Page 93 of Debt to the Mafia King
“So, Leah. Let’s talk.”
I hugged myself harder, forcing my body not to shake, even though I was suddenly so scared that I could pee myself.
Where was Viktor? Surely he had realized what had happened by now and was looking for me, but how would he find me? I glanced out the dark window and didn’t recognize the neighborhood we were going through. It looked to be mostly warehouses. How was he going to find me if I didn’t even know where I was?
“Now, now, no tears.” Piotre leaned forward and swiped his thumb under my eyes, but it wasn’t a gentle gesture. He grabbed my chin. “Tears might work on Viktor, but I’m not him.”
His fingers dug into my skin, and I fought the urge to cry out. Yes, it hurt, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I wouldn’t, even though it felt like he was grinding my face into dust.
“I’m not going to cry,” I ground out. “But if you don’t let go of me, Viktor is going to kill you.”
He let me go so suddenly that I fell back, and he cackled out a laugh. “Is that right, Leah? You think my darling big brother will murder me for you?”
I did a double-take. “Brother?”
“Well, half at least,” he shrugged. “You didn’t know?” He didn’t let me answer. “Not surprised. I don’t think many people do. It’s allrumors, of course, but I know the truth. Viktor has everything that was meant to be mine. He gets the power and the prestige and the beautiful wife.” His eyes raked over my body, lingering on the curve of my breast. Although you getting knocked up by him makes it more complicated.”
“What do you want?” I asked again.
“I want what’s in your head, Leah.”
Fuck, did that mean he was going to shoot me?
Catching my look, he laughed even harder. “I want information, Leah, not your brains on the floor. If I wanted you dead, then you would have been dead by now.”
“I won’t betray my husband. I won’t spy on him, and I know nothing about his businesses because he has never confided in me. I’ll tell you what I told his dad. I won’t betray Viktor. I am loyal to him.”
“Yes, you are, and I like that, but tell me, Leah? Do you think he is so loyal to you? Do you think he is keeping you around for any other reason than that you are the incubator for his child?”
“Viktor cares about me.”
“Has he told you that? Has he told you he loves you?”
My lips snapped shut, and my heart sank. Both of them could see it in my face that he hadn’t. And both of them knew Viktor better than I did. Maybe what they said was true. I set my shoulders and sat up straighter. “I love my husband. I won’t betray him.”
Piotre’s eyes glittered with malice. “We will see if you change your tune after—”
“After what?” I couldn’t help the fear that made my voice tremble.
In answer, he nodded to Manda. “Do what you need to do, sweetheart,” he told her, “kick that baby right out of her. It’s one way of getting your man back, but don’t kill her. I don’t need her dead yet.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but Manda grabbed my hair and slammed me into the floor of the car, and then there was nothing but pain as her fists rained down.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Viktor
“Leah? Printsessa?” Staring down at the fallen baby clothes at my feet, I felt my heart lurch. It was such a weird feeling being worried about someone else, but I seemed to be feeling a lot since I had met her.
“Leah?” I called again when no one answered. Where was she? She wouldn’t have just left. Turning in a circle, I looked around. Ducking under racks in case she had fainted and was hidden from view, and there was nothing.
It was like she had never been there at all, except I knew she had been because of those damn baby clothes on the floor.
They felt like a bad omen now.
Of course, she could have run. She had run from me before, but we had been happy these last few weeks. I had made her happy, so I knew deep down that she hadn’t run.
Which meant she hadn’t left on her own.
