Page 66 of The Bratva's Arranged Virgin Bride
The safehouse where the Fokins were keeping the prisoner was about an hour away, close to the edge of the desert, and we kept a stony silence between us. I was mostly preoccupied with how I would deal with the guy, but my thoughts drifted to Arkadi’s announcement. A baby in the family. And yes, whether he was ready to admit it or not, we were family.
We finally arrived, and the men standing guard were already informed of the promise Mat had made. I was allowed to go in alone, with Arkadi waiting in the car, so there would be no blowups. They still didn’t trust me, and the sight of my brother would have caused some major problems I had no time for.
The leader of the ragtag crew that had tried to make a run for the Fokin’s territory wasn’t in great shape. He was being held in the back room of a nondescript stucco house, far from its nearest neighbor, though soundproofed all the same. It was surprising how loud someone could scream when a gifted torturer was doing his finest work.
I entered the room and closed the door behind me, moving close enough to make the guy lift his head and mumble something at me. He was barely able to talk, but there was still a gleam of defiance in his eyes. For most of the drive, I had planned how I would get him to talk, but my impatience was running thin, and this man seemed to have a lot left in him.
Pulling my gun, I held it to his temple. “Tell me what I need to know, and if it’s true, I’ll make sure you live through this.”
All I got in response was exhausted laughter. Blood drooled from his mouth onto his pants as his head lolled back down. I tapped the gun against his forehead, and he looked up again.
“I mean it. No tricks. One answer, and you’ll walk out of here alive.” I felt confident I could make this happen if what he told me led me to Vissarion. If not, I didn’t care what happened to him.
“What if I don’t feel like answering?” he asked.
I cocked the gun, wrapping my finger lightly around the trigger. “I shoot you right now. No more playtime, you’re just dead.”
The defiance turned to ice-cold fear. This man could take punches and electric jolts all day long, but he clearly didn’t want to meet his maker. “What’s the question?”
“Tell me where Vissarion Kotlov is.”
I could instantly see that he knew, but he remained stubbornly silent. I tapped him again with the gun and leaned down to speak very low. Very seriously. “They’re going to kill you,” I said. “No matter what they say, no matter what you say. You’re not leaving this place alive. And it’s going to hurt a whole lot more, for a whole lot longer, before they put a bullet in your brain. I can stop it and keep you alive.”
“You’ll make them leave me alone?”
“Until I know what you tell me is true.”
More silence, broken by my phone dinging. I pulled it out, knowing what it was, not wanting to look. But I had to. This time, Nat wasn’t tied to the chair anymore, but cuffed to a bed. Tears streamed down her battered face, and Vissarion’s hand was clasped around her neck.
I hit the man in the side of the head with the gun, then mashed the tip of the barrel into his eye socket. “Five seconds, and then you die. One…”
He reared back, shaking his head to get away from my gun, licking his cracked and bloody lips. “There’s a place in the desert. I can’t guarantee it, but…”
“You can tell me how to get there.”
“Yes.”
The man was desperate to stay alive, and I was desperate to find Nat. I had no choice but to believe him and try the location he gave me. I uncocked my gun and put it away. On my way out, I told the men to hold off on any further interrogation until they heard from Mat. I figured he could give me one more favor. I’d know soon enough if his prisoner was telling the truth and either lived or died, very, very painfully.
“Why should I do this for you?” Mat asked. “You got your favor.”
“I’m asking you to trust me,” I said. He must have heard the ragged edge to my voice.
“I don’t,” he said slowly. “But I’ll wait out of curiosity.”
I hung up without thanking him, and the tires squealed as I pulled away from the safe house, quickly telling Arkadi where we were going. He called in backup, telling them we’d wait until they arrived. Once we were there, I told him there was no way in hell that was happening. Once again, he let me know how stupid and rash he thought I was being.
“You can sit here and work on your knitting,” I said as I got out of the car. “But let me ask you this. What if it was Mila in there?”
He looked at me for a long moment, then nodded, checking his gun as he slammed open his door. He had to jog to catch up to me as I followed the sandy trail leading to the desolate shack in the middle of nowhere. I paused at the perimeter, barely a roughly flattened area of dirt with a few cactus plants to hide behind. There were no lights on that I could see, but the only window was covered with paper. The whole area was silent as a tomb, not even a slight rustle of wind. I began to fear the man was wrong, or brazen enough to lie to me, but then a scream tore through the still night air.
