Page 14 of Secret Bratva Baby
The bathroom is tiled in black, fitted with gold trimmings, and a giant crystal chandelier. It’s like something out of a movie.
Lily is enthralled by it and keeps running from corner to corner to look at everything.
“Lilly Ann Harper, you have five seconds to wee and get your butt into bed, or there will be no story.”
She squeals in delight at the challenge and lets me sit her on the toilet seat.
I wait until the tinkling stops.
“Done?”
“Done.”
Back in the bedroom, she’s snuggled against my side, her soft curls brushing against my cheek as she listens to the story.
“The princess wasn’t sure if she should say yes to the prince, but his smile was so beautiful, and his eyes so kind, that her heart fell madly in love with him,” I said softly. The lights are all off, and the room is peaceful and quiet.
“What bout dragons?” Lily whispers, already drifting off to sleep.
“Oh yes, she had a pet dragon named Tickles. He was gold and pink, and he could breathe beautiful pink flames when he needed to protect the princess. Tickles the dragon was her best friend. They’d known each other their whole lives…”
I peek down at her face. She’s fast asleep.
I let out a long, slow breath of relief. I can barely keep my eyes open.
Closing them, I snuggle into the pillow with my arms wrapped safely around my daughter.
Tomorrow I’ll have to figure out why Luka is holding me prisoner.
I need to get to the bottom of this if I’m going to escape.
Sleep doesn’t come easily, even though I’m exhausted. My visions are plagued by scenes of Luka murdering that man—and that man trying to drag me towards the dark van.
What is going on?
Why are they after me?
When I do fall asleep, I have horrible dreams, and wake breathing heavily with my heart racing.
I squint at my watch. It’s two in the morning. Letting out a soft breath, I pull Lily close to me again and close my eyes.
I can’t get back to sleep, though, so I start planning.
I’ll explore the house the moment I get a chance.
I’ll look for any clues. Maybe I can find a computer and get internet access.
Luka took my purse with my phone in it, so that’s no use to me. But maybe I can find where he hid it. I guess I’ll just start by looking everywhere. It’s all I’ve got. That little sliver of hope.
Everything is going to be okay because I have to keep Lily safe. No matter what happens, that’s my sole concern.
I lie in bed for another hour, unable to sleep, before I decide I should just start looking now.
Luka will still be asleep, as is Lily, and this might be my only chance.
I slip my arm out from underneath her and very carefully get out of the bed. Tiptoeing over the soft carpet, I don’t make a sound. I’m tense, half expecting Luka to leap out from the shadows and catch me sneaking around. Tentatively, I reach out and wrap my fingers around the closed door handle.
The bedroom door isn’t locked, which surprises me. I don’t know why I assumed it would be, and that I was taking a chance. I push it open and glance up and down the dark hallway outside. It’s quiet. Terrifyingly quiet.
