Page 1 of Bribed & Bred By the BRATVA
Isabella
The hospital smells of disinfectant and burnt coffee. I’ve been sitting in the hard chair so long the plastic has carved ridges into the backs of my thighs, but the woman behind the glass doesn’t care. She reads out numbers like she’s reciting a grocery list.
The number she names is higher than anything I’ve ever earned in my life.
“Payment within seventy-two hours or the booking is cancelled.” Her voice is flat, without even the pretence of sympathy. She stamps the paper and pushes it across the counter, eyes already sliding away.
Seventy-two hours.
My brother doesn’t have seventy-two hours. Mateo’s heart is failing. Every minute he waits is another minute stolen.
I thank her, though the word tastes like rotting apples, and force myself up. The strap of my bag cuts into my shoulder as I stumble down the corridor. The fluorescent lights are too bright, humming overhead like insects. My vision swims.
I press the elevator button with a shaking hand.
That’s when I feel it.
A weight. A presence.
I turn, and he’s there.
Tall. Broad. Dark suit cut to perfection. His shoulders could hold a kingdom. His mouth is sharp, unsmiling. But it’s his eyes that stop me cold. They pin me like a dagger through paper. Cold. Certain. Stripping me bare.
Heat rushes to my cheeks and I look away.
The elevator arrives with a soft chime. I step inside, gripping the rail like it’s the only thing keeping me upright. My reflection in the mirrored wall looks hollow. Pale. Already breaking.
When the doors open on the ground floor, he’s waiting.
Coincidence, I tell myself. Just a man leaving the hospital. But he doesn’t walk past. He stays. Watching.
I try to ignore him, buying a small cup of tea from the café, but the paper cup trembles in my hands. My stomach knots too tight to swallow. I throw it away and head for the doors.
“Miss.”
The voice is deep. Smooth. The type of voice that leaves no room for refusal.
I turn slowly. “Yes?”
“I believe you need help.”
My pulse skitters. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do.” His gaze never wavers. “Your brother is out of time. I can solve your problem.”
Anger sparks in me, brittle and hot. “You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know enough.” His words are measured, calm, absolute. “Mateo Constible. Sixteen. Cardiology. Your only family. A young woman breaking herself in two to keep him alive.”
My blood goes cold. “How—”
“I make it my business to know what I want.” He steps closer, not touching me, but the air thickens around us. “And what I want is you.”
The words knock the breath from my chest.
“I want a wife,” he continues, his voice quiet and cold edged. “A child. My legacy in blood and bone. You will give me both. In return, your brother will live. His surgery will be scheduled tonight. Paid in full. He’ll wake tomorrow in a private room with the best care money can buy.”
It takes me a moment to find words. “What? You can’t—”
