Page 12 of Forced Bratva Bride

“I wouldn’t know, would I?” I shot back, frowning in his direction. “No clocks. Not a window in sight. You’ve let me fester in here with lots of time to think, and I’m warning you now that when I get out, I’m going to make sure my brothers burn this place to hell, withyouin it.”

“Your family sent you,” he stated as he ignored my empty threats, so confident that for a moment, I wondered if I was missing something. “You're their eyes and ears. Their little spy. I want the truth.”

“You're delusional,” I snapped, anger temporarily overwhelming fear. “I’ve always been protected. My brothers wouldn't use me for... whatever this conspiracy is in your head.”

He stepped closer to the bars, and the air between us seemed to crackle with tension. “They've trained you well. The wide-eyed innocence is almost convincing.”

“Fuck you,” I spat, my composure cracking. “I have nothing more to say to you. Why don’t you go back crawling to whatever part of hell you came from?”

For once, I spoke the truth. I didn’t wish to see his face for a moment longer and hoped my insults would be enough to make him go back up.

To my surprise, he broke into a half-grin, the kind that made me stop in my tracks. “Oh, sweetheart,” he growled in a low voice, stepping closer as he wrapped a hand around the bars, his face inches away from mine, rendering my heart to flutter from god knows what. “It won’t bemegoing to hell.”

His sudden proximity sent a shiver down my spine, but I refused to let it show. I squared my shoulders, meeting his intense gaze with defiance. “Are you threatening me?”

He cocked his head, and I watched his jaw clench. That perfect, sculpted jaw. What a waste of good looks, I thought to myself, on a man that evil.

“No,” he clicked his tongue at last. “I’m threatening your brothers for what they did to me. Your role is yet to be ascertained.”

“That’s what you do, isn’t it?” I said without thinking. “Make up stories in your head? Fall in love with a truth that doesn’t exist just to serve your agenda? This organization you’re so proud of—it’s going to fall into the hands of someone like you.”

Then, I saw it. The momentary lapse in his composure. I had struck a nerve, and I realized it. He was trying to prove something. To himself, or someone else, and I rode the coattails of this opportunity to be rid of him.

“That’s right,” I continued. “Just wait until everyone finds out you made a fool of yourself by kidnapping the wrong person. Wait until they all laugh themselves silly when they think ofyourname.”

That, I thought, was the final blow. I had made it perfectly clear that he’d get nothing more than an argument out of me, and I expected him to walk away.

Needless to say, I scrambled back as the door swung open, and he stepped inside, his presence too large for the cramped cell.

He stopped directly in front of me, so close I could smell his cologne. It made me all heady and shouldn't have been appealing in my current state, but somehow was.

With deliberate slowness, he pulled the door closed—and it automatically clicked shut from the inside.

With both of us trapped in the cell together.

My breath caught. “What are you doing?”

“Getting comfortable.” He removed his suit jacket, folded it with meticulous care, and set it on the edge of my cot. His shirt, I noticed, clung to his frame like water, highlighting the planes across his broad chest and the hills of his muscular arms. I swallowed hard at the brute strength I knew he was capable of deploying.

He whispered, “We're going to have a long talk, you and I.”

I backed away until I hit the wall. “There's nothing to talk about.”

“There's everything to talk about.” He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his collar. The casualness of the gesture felt somehow more threatening than overt aggression. “Starting with why the Ajello family planted their sister at my heels, coincidentally right after the attack on our operation.”

“I was out doing chores,” I insisted, hating the defensive note in my voice. “It's not my fault your 'business fronts' are nearby.”

“With Dom by your side?” He raised an eyebrow as he stepped closer, and I inched to the side, stepping away from him. He followed, a predator on a hunt.

“I told you. He’s my bodyguard. Now, if only you could stop asking the same questions over and over again.”

“I’ve done enough research on your family to know that Dom is a precious resource. Why waste him on you?”

I bristled at his tone and my voice came sharp. “My brothers love me,” I said defiantly. “To them, nothing matters more than my safety.”

“Of course,” he clicked his tongue as he drew closer, attempting to plant his arms on either side of me while I pressed my back against the wall. I bent and ducked underneath him, my heart racing as I fled to the opposite side of the room. He turned with a small smile.

“Of course they’d protect you. Their weapon.”

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