Page 41 of Kept By the Bratva
“No. Alek.” He swallowed and winced, forfeiting this opportunity to relax for long under my care. “I had to see you first. But my brother—my boss—needs to speak with me.”
He stood, and I resigned myself to being left and locked up again, but to my shock, he maintained his grip on my hand and encouraged me to come with him.
“Nik? I’m…” I shook my head, hurrying after him. I wasnotgoing to whine about not being presentable. Margie had brought ample clothing in for me during my “stay” and I currently wore the silk pajamas that felt like a luxury I’d never have again. Pants and a top covered me, but I hustled barefoot to keep up with Nik.
It was my first time to see the rest of this humongous house. A mansion. A hotel? I couldn’t decide, but it was that large, that showy. Nik didn’t slow down, hurrying me down the carpeted hallways. While I wanted to look around and note some of the details, all my senses blurred into an urgency to keep up with this man.
He wasn’t locking me away. No blindfold covered my face. I didn’t know if this change signified that he trusted me or why, but I grew more alarmed by what could have happened to make him this impatient and worried.
“Nikolai,” a tall man said firmly as we reached a large room that seemed like a mix between an old-fashioned parlor and business meeting room.
Other men waited there. Mila, too. Seeing the woman comforted me, but her expression was just as blankly firm, full of no-nonsense authority, as the man who’d spoken.
“Alek, I can explain,” Nik said, stopping on the other side of the room. He didn’t release my hand, and if anything, his fingers tightened on my hand.
“I already told him,” another man said. Like Nik, he bore the clear signs of a beating. He dabbed a bloodied cloth at a deep cut on his lip, and both his eyes seemed swollen. “I told him about the message the Cartel wanted us to deliver.”
Nik nodded. “They were waiting for us at the fire at Harrow’s.”
Alek leaned forward, gripping the back of a chair and glancing at me. He was so cold and bossy, but I refused to cower and hide behind Nik.
How does any of this pertain to me?If they were all secretive thugs, I didn’t want to know a damn thing that would make my life more dangerous than it already was.
“They didn’t want to kill us but kept us alive to bring a message back to you. Some fucker already saw the women the Cartel was going to sell and transport, and he paid for her.”
Alek tipped his chin toward me. “This one?”
I scowled, furious that I was being talked about like athing.
Nik nodded, bringing me closer. When he released my hand, I worried more, but he stepped closer. “This is her.”
“I don’t understand…” I hated the fear in my voice.
“Diego Martinez.” Alek shook his head. “He is one of the Cartel’s wealthy backers, and it seems he took a fancy to you.”
“Diego!”
All the men narrowed their eyes on me.
“I… I heard his name. The men who kidnapped me called him by that name.”
“Go on,” Alek demanded. Mila put her hand on his forearm, and I wanted to assume she was urging him to go gentle on me.
“That’s all I know. They captured me and stripped me then put me with the other women. And the girl.” I glanced at Nik. I hadn’t forgotten how he’d hurried to spare her and send her to freedom. He wasn’tjusta killer. He had to have a heart beneath the murderous intentions to let a child escape.
“What else?” the other beaten man asked.
“The men seemed afraid of him. One… The one…”
Nik put his hand at the small of my back, furrowing his brow at me as I struggled to finish.
“One man threatened to cut out my tongue if I called for help. But Diego came in and looked us all over. He noticed me right away.” I shook my head. “I don’t know why. I don’t want to know why.” My skin broke out in goosebumps at the reminder of his creepy, enigmatic stare. Like I was a puzzle he wanted to take his time putting together, only to smash me into pieces afterward.
“He pointed at me and said he wanted me.” I refused to look away from Alek, understanding that he was in charge.
“Only you?” Nik asked.
I nodded, glancing at him and worrying about his concern morphing to anger on his features. His jaw slid. His gaze narrowed. And his fingers curled into the fabric of my shirt at my back.