Page 41 of Bratva Wolf

“Until recently, they weren’t stealing from our clientele. Lately, they’ve tried to make a move. This little skirmish gives us cover to run them through their paces and see what they can do. They’re going to be surprised when the Bravikov Wolf stumbles into their territory. Let the chaos begin.”

“Fuck you, Marco. If they’ve touched her, I’ll kill every lastone of them.”

“I have no doubts, brother. None at all.”

The ride to Staten Island takes almost thirty minutes, and I’m spiraling by the time we get to the cousin’s address. I take a deep breath as I exit the SUV, turning to the new bratva soldier. “Stay here and keep your eyes out for Scarlet.”

He smiles. “She’s the Little Red Riding Hood stripper?”

I glare at the young pup. “She’s my woman. It would be sad if you came all this way for me to gut you because you’re stupid.”

Chapter 11

EARLIER IN THE DAY

SCARLET

Today’s my long day at the hospital. I won’t get to leave until seven in the evening. My feet are screaming at me, and I can’t stop yawning. The charge nurse approaches with a piece of paper. “Scarlet?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Your grandmother called. There’s an emergency at home. She needs you.”

I take the note and head to my locker and get my phone. It’s a rule that we have to leave our phones in our lockers, no distractions and all that. There are multiple messages and missed calls from Mrs. Abashin. I dial her number, she doesn’t answer, and then I try to reach my grandmother. “Shit.”

Tony walks up behind me. “Hey? I can give you a ride. I knowyour boyfriend usually drops you and picks you up.”

“Um.” I hit redial and still no answer. I try to call Thane, and I don’t get any answer, not even his voicemail. “That’s weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“My boyfriend’s voicemail didn’t come on.”

“Huh. That is weird. Text him.” My texts to him seem to go through with no answer, and I stare at my phone. “The texts are gone.”

“Yeah. The last update did that to my phone as well. It sucks. I keep a lot of info in my texts.”

I tap out a text to Thane, telling him I’m going to my grandmother’s and follow Tony outside. He’s walking so fast, and I’m having trouble keeping up. Why were my texts missing? They were there the last time I looked. Is someone messing with me? I pull out my phone as I’m rushing. Damn it, Thane. Call me. I get to a beat-up blue sedan and climb into the passenger side seat. I give Tony the directions to my grandmother’s place, and we head there. It takes about twenty minutes, and we pull up in front of my house. The lights are off in both my house and Mrs. Abashin’s. I don’t wait for him to exit his car, and I’m running up to the house. I get to the door and put my key in the lock to open it, then flip on the light switch. “Nobody’s here.”

Tony steps into the room. “Where is she?”

“Not sure.” I glance around the living room and nothing seems out of place. I turn around as I feel a prick on my neck. Darkness begins at the edges of my sight and closes in. Sounds muffle as I try to keep conscious. My baby? I can’t lift my arms to shield my belly as I’m carried out of my home by a man I thought was my friend. Thane’s face flashes before me as the darkness takes me under.

I peak through my eyelids. It’s dark and quiet. Where am I? I try to move but my arms are tied. I’m lying on the ground. The floor is cold. Oh God. What did he do?

A noise a few feet from me startles me. A whimper. Someone cries. I can’t see, there is no light. “Hello?”

A quiet woman’s voice answers “Who are you? Where are we?”

“I don’t know. I’m Scarlet.”

“I’m Renee. I’m scared. What’s happening?”

“I don’t know. How long have you been here?”

“I’m not sure. You’ve been here for a couple of hours, I think. A man dumped you on the floor and left. I pretended to be asleep, but the light from outside of the truck shined in.”

Bile boils up in my throat. “Truck?”

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