Page 28 of Innocent Prey of the Bratva
I leave before I do something I’ll regret—like drag her into my arms just to feel her warmth or pin her against that wall just to see if she moans when she’s angry.
No. Not tonight.
She’s still fire. And I’m still gasoline.
And if I stay a second longer, I’ll burn us both to ash.
Chapter 7 – Violet
The door clicks open a few minutes after sunrise.
No one says anything. No voices. Just the sound of the lock disengaging and the quiet thud of receding footsteps.
So Kaz is keeping his word.
I stay in bed for a few more minutes, half-expecting someone to barge in and drag me downstairs, but when no one comes, I slowly get up. The house is quiet—eerily so—and it feels strange to move without the constant threat of someone watching me. Not that I’m naïve enough to think the cameras are gone. I know they’re still there, blinking silently in the corners like invisible eyes. But still, the unlocked door feels like a small win.
I take a quick shower and then slip into the closet, immediately heading toward the shelf where I hid the burner phone.
My fingers curl around the small device, and I quickly unlock it, expecting to find messages from Noelle, but I don’t find anything. My heart breaks. My messages to her were delivered, so why isn’t she responding to me?
I bite down on my lower lip, panic spreading like a slow burn across my chest. I want to tell her everything. I want to scream.
I wish I had Zoe or Jennie’s number. Maybe they could help. Maybe they could convince Lukin or Adrian to get me out of here. But that’s just wishful thinking. I sigh and tuck the phone back into its hiding spot, behind a stack of neatly folded silk camisoles.
When I finally look around the closet, I realize just how absurd all of this is. Everything here is designer. Rows of shoes still in pristine boxes, shelves stacked with clothes in all the rightcolors and styles—my styles. Whoever stocked this place either did their homework or guessed me way too well.
My eyes fall on a black satin slip dress. It’s draped elegantly on a velvet hanger, catching the soft lighting overhead.
I pull it down and run my hands over the fabric. It’s soft. Cool. Ridiculously expensive. A dress like this probably costs more than what I make in a month freelancing for murder reports. Maybe two.
Still….
I slip into it, letting the silk skim over my skin and settle against my curves. The dress leaves my shoulders bare, clings gently to my waist, and ends mid-thigh, leaving my legs mostly exposed.
It’s seductive. Bold. Exactly the kind of thing I wouldn’t wear under normal circumstances. But nothing about this place is normal. And if I’m going to be stuck here, I might as well look like a version of myself that feels powerful—even if it’s fake.
I stare at my reflection in the mirror.
I look…sexy.
For the first time in days, a small smirk tugs at the corner of my mouth.
Let Kaz see me like this.
Let him suffer.
I slowly step out of my room.
The hallway greets me with soft lighting, marble floors, and the subtle scent of something expensive and old—like aged leather and pine polished with secrets. For a second, I hesitate, unsure if stepping out is really allowed, or if this is another one of Kaz’s mind games. But I take a breath and move forward.
It’s the second time I’m leaving the room since they threw me into it over a week ago. And now, out here, I realize just how massive this place is. No, mansion doesn’t even cover it. This is a palace. Every inch is curated, elegant, drenched in quiet wealth.
Wide hallways stretch like something out of a movie. Gilded mirrors, towering arched windows, hand-painted walls. There’s even a grand staircase up ahead, the kind with a thick mahogany rail and a chandelier dripping from the ceiling like liquid gold.
I walk slowly, almost reverently, taking it all in—the silence, the elegance, the suffocating beauty of it all. I approach two stationed guards, men in black suits who stand near a doorway up ahead. I pause, wondering if they’ll stop me—but when they see me, something strange happens.
They turn away. Deliberately. Almost respectfully.
