Page 104 of City of Salvation

I wasn’t sure who hated whom more.

“Natasha, look at all the fucking trouble you have caused me.”

My head snapped to the side, the slap causing my ears to ring, drowning out the chuckles of his men. I prodded at mymouth, a coppery tang overwhelming my senses. Fucker had busted my lip.

“Plenty of other pussy to fuck, Yuri. You could have let me be,” I said, turning my head back to face him.

“I’ll have to break you of that fighting spirit,wife. Can’t have you feeling hopeful that your life is going to be pleasant.”

Fuck, it would have been nice to know what they were planning. Was I supposed to distract him? Get him to stay here? Get us to leave?

Whose bright fucking idea was it not to tell me a damn thing other than a coded message about a Russian children’s musical and a criminal organization’s motto? I’d have rolled my eyes, but it would probably earn me another case of whiplash via Yuri’s hand.

“You never should have run, Natasha,” he bit out before gesturing to his men. “Let’s go. I want out of this fucking country.”

Ice seeped into my veins, and I looked around for any sign that they were there.

My chest tightened when Yuri dragged his fingers down the side of my cheek, probing at the spot a bruise was beginning to form. He smiled when it caused me to wince. “You know, when Mario reached out to say he’d found my missing bride, I assumed the gnat was making another sorry attempt at getting into my good graces. But then he sent a picture of you acting like a whore up on stage,” he said, pressing into the cut on my lip, but I didn’t cry out.

Instead, I spat in his face.

“You fucking bitch!”

I didn’t have great leverage since my hands were bound in front of me with zip ties, but I used the momentary distraction to drive my knee into his groin.

I braced for the retaliation, my eyes closing.

It would be worth it. I’d rather die than be used by him, and if the Grim R eaper was coming to collect, I was going to inflict as much pain as possible on my way out.

The shattering of glass and the pinging of bullets threw the warehouse into chaos. I dropped to my knees, the world seeming to shift into slow motion as people in black tactical gear converged into the room. Yuri’s men fired back, two of them rushing to his aid. Like dé jà vu, I knew I needed to move while he was distracted.

I made my move to run, but a searing pain radiated from my head as Yuri gripped my hair, yanking me backward. “Oh, no, you don’t,” he breathed into my ear, the barrel of a gun digging into my temple. “Get the fuck back. Unless you want me to blow her fucking brains out.”

The warehouse went deathly silent at his threat.

In my peripherals, I caught Ryan, her face turned up in a murderous rage.

“Set your fucking guns down.”

One by one, Ryan and the others did as they were told.

“It’s not because they care about you, Natasha. They are surrendering because you’re not worth the bloodshed. Look, that motorcycle member isn’t even here. Fucked you and forgot you, it looks like,” Yuri whispered. His words sent dread pooling in my gut, not because I believed him.

He was full of shit.

But he was right about Dex not being here. I looked at the bodies lying on the ground, hoping and praying none of them were him. Relief was short-lived when I didn’t recognize any of them , though, because where the hell was he?

Ryan’s voice drew my attention. “Let her go, and we let you live.” Our eyes met, and she made the slightest move of her head.

I followed the movement, spotting what looked like an open window up near the roof. The black barrel sent my heart into overdrive as Yuri’s arm banded tighter around me, pulling me close as he yelled at Ryan.

“Let me live? You’re the ones who have put down your weapons. I am going to walk out of here with my prize, and then, in return, I will hunt and kill you all.”

“How is that a deal?” I asked, unable to keep my smart mouth shut.

My question was met with another rough yank of my hair as he led us backward, using me as a human shield with the gun pressed to my temple. Tires screeched, echoing off the corrugated metal. Yuri’s Range Rover pulled up behind us, a door thrown open.

Fuck. I knew if I got in there, I’d be gone forever, and the sick fuck would make sure I wasn’t able to die before he was ready. The situation left me no choice.

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