Page 35 of Captive Virgin of the Bratva

Yuri coughs, a weak, wet sound. He’s fading again.

“What else did he tell you?”

“Not… not here,” Yuri whispers, eyes barely open now. “He’s… watching… everyone… even….”

The last word dissolves into breath.

It doesn’t matter. I have what I need.

I rise slowly, remove my pistol from the holster at my side, and level it at his forehead. Yuri doesn’t even flinch.

He knows.

One shot. Clean. Efficient. The sound cracks through the room and dies. His eyes are still open, but he’s gone.

Boris doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t have to. We both know this was inevitable.

“Burn the sheets. Dispose of the body by morning,” I mutter, turning away. “No mess.”

I walk out without looking back.

All I want is silence. One moment to let the satisfaction settle. It doesn’t.

It never does.

I head down the hall, jaw clenched, feet dragging slower than they should. There’s only one place I want to go.

Her room.

Even as I approach, I know something’s wrong.

The door is ajar. Cold air breathes through the hallway like a warning. I push the door fully open.

Empty.

The mattress is unmade. The window—shattered. A jagged hole blown through the glass, snow gathering at the edge.

Blood.

Tiny droplets scattered across the floor, trailing toward the wall. Smears of it on the frame, where she must have cut herself climbing through.

She ran. She fucking ran.

A sound tears from my throat—half growl, half roar—as I slam my fist into the doorframe. Splinters crack under my knuckles.

Rage ignites in my chest, hotter than anything I’ve felt in years. Not because she disobeyed. Not because she escaped.

Goddamn her.

My pulse is thunder. My hands shake. I don’t recognize myself for a moment, don’t recognize this raw, ragged need to find her.

Not for leverage. Not for strategy. Forme.

She cut herself getting out. She’s bleeding. The forest is frozen. She’s not dressed for the cold. She won’t get far. She can’t.

“Find her,” I bark to Boris, already storming down the hall. “Now, before the snow covers her trail.”

She ran.

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