Page 28 of Kept By the Bratva
Finding smells off-putting.Huge double-check.
Instead of freaking out at the very likely possibility that I was pregnant, I sniffled and mourned the life I once knew. Nothing would be the same ever again.
Before, I was a single woman, working and trying hard to keep afloat of debt while only having to worry about myself.
Now, after Nik, after being kidnapped, I had so much more on my shoulders.
Becoming a mother and having to focus on a new life. Getting over the trauma of being taken and almost sold to that pervy Diego. Recovering from the horror of seeing so much death.
I had no idea what could come next. Nik hadn’t returned, but I knew that he, or someone from his ‘family business’, would. It made no sense otherwise. If they wanted to sell me, then I would have been taken away with the other women, right? If they only wanted to end up killing me, they wouldn’t have waited. All I could take as a fact was that they didnotseem inclined to release me.
The locks on the front door began to unclick, and I opened my eyes. Jerking my head from the wall, I blinked and hurried to get up. Someone was coming, and I didn’t want them to find me weak and vulnerable on the bathroom floor.
If it was Nik, I didn’t want him to see me sickly and worried like this. He was the father of this baby. I didn’t need tests to know. My heart and soul knew. I was carrying a baby, and he was the father.
But I vowed then and there to never let him know. He didn’t need to know. I didn’t want my baby to have a killer or a thug for a father. As I hurried out of the bathroom and checked that the shirt and pants I’d found and pulled on were covering me, though baggy, and the sandals were as secure as the adjustable straps could allow, I felt decent.
I would get out of this situation. I found no weapons or a phone to use here, but I would. I wasn’t only thinking of my survival, I had to do the best I could for my baby.
Nik entered, eyeing me up and down for a long, silent moment. I crossed my arms, unsure what he expected of me, but he didn’t seem annoyed with my defiant smirk.
“Ready?”
I blinked, lowering my arms. “Ready for what?”
“We’re leaving.”
I frowned as he came close, reaching for my hand.
“Do you prefer the rope again?”
I dropped my jaw. “No!”
“Then… let’s get out of here.”
“No. Just let me go.”
He shook his head, sighing like he was disappointed. Reaching up to his neck, he began to loosen his tie. “Turn around.”
“No!”
“Don’t talk back, Amy.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Nik,” I spat as he spun me around.
The fabric of his tie brushed over my face, and I scowled as he tied it tight. Darkness had me disoriented, and I almost wished I’d gone with letting him cuff me again. Taking away my sight was worse, and dizzy with the clumsiness of not knowing where I was going as he roughly took my hand and pulled me after him, I worried I’d get nauseated and puke once more. Letting Nik see me sick would be fine, but I wanted to avoid anything that could make him suspect I might be pregnant.
“Where am I going?” I asked. Fear crept into my voice. I’d almost convinced myself that he wouldn’t hurt me, but I couldn’t know for sure whether he would prevent others from doing so. I just didn’t know what was going on. At all! It infuriated me, and with that anger, my trepidation increased. The realization that I was fighting for myselfandmy baby was still clear in my mind, and it changed everything. Every word I said. Every action I completed.
“Somewhere else,” he replied dryly.
The blindfold spoke volumes. He wouldn’ttellme where he wanted to transport me if he didn’t want me to see the way there.
“Why can’t you just release me?”
No reply as the kiss of the outside air touched my face. No sounds came, and I knew we had to be in that overground parking garage we’d pulled into last night. I doubted anyone was near to hear me if I called for help, and what would that do, anyway? Nik was a killer. He’d end any innocent bystander.
“I can’t.”