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Sasha.

If anything’s happened to him, if this man touched him, hurt him, I’ll kill him with my bare hands. Somehow, wrap the chains around his neck and choke him to death.

I fucking swear if I have to hunt him down, I will.

Tears burn in my eyes and swell my throat.

No, I can’t even think something has happened. I might be mad at Demyan, but he’ll never let something happen to our son, never. He’d rip the world apart the way I want to.

I drag in a breath and look up at this Niko. He might be a good-looking man, but his eyes are cruel, cold. And that diminishes anything attractive about him.

My heart aches as I battle the panic and I look at him, hoping he has some heart, a drop of compassion. “This was a mistake,” I say. “I’ve never done anything to you. I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. If you?—”

“What? Let you go? You believe your lover will rain down gifts on me? His thanks?” Niko laughs. “Demyan’s worse than me.” Then he gives me a facsimile of surprise. “Or are you going to mention your son? His son, I assume, since a fucker like that would never have taken in some other man’s spawn.”

My head swims and I think I’m going to throw up. Somehow, I control myself. “Please let me go back to my son. My son.”

I hate myself a little for that emphasis, but right now I’ll do anything?—

“And do you know where he is?” Niko asks, voice cold and deadly.

It’s like he punched me in the gut.

Something snaps and I launch myself at him. The chains pull taut.

“Where’s my son?” I scream. “You? Did you take him?”

And Niko laughs.

I throw myself against the chains again. “If you’ve hurt so much as one hair on that little boy, so help me God, I’ll?—”

“What? You’ll what? Hurt me? Kill me?” He laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t think so. After all, you can’t even do anything about this.”

“You monster?—”

He backhands me hard across the face and it kills my words. I see stars. And pain bursts inside as my head whips fast.

I shake my head and make myself look at him.

He smirks.

“You can’t do a fucking thing.”

The worst thing is, he’s right. I can’t protect my son. I don’t even know where he is and even if I did, how the hell can I protect him?

He’s missing and I’m here, chained like an animal.

Unable to protect Sasha, myself, the baby inside me.

What kind of mother am I?

I did this. By not listening to Ilya, I got captured, put this new life in me in danger, my son. I might have gotten Ilya killed. Now Demyan’s going to have to deal with that, and find my son and me?

I gulp down a cry.

The monster, Niko, runs a hand over my head, almost lovingly, and it makes me want to puke all over him and his thousand-dollar suit.

He then tucks his unlit cigar away. “If you know what’s good for you, and your sweet little boy, Sasha, you’ll keep quiet. As in, shut the fuck up and do what you’re told.”