He strolls in and pulls a washcloth off the counter, running it under water. “Here.” He helps me to stand as I take the cloth. “You’re worried about what he’s going to do about your pregnancy?”
Nodding, I lean into the sink to rinse my mouth. “Yeah.”
“Rory is an interesting man. I’ve known him all his life. This will make him happy. His father, eh? Probably not, but it’ll be okay.”
The way the man talks about Rory and his family gives me comfort. Maybe he’s right.
The front door opens, and I bound out expecting to see Rory. My father’s uncle, Arturo, and my father’s brother, Marco, stand in the living room with Cheshire cat grins.
“What the fuck?”
Dr. Kovalev steps up behind me muttering in a foreign language I recognize as Russian. He switches to English. “Mr. Aguilar. Why are you here?”
“We’re her family. We’ve come to take her home.”
I race around the doctor to get into the master bedroom to lock the door. I have no way to contact Rory. They’re going to kill me. I rush to the bathroom door as the bedroom door splinters from the jamb. Arturo and my Uncle Marco step into the room and move in to corner me.
“It’s time for you to stop running. We have the flash drive. This is over now.”
I stop and cross my arms, glaring in defiance at Uncle Marco. “I’m not going with you. Where is Rory?”
A sadistic smile covers his face as my Uncle Arturo chuckles. “Wait. You fell for the assassin?”
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s the Russian we sent to find you and bring you back.”
“What?” The old man hovers at the door, cringing at his words. My heart sinks. “He knows you’re taking me?”
“Of course he knows, you stupid bitch. Did you think he was going to keep you, and you’d live happily ever after like a fucking fairy tale?”
The doctor moves into the room. “This isn’t necessary. I’ll take her to the estate, and we’ll work this all out.”
Uncle Arturo pulls a gun and points it at the man. “We’re taking her now. It would be a shame for the Bravikovs to lose their favorite doctor.”
“Bravikov?”
Arturo nods. “Ding ding. You’re not as dumb as you look. The man who murdered your father sent his assassin brother to bring you to us. It was an agreement.” He opens the dresser drawer and pulls out clothes and throws them on the bed. “Get dressed for travel. We’re leaving.”
“But?” I stare at the doctor as he avoids my eyes. “Is it true?”
He nods. “Roric’s father sent him to get you and kill you if necessary. They needed to protect Cynric and the bratva.”
“Oh…” My entire world crashes around my heart. My unborn child and I are going to die at the hands of my family or worse. What happens when you traffic a woman and the buyer finds out she’s pregnant?
Arturo screams with spit coming out of his mouth. “Get ready. We’re leaving.”
I grab the clothes off the bed and put them on over the shorts and t-shirt I’m wearing. The socks seem too loose, but I slip them on my feet as someone hands me my tennis shoes. Everything that’s happened over the last few months is a complete blur. He fucking lied to me. I never actually meant anything to him.
Arturo’s hand wraps around my upper arm as he drags me from the room. “You fucking stole from us.” His grip tightens as we go out the door. “Stupid bitch.”
I turn to make a comment as his hand slams across my face. Blackness surrounds my vision as I fall to the ground…
RORIC
Stepping into my father’s foyer, I rush past the soldier guarding his study. Pushing open the door, I bark at my father sitting behind his beloved antique desk. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Roric? When did you become the pakhan?”