out of the room and down the hall. I fight him when I see another man dragging my mom in the opposite direction and down a set of stairs. I scream for her and buck against his hold until he gets so pissed he just picks me up and slings me over his shoulder, carrying me into a room that nearly has me pissing my pants. Gone is the plush carpet and luxurious-looking cabin, and in its place is a cement floor with a drain in the center and a hook hanging from a thick chain that’s secured to one of the wooden beams that runs across the ceiling.

I have just enough time to realize this is the room I’m going to die in when he sets me down and roughly lifts my arms, slipping my roped wrists around the hook so I’m hanging with my toes barely scraping the rough floor. When he yanks the tape from my mouth, I don’t beg and plead for my life. I just cry, sobbing for the life I almost had, the one that I knew was too good to be true but still wanted so goddamn badly.

The man fists my hair, lifting my head and letting me see the look of disgust on his face. “Stop fucking crying.”

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