Page 24 of The Bratva's Captive

That was the fate awaiting any Ivanov soldier who decided to turn traitor. If it weren’t for that fucker practically inviting this motorcycle gang into the bar, all that death wouldn’t have happened. Violence was a given in our lives, but we never wanted too many fights or deaths on our hands to the point that the cops and Feds would interfere.

Nik and I spoke a little further about last night’s incident, but he didn’t stay for long, claiming that he had other things to follow up on and look into.

Once he left, I tidied up a few things in this office and headed out as well. We all had our own “jurisdictions” to oversee in the Ivanov empire, but I didn’t have anything pressing to tend to. I checked in with Damon, unbothered by how gruesome he looked, like a monster paused from torturing those in the dungeon. I met up with Saul, too, to check out some properties he thought we could acquire. And later, I sat through meetings with our investors to discuss the movement of significant funds from one project to another.

All in all, I wasn’t bored. I had things to do and people to see and talk to. Idleness wasn’t my preference, and I did have a full day.

However, I could not get that blonde stripper out of my head. Each time I relaxed and tried to stay focused on what someone was saying, I was lured to think about her again. How she felt gloving me. How she sounded when she came. How she trapped me under a wicked spell of desire to stare back at her and wonder how she could be such an irresistible challenge.

I couldn’t surrender or lose this high from having her like that last night, and I wanted to be confident that last night was all I needed. A random woman who wasn’t afraid for a quick, hardfuck. A stranger I’d never see again, one who wouldn’t shackle me down with expectations of commitment.

Throughout the day, when I realized I couldn’t forget about her, I recognized that it was a first. Normally, I couldn’t be bothered to dwell on or remember a one-night stand with a random woman at a strip club. That was how unattached I kept myself.

But that wasn’t the case with her.

So, what?

Returning to the house that evening, I shook my head and dismissed this being an issue.

So, she was slightly unforgettable. That didn’t mean anything. It only proved how fucking hot she was, how sexy she looked, and how skilled she was at getting me off with her tight cunt. I’d seen my share of strippers and dancers, and she had moves like no other.

It wasn’t like she’d be the last stripper or dancer I’d ever be near.

That was a fact.

Of course, a woman like her made an impression.

I would’ve had to have been blind and impotent to not be affected by someone like her.

But that doesn’t mean it’ll be a lasting impression.

No matter how good she felt, there was no way in hell I’d change my mind about not wanting to commit and make something long-term with her. One hot night wouldn’t force me to give up on not trusting women in my life. That was part of what made her so tempting—the fact that she knew nothing about me and couldn’t have any part of me to exploit at all.

Fuck it.I looked up as I entered the house and sighed from the long day.Give it a little more time and she’ll be forgotten like all the others.

Just like she was supposed to be.

No woman would ever be able to keep a grip on me for long.

Not even the wife I’d need to find someday—the woman who’d serve no other purpose but to give me an heir.

11

SLOANE

Music blared from the apartment to my left. It was early for them to be partying this hard. To my right, the single mother failed to quiet her shrieking toddler because she was too busy cursing out her baby daddy who brought another woman home the night before.

All the chaotic noise overstimulated me as I sat on the lid of my toilet. It was too loud. Too much commotion. So many things going on that wouldn’t be tuned out with the paper-thin walls of this shitty apartment building.

Panic and anxiety coiled inside me, spiraling faster and thicker until it felt like a live beast of dread was suffocating me.

I’d been scared before. That night when drunk Lenny almost forced me into those men’s van, I was terrified. The day I realized that Derick had lied to me, cheated on me, and run up impossible debt on all my cards, I had been horrified.

But today, this moment as I stared at the stick in my hand, I experienced an all-consuming trepidation. It was a total sensation of shock and worry that coalesced into a frighteningpunch on my psyche. This had to be what it felt like when a freight train plowed into someone.

How could I have been so stupid?

The slim piece of plastic in my hand didn’t have an answer for that question. The only response it gave me was a positive. Little lines showed at the end and answered the questions I’d had about why I felt slightly off these last two and a half weeks. With a clear positive reading, it answered my question about why my period was so late.

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