Page 15

Chapter Fifteen

Anya

“ I just don’t understand,” I say as Erik and I lay in bed together. “You saw her look right at you. You saw her get into the car willingly with Dante. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s what I saw. I didn’t see Dante or his other man grab her and toss her into the car.” Erik rubs the back of his neck and averts his gaze, almost like he doesn’t want to look at me as he says this. “It was almost like she wanted to go with Dante.”

“That’s bullshit. Dante kidnapped her. Nadia is terrified. She wants to be free of him.”

Erik sighs. “It could be a case of Stockholm Syndrome.”

“Don’t say that.” I rip the covers off me and get out of bed and begin to pace. What else can I do but pace around the room? I’m in capable of saving my baby sister.

“She might care for him, Anya. Maybe she didn’t want to see him die.”

“No. She only went with him to ensure that he wouldn’t kill her. He had a knife to her throat! She doesn’t care for him.”

“She’s been with him for weeks now. We don’t know what’s happening there. We don’t know what Nadia is feeling.”

“I know my sister,” I say hotly.

Erik raises his hands in surrender. “I’m not saying you don’t. I’m just saying that you don’t know how this has changed her. You saw her at the charity event. You saw how she spoke. She didn’t sound like the scared, shy Nadia I know. Remember, I know Nadia as well. She’s been living with us for the past four years now. I can see that she’s changed.”

“Then he’s tortured her. That’s the only explanation.”

“Ok.” He get outs out of bed and places his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to stop walking. “Anya, that could very well be the case. But as someone who was actually tortured people in the past, no one has ever liked me more because of it. So either Nadia has lost her mind -,”

“Don’t say that,” I hiss.

“- or maybe Dante isn’t torturing her like we think he is. He sent us someone else’s finger. Not hers. She looked healthy at the charity event. I didn’t see any bruises on her.”

“That you could see. She had a long dress on.”

“Maybe. But you know I’m a practical man. And from what I saw, Nadia didn’t look like she was in any actual danger. I’m not sure Dante has been torturing her.”

“He kidnapped her. He’s keeping her from me. That alone is torture.”

“True. But you know what I mean. And also… Nadia has always lived in your shadow. You’ve always protected her. Maybe what Nadia needs is to find her own way in life. Maybe she likes being on her own. Maybe she’s thriving and figuring herself out. You just don’t know.”

“I know my sister,” I repeat but this time it comes out much more… lame. Like there’s no fight left in me.

“I know,” Erik says softly. I can see the pity in his eyes and it makes me want to hit him despite how much I love him. That’s what Dante is doing to us. Tearing us apart. “But maybe Nadia has changed. I will fight to get her back. But don’t expect the same sister you had once. This situation will have changed her. That’s a fact.”

Before I can say anything to that, Erik’s phone rings. With a frown, he goes over to the nightstand and picks it up. “It’s Ivan.” He answers the call and puts it on speaker. “Yes?”

“Dante just showed up at my house and tried to kill me.”

My blood goes cold. “What?”

Erik shakes his head, silently telling me to be quiet. “Are you ok? Elena and Viktoriya?”

“They’re fine. Alive. Viktor showed up. I had called Sergei and he told me that Viktor was closer in the area. But Viktor didn’t succeed. Dante got away and all we have to show for it is another bullet to Viktor’s shoulder. He’s pissed. He wants blood.”

“As long as you and your family are ok, that’s all that matters right now. ”

Ivan lets out a shaky breath. “It’s just… I have to say that something strange happened. Dante was about to kill me. He had the gun to my head and everything. But then he just… stopped. He didn’t kill me. He said it was my lucky day.”

“Why would he do that?” Erik asks, glancing at me in confusion. I can only shrug. I don’t know Dante. He’s just the bastard who stole my sister away.

“I’m not sure. But I saw him looking at Elena a few times and he would get this sort of weird… guilty look in his eye. Like he felt bad that he was trying to kill me. I’m not sure if he’s going to come back for me. Was this just a game? Or was he serious in not wanting me dead, even after I stabbed him?”

Erik is quiet for a moment. I can see the thoughts swirling around in his head but I can’t quiet reach them. “Maybe Dante is getting tired of this war. Maybe he wants it to end. If that’s the case, then that gives me a chance to talk with him again. Maybe I can broker for peace. Give us Nadia and I won’t kill him.”

“Maybe,” Ivan says hesitantly. “But I don’t understand that madman. I think the best course of action would be to kill him.”

“Thanks for that advice, Ivan,” Erik says in a dry tone, then hangs up.

“So?”

“So… it seems that Dante has had a change of heart over something. I just need to figure out what.”

His phone rings again.

“You’re popular tonight,” I comment.

He makes a face and answers. “Viktor. What’s up?”

“I have the license plate for the car I saw Dante drive away in. I’m assuming Ivan already called you and told you everything.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I have the license plate. We can search for the car. Maybe it will lead us to Nadia.”

“Good work, Viktor. But listen, I don’t want you to tell Sergei about this. I don’t want him getting to Nadia first. If he finds her, he’ll force her back with him and it needs to be me who saves her. She’s only safe with me and Anya.”

“Well… Ivan already called Sergei. He told Sergei everything. Sergei’s already searching for the car too. I didn’t realize that he wasn’t allowed to know.”

That’s right. Viktor doesn’t know how my father has treated both me and Nadia over the years. We were going to tell him after he and Nadia were married .

Erik clenches his hand around the phone. “That’s fine.” His voice is tight. “But we need to find her first. Send me the details.” He hangs up and throws the phone onto the bed.

“What are we going to do?”

He gives me a long, hard look that I don’t like. “We have to find Nadia before your father does.”

Nadia

I find Dante in the kitchen, making breakfast, in nothing but pajama bottoms. The sight of his bare chest makes my stomach flutter. He is too handsome for his own good.

“You didn’t lock the door last night.”

He glances over at me and lifts up a skillet. “Eggs?”

“You didn’t lock the door last night. Why? You want to keep me here. But I could have left.”

“But you didn’t, did you?”

He’s right about that. I thought about it last night – just running away. Returning to Anya. And while I do desperately want to see my sister again, I also don’t like the idea of returning to my old life. I had to look over my shoulder constantly as I worried about my father trying to take me back.

With Dante, in a strange way, I’m safe from my father, since he has no clue where I even am.

“Why didn’t you?” he asks softly, not looking at me. It’s strange to see Dante looking a little bashful.

“You make me feel things,” I admit. He looks up sharply. “And I don’t know if I want to let that go.”

Setting aside the skillet, he comes over to me and cups my face. “But I kidnapped you.”

“You did. But the world we live in is a dark one. How is what you did any worse than what my father has done to me and Anya? At least you’ve never beat me.”

“So, you only like me because I haven’t beat you? Really low bar. ”

“No. I like you because… I haven’t felt this alive ever before.”

“Not even with Viktor?” he asks.

“Viktor and I barely know each other. I was just marrying him because it was my duty. But I didn’t feel… anything for him. He doesn’t give me butterflies like you do.”

“You shouldn’t like me, Nadia,” he says in a low voice.

“I know I shouldn’t. I should have left you to die. I should have saved myself. I know all of this. But I also know that you have the power to end this war. And I know that I didn’t want to see you die, whatever that means. I just know that I feel drawn to you, even though I shouldn’t. Isn’t this what you wanted?” I whisper, setting my hands on his chest. He sucks in a breath. “You wanted me to come to you willingly.”

“And have you?”

My mind is a mess with conflicting feelings. A part of me wants to run from Dante and another part of me wants him to pull me into his arms and kiss the life right out of me.

I’m not sure any of that will ever go away.

“I don’t know,” I admit. His eyes dim a little. “I just know that I want to return home to my sister while I also want you to kiss me again.”

“I can’t bring you back home. It will be defeat.”

Before his words can make me too sad, he continues talking. “But I can definitely kiss you.”

He brings our lips together and instantly, I melt into him. It’s like waking up from a dream whenever we kiss. I feel more alive in this moment than I have in my entire life.

The front door bangs open and Matteo runs inside, forcing me and Dante apart.

“What is it?” Dante growls, still keeping his hands on me, I notice.

“We have to run. Right now.”

“What’s going on?”

“Sergei is here. He found us. He’s coming up the driveway right at this moment.”

Dante curses and lets me go. I feel the urge to call him back to me. “How the fuck did he find us?”

“You let Ivan live last night. Maybe he found us that way. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. What matters is we need to leave.”

“Or we fight.” Dante opens up a kitchen drawer and pulls out a gun, startling me. “I say we just kill the fucker. It’s about time, don’t you think?” He turns to me. “Do you want your father dead?”

I hate my father but I can’t ask for his murder. It would go against who I am .

“Would you like me if I said yes?”

Dante’s expression says so much and yet, I can’t make sense of it. “He needs to die. You don’t have to agree with it. Go hide in the bedroom.” He pauses. “Unless you want your father to take you back home.”

“No,” I whisper. Just knowing that my father is here makes my body tense up. Even Dante has never made me this afraid before.

“So go hide,” he says softly, skimming the backs of his fingers down my cheek. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t get to you.”

I make another decision again by going back to my room instead of going to my father. A line will be crossed in the sand because of this.

And my father will not be happy.

Dante

“Hello, Sergei,” I say, once I’m in the doorway. Sergei is fast approaching the house.

“I’m here for my daughter.”

“I’m impressed you managed to find this place.”

Behind Sergei are two men I don’t know. Expendables in my eyes.

“Call Aiden and Finn,” I murmur to Matteo, who nods and quickly does as I tell him to. “So, Sergei. What can I do for you?”

“I already told you. I want my daughter back.”

“See, that’s interesting, because I’m not sure she wants to go with you.”

“I’m sure she does. Why would she want to stay with the man who kidnapped her? She belongs with her family.”

“Oh, you mean the father who hates her guts and prefers to beat her rather than show her love? That family?” Knowing I’m standing before the man who has hurt Nadia makes my blood boil. There’s no use in denying: I don’t see Nadia as my enemy anymore. She hasn’t been for a long time .

Honestly, I think the moment I saw her cry that very first day, I realized she was just an innocent woman caught up in a deadly game. She was never the one I hated. That would be reserved for Sergei and Erik.

Sergei flushes and stammers for a moment before he snaps his lips shut into a thin line. “I am coming for you.”

“Then shoot me.” I spread my arms out wide. “I’m right here.”

To his credit, he doesn’t waste time drawing his gun and firing it. Except, he doesn’t hit me because Matteo hits Sergei in the arm with a bullet, making him drop his gun.

“Fuck,” Sergei screams, holding onto his now bleeding arm. “Get them!”

His two other men start firing. Matteo pulls me back into the house and kicks the door shut.

“Were you just going to stand there and get shot?”

“No. I was just having some fun. Give me that at least.” Casually, I go into my bedroom and slip on a shirt and shoes and grab my gun. “Let’s kill these motherfuckers.”

Matteo glances down at his phone. “Aiden and Finn are on their way but they might not make it here in time.”

“Then we better kill Sergei before it’s too late.”

“Is Nadia ok with that?”

I look at Matteo like he’s fucking insane. “Why does that matter?”

“Because I know you care for the girl. I see it every time you look at her.”

“We don’t have time to talk about our fucking feelings,” I hiss. “We have some fuckers to kill.”

Sergei kicks down the front door, which is impressive for his older age. I’ll give him this. He’s a formidable figure. I’m sure he was terrifying in his youth but now all I see is an insecure old man who’s desperate to get his daughter back just to hurt her.

And I can’t let Nadia get hurt. I think I would rather die than let that happen.

What the hell is happening to me?

Matteo and I stay hidden in the bedroom as we wait for Sergei to get closer.

“Come on out!” Sergei shouts. “Face me like a man.”

I huff. That’s rich, coming from the man who beats his daughters.

Sergei gets closer and closer to my room until he’s right there. I jump out from behind the wall and pistol whip him in the head, sending him staggering back.

Matteo shoots one of the guards dead in the head while the other fires at him. A grunt comes from Matteo’s mouth. Glancing back, I see that Matteo got shot in the arm .

“I’m ok,” he says, and in one impressive move, manages to shoot the guard who shot him, killing him instantly.

All the color drains from Sergei’s face as he realizes he’s outnumbered.

“You really thought you could kill me?” I kick him in the stomach. He falls to the floor with a groan. It’s satisfying.

“If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with.”

“I want to have some fun with you first.”

“Dante,” Matteo says, “if Sergei is here, then Erik and Viktor probably won’t be far behind. We have to leave. We have another safehouse lined up. We need to go.”

“In a minute.” I bend over Sergei and stroke his cheek, making him jerk away. “Don’t like being touched? Then maybe you never should have touched your daughters.”

“I never touched them.”

“You beat them.”

“That’s different. They needed discipline. But I never touched them… sexually.” He says the word like it’s dirty.

“I would love to make you suffer for hours but I guess I’m just going to have to end things here.” I stand back up and raise my gun.

Footsteps run towards me and then I hear the soft voice that has been haunting my dreams for the past few weeks. “Don’t. Dante don’t.”

I look over at Nadia. “You were supposed to stay in your room.”

“I know. But…” Her eyes fall onto her father. “I can’t see him die.”

“Then go back to your room.”

“I mean, I don’t want you to kill him.”

Sergei’s laugh makes me want to fucking punch him, so I do for good measure. He grunts and groans in pain after my fist connects with his face.

“My daughter doesn’t want me to die. See? I’m not such a bad father after all.”

“You are,” Nadia says, making Sergei frown.

“You don’t get to speak to me this way,” he hisses.

“You’ve made me afraid my entire life. You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore.”

I turn to Nadia. “I have to kill him. He needs to die.”

“No one needs to die,” she says as her eyes search my face. She’s so beautiful and innocent. It almost breaks my cold fucking heart. “We can make peace. ”

Sergei barks a laugh. “Peace? With the man who kidnapped you? I don’t fucking think so.” In one quick motion, he pulls out a knife from an ankle holster and chucks it right for me.

I jerk out of the way and at the last second, I realize my mistake.

Because the knife lands right into Nadia’s arm. Her scream of pain hurts me.

“Shit. Don’t pull it out,” I tell her, clasping her arm. It’s lodged right into her bicep. “It’s not in too deep.”

“It hurts,” she whimpers.

Sergei eyes Nadia with wide eyes. “I was aiming for him. Not you. You have to believe me.”

“This could have been a lot worse,” I say. Thank god it wasn’t. Nadia could have died from that throw. And if Nadia were to die, then…

I’m not sure how I feel about it. No. That’s a lie. I know exactly how I would feel about it. I want Nadia for myself. I’ve wanted her for the past few years as I’ve watched her and her family, planning my revenge. I told myself I just wanted to use her as revenge but fuck, I want her to be mine.

And I want her to truly want me too.

“Here,” I say gently. “Get out of the way while I deal with your father. And then I’ll help you with this.”

Nadia looks at me through the tears forming in her eyes. “You’ve never spoken to me like this before.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re truly worried for me.”

There’s so much I want to say but now is not the time. “Get out of the way. I don’t want him hurting you again.” I turn back to Sergei and kick him in the stomach for good measure. “See what you did? Even if it was an accident, you still hurt your daughter. You don’t deserve to have her.”

“And you do? You’re not worthy of my daughter. Not some cheap, sleazy Italian.”

I lift my gun again. “Say goodnight, Sergei.”

“No!” Nadia grabs my arm and makes my shot go wide. Sergei looks between her and me with wide eyes before he scrambles up and grabs her around the waist. The knife in her arm falls out. Blood begins to trickle out of her wound.

“Let her go,” I growl, pointing my gun right at his head .

“I’m taking my daughter back. So unless you don’t want her to get hurt, I suggest you lower your weapon.”

“You are not taking Nadia.” Just a few weeks ago, I would have meant it because Nadia was part of my plan. Losing her would have messed everything up.

But now, I don’t want to lose Nadia because I… just don’t want to lose her.

“I am. Try to shoot me. If you don’t care for her, then you will take your shot.”

I hesitate.

I fucking hesitate.

Sergei smirks, drawing Nadia closer to him. The whimper that escapes her lips makes me want to kill Sergei on principle. “My god. You really do care for her. How’s that for irony.”

Matteo takes a step forward but I hold him back. I don’t want to risk Nadia getting shot.

“Dante,” she says. Her eyes scream at me to save her. That’s how much she hates her father: she’ll choose me, her kidnapper, over the man who raised her.

“Sergei, I am going to kill you.”

“I’d like to see you try.” He cackles.

Nadia tries fighting against his grip but it’s too strong. He pulls her out of the house. By the time I reach the doorway, he has her in his car and they’re driving away.

“We have to follow them,” I bark at Matteo. “Right now.”

We each take a separate car in case we lose sight of Sergei. I am going to get Nadia back. Not just because she’s my prisoner but because she’s not my prisoner.

She’s just mine now.

Sergei

That annoying fucker thought he could kidnap my daughter and get away with it? No fucking way. I just did what everyone, including Erik and Viktor were incapable of.

Saving Nadia .

She’s bleeding out on my nice leather seats. “Here.” I reach into the glove compartment and grab a rag and chuck it at her. “Clean yourself up. It’s unbecoming of a girl like you.”

Without a word, she does as I say. See? Nadia hasn’t changed one bit. She’s still my shy obedient daughter, just the way I like her.

“What’s going to happen to me?” she whispers.

“What do you mean? You’re going to marry Viktor and in so doing, I am going to get back into Erik’s good graces and reclaim my power that I lost. And you are going to do it all with a smile. I’m the one who saved you. Not Erik. Not Viktor. Me.”

She cries to herself. Fine. As long as she’s not bleeding on my seats, I don’t care. I’m used to Nadia crying a lot. She’s cried for most of her life. After her mother died, that whore. After Anya married Erik, that bitch. And I’m sure she cried when Dante kidnapped her.

I don’t have any sympathy for her tears. She can cry for all I care, as long as she does as I want.

“You didn’t save me,” she whispers. I know I must have heard her wrong.

“I did save you. I’m saving you right now.”

“You’re not saving me,” she says louder. “I don’t want this. Just take me back to Anya.”

I scoff. “I am not doing that. Your sister kidnapped you. I’m just taking you back. You belong to me.”

I settle into my seat, ready for the long drive back to the city. Nadia will do as I say. She’s always done as I say.

Then she lets out a scream and grabs the steering wheel.

“What the fuck?” I snarl, trying to steady it but it’s too late.

The car drives off the road and slams right into a tree.