Page 78 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride
She left. Leave her alone, let her go.
No, you have to fight for her this time. You never even told her how you feel.
Maybe she doesn’t want to know how you feel because it will just make things more awkward.
Bullshit. If she says no after you’ve been open and honest with her, then at least you tried. You have to try, Dio.
I move left, hesitate, then move right and dart into my room to grab a pair of jeans, my sneakers, and a shirt. Dressing in a hurry, I’m already running out of my house, only half dressed. I kick the elevator button with my foot, and while it carries me downstairs, I button my shirt and straighten my hair, looking at my reflection in the mirrored wall.
Why did she leave like that? It doesn’t matter. Fight for her. She’s worth it.
She can’t have gotten far. The movie was only about ten minutes in—still right at the beginning. I must have fallen asleep before it even started. Fuck, I really was tired.
The doors open and I bolt through them, straight out of the building and into the street, looking left and right, my heart racing with urgency.
What I see, though, turns my blood to ice.
She’s standing with her back to me, and the large, towering form of Bardil Popov is standing in front of her, a gun held low at his side, pointing right at her. He looks furious. They’re speaking, but I’m not close enough to hear.
Fuck sakes, I don’t even have any weapons on me.
Option one, run upstairs and grab something… not a chance. I’m not letting her out of my sight for a fucking second.
Option two, then. Get closer and wait for a chance to take him by surprise. But no matter what, he is not taking her.
Angelika is managing to keep their conversation going, and to my surprise, she looks calm, composed. But I’m sure inside she’s terrified. She’s fucking brave. The strongest woman I’ve ever met.
I move along the edge of the building, keeping my head down, then slipping into an alleyway near where he’s blocking her.
From here, I can eavesdrop on what they’re talking about.
“You can’t fix it. But you can pay for what you did. I can use you to recover some of the costs I lost. I already have a buyer,” he spits.
The tension in my body triples, and I fight the urge to run straight at him now.
“I won’t come with you. I’d rather die than end up sold to one of those men,” she snaps back fiercely. I nod,you tell him, angel. He can’t have you. You belong to me. But I’ll never let you die. And I’ll never let him take you.
“You’re going to die, alright. It’s part of the deal. I told the buyer I want you disposed of after he’s done with you. Can’t have you coming back to haunt me. But I do want to make some money out of you in the process of getting rid of you,” he hisses.
I want to kill him. I want to rip his limbs from his body and beat him with the bloodied stumps of his own arms and legs. I want to hang him and watch the life slowly drain out of him.
“I thought you were rich, Bardil. It sounds like you’re having some money problems; otherwise, why would you be so worried about the sale of one girl?” she taunts him.
“You fucked it all up, you bitch,” he snaps. “You fucked it up. After the auction, I would have had enough to get out of trouble. I was going to have enough money to close the deal, as I was supposed to. You fucked it all up, and now I’m fucked!”
I press close to the wall, edging closer to them.
“So, to fix your own mistakes, you collected a group of innocent women to sell them like pieces of property?” Her voice is shaking slightly.
“I do what I have to do,” he huffs.
She narrows her eyes, tilting her head to the side as she observes him. I can see her thoughts running, her mind coming up with a plan.
“Do you realize that you’re a monster? Or are you oblivious as to how dark your soul is?” she asks, a wildlydangerous smile on her face. She’s taking a massive risk, pissing him off like that, making him even more unpredictable.
My heart races faster.But her risk is the perfect opportunity.
Her words take him by surprise, throw his guard, shift his focus.
