Page 46 of The Bratva's Captive

Which meant I had no money, only debt that seemed impossible to conquer.

I had no home.

I had a secret baby and a Mafia boss who captured me.

I blew out a deep sigh at the odds stacked against me. I was a jokester, thinking I could give my baby a good life when I couldn’t manage that for myself.

It didn’t take long for me to tire of the solitude like this.

I had never cared to be an extrovert and have a lot of fun with others. By the nature of my rough childhood, I was more of an introvert in the sense that I had to be a survivor, no matter what. Letting people get close was a risk, so I ended up turning into an introvert as I matured.

But not speaking to anyone for two weeks felt like a weird form of torture.

Not seeing anyone for two weeks was strange.

At first, I enjoyed it. My tired body forced me to accept it. I napped and I ate and I lounged. I had never been much of a reader but I picked at the musty, ancient bodice-ripper that seemed so out of place in Maxim’s masculine room.

With all that idleness, though, Maxim stayed forefront in my mind.

When my mind wandered back to him over and over, I tried to figure out why.

Why me?

He didn’t seem too interested in what I explained about the dancers being taken and sold. His moral compass was already skewed, but he didn’t react to the news about what other criminals and Mafia men might’ve been doing.

Maybe his family didn’t do that.

Maybe the Ivanov family chose to ruin people’s lives in other ways.

Come on. Is he really ruining my life like this?

I hated to question myself like that. It was so tempting to believe that he couldn’t be that bad.

That maybe he was a good guy and was simply misunderstood.

Hehadsaved me that night from those creeps at the party.

Hedidmake me feel very good when we had fucked in that private room.

And hedidkill Lenny for me, sparing me from more abuse.

I shook my head, stubborn.

He can’t be a hero.

He’s a Mafia man.

He is a boss used to killing people.

Don’t let yourself be so stupid, Sloane.

Don’t be so deluded.

I owed it to this baby to protect him or her from this man who kidnapped me.

Pacing and thinking nonstop didn’t show me how to move forward. This stubborn and sullen act was all that I could do to fight back.

But this couldn’t go on forever. Now that I was rested and fed, no longer weak with the threat of passing out from exhaustion, I had to figure out a way to speak with him. I had to let him know that he was wrong to keep me here like a toy on a shelf.

---