Page 6

Chapter Six

Anya

I ’m sent an email with a video attachment to it. It’s from an unknown sender, except, I know exactly who it’s from.

I run into Erik’s office and interrupt his meeting with my father, Viktor, and Ivan Romanov. Even though things have been tough between Erik and my father, they’ve put aside their differences to help each other find Nadia, though I believe my husband’s motives are selfless whereas my father’s motives are purely selfish. He wants Nadia back to save his pride.

All the men turn to look at me. My father immediately scoffs. “This is serious business we’re dealing with here, daughter. Leave.”

“You’re in my house,” I remind him. “Show me some respect.”

“The house your husband bought.”

Ivan looks uncomfortable with the fighting while Viktor looks bored. Neither one helps me. The only one who does is Erik.

“Sergei, shut the fuck up. This is Anya’s house. Anya, did you need something?”

“I was sent a video in an email. By Dante. I know it. I haven’t watched it. I thought we could watch it together.” Mostly, I’m terrified of what I’ll see. My sister being mutilated. Tortured. Raped.

God, I want to vomit at the thought.

Erik pulls up my email on his computer and all of us crowd around to watch .

What we see isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Nadia, at least physically, seems fine but the more she cries in the video, the more my heart breaks. She’s so scared and yet, she’s trying to be brave. There’s a few moments where she stands up for herself. I couldn’t be more proud of her. My shy, baby sister, taking on a scary Mafia man.

And then Dante begins to taunt my father. He asks questions about why Nadia moved in with me and Erik. My father’s jaw gets tenser and tenser as the video goes on until I’m sure his mouth is going to snap in half.

Dante ends the video by kissing Nadia.

The sight of it shocks me to my core. I should have expected he’d force himself upon her but what’s more shocking is that… Nadia doesn’t pull away from the kiss. Instead, she seems to melt into the it, almost like she’s desperate for it.

No. I must be seeing things. That can’t be right. Nadia is terrified of Dante; I can tell by the way she spoke to him in the video. The way she bargained for a blanket. The way she looked him square in the eye and told him ‘no.’

The kiss is over within a few moments. I know I saw it wrong. Nadia didn’t enjoy it.

“I’m coming for you, Erik,” Dante ends the video saying. “And you, Anya. And you, Sergei. You never should have messed with me.” The video goes black.

Erik leans back in his chair, sighing deeply. “Well, that isn’t good.”

“Obviously it’s not fucking good,” my father growls, hitting a stack of papers on Erik’s desk and sending them fluttering to the ground.

“Watch it,” Erik snaps back.

“I want him dead,” Viktor says simply. No anger in his voice. Just a pure coldness that speaks to how unhappy he is. Nadia was promised to Viktor and now Dante just stole her first kiss from him. And to think I was unhappy with Nadia marrying Viktor at one point. Now, I would make that happen if it saved Nadia from Dante.

Viktor would never force himself on her but Dante is already showing that he’s not afraid to do just that.

“We all want him dead,” Ivan says while wringing his hands together. “But the question is: how? We don’t know where he is. We don’t know where Nadia is.”

“We know she’s in a basement,” I offer. “She told us so.”

Erik nods once. “We’ll search for houses that have basements, which rules out the majority of New York City itself. Dante probably has her somewhere outside of the city.”

“That could be anywhere,” Viktor says.

A sinking dread fills my stomach. Viktor is right. It’s too much space .

Then I have an idea.

“Let me look at the video again.”

My father scoffs. “Why do that to yourself? It’s the same thing we all just watched. Dante has Nadia. He’s made a fool out of me. Did you hear him threaten me?”

Viktor crosses his arms. “I’m curious about that. Dante asked you about karma. He said that you kidnapped some girl. I was never told about this.”

Erik and Ivan share a look before Erik responds. “I was on the outs with Sergei by then. I didn’t bring it up because I didn’t want it to ruin the chances of us working together. But Sergei did kidnap a girl, named Aria Romano. She’s the daughter of Elio Romano, a friend of Dante’s. He wanted to draw Dante out and Aria was his way. I disapproved though. I don’t think we should kidnap girls. It never leads to anything good. Case in point.” He nods at the video.

“I don’t like to be lied to,” Viktor warns.

“It won’t happen again,” Erik promises.

My father paces back and forth across the room like a madman. “Maybe we should consider kidnapping Aria again. He went after Nadia. All is fair in war.”

“Kidnapping Aria is partly the reason he kidnapped Nadia,” I say like it’s obvious. And it is to me. Clearly, it’s not obvious to my idiotic father. “So no. We’re not going to kidnap her.”

He storms over to me, sticking his bony finger in my face. “You don’t have a say in what I do, girl.”

“I am married to Erik Koslov. I have more power than you do.”

“Enough,” Erik says. “Fighting between each other is not going to get us anywhere. Anya, you wanted to watch the video again.”

“Yes. I thought of something.” I point towards something in the background. “There. A window. Zoom in. See if you can make out anything on the outside.”

“Smart,” Erik says with pride in his voice. I smile down at him.

We all take a moment to look at the video. Even my father has stopped bitching and moaning.

“I can’t see much,” Erik admits. “But what I can see is part of a house next door. I can partially see the address but not all of it. I’ll have to send it to one of my men. A hacker. He might be able to help us with this.”

“So, there’s a chance we might be able to find Nadia?”

Erik squeezes my hand. “There’s a chance. ”

When I look over at my father, all I see is him frowning. He doesn’t look happy at the idea of Nadia being found. That’s not surprising. She just admitted on camera that he abused both her and me. My father hates when his secrets come to light.

All I care about is getting my sister back and now, for the first time in twenty-four hours, I feel hope.

Nadia

The blanket helps ward off the chill in the basement that night but only by so much. I still find myself shivering; it’s just more manageable now.

The one thing I can’t help but notice is how much the blanket smells like Dante. It’s like I’m being wrapped in his arms. I should feel horrified by that idea and yet, I’m not. I can’t stop thinking about our kiss. How passionate it was. How… good it felt.

I must be losing my mind because there’s no other explanation for how I feel. I don’t like Dante. But I can’t deny that there’s something strangely intoxicating about him. The way he captures me with his eyes and holds me in place is electrifying. I feel seen in a way I’ve never been before.

Sleep finally takes me and my dreams are filled with Dante.

Dante looking at me. Dante smirking at me. Smiling at me. Kissing me.

I wake up with a shudder. It’s light out now. Another day has passed.

A plate with another sandwich on it is resting by the mattress. The thought that someone, either Matteo or Dante (or worse – one of the Irish brothers) came down while I slept sends a shiver down my spine.

My stomach rumbles from hunger and I eat. At least this sandwich is better with lettuce and tomato on it and not just ham and cheese.

I tense up when the door opens and footsteps descend. It’s a sound I have become intimately familiar with.

Dante enters the basement, looking smug. “I’m pretty positive your family got my video I sent them.”

“How do you know? ”

“Because your father left me a message in my old apartment. It read : I will kill you, you bastard . It wasn’t very original, I thought. Pretty basic. That’s why I’m confident it was your father. He doesn’t seem to have many creative braincells within him. I also figured if it was Erik, he wouldn’t leave me a message. He would just try to do a sneak attack on me. I’m sure he’s planning one right now.”

The thought that Erik is out there trying to get to me warms my heart. It means I’m not alone in this.

“Too bad I don’t know what your sister thought of the video.” He sits on the mattress beside me. Too close for comfort. Subtly, I shift away from him and he doesn’t move closer. “What do you think she thought when she watched it? If she even watched it. Was she too scared to? Not brave enough?”

“My sister is the bravest person I know.” My words come out as a snap. Passionate. Firey. For the first time, I sound a lot like Anya.

Dante looks taken aback for a second before he slowly smiles. “So, your passionate side comes out when you talk about your sister. Good to know. Now I know what buttons to push.” His eyes flick over the blanket around me. “Cozy?”

“No. I was still cold.”

“Well, I can’t have you getting too comfortable, can I? That would defeat the purpose of what I’m doing here.”

“You could just pretend you’re torturing me. You don’t have to actually do it. If my family believes it, then that would still hurt them.”

He chuckles and taps his finger against my temple. “You are clever. I could do that but where’s the fun in that? I can’t make this too easy on you, Nadia. You’re still my enemy.”

“I don’t have to be,” I whisper, staring down at my knees.

“What are you saying?”

“Just that I don’t have to be. You’re choosing to hate me but you could choose not to. It’s not beyond your control.”

He’s silent for a long moment before he stands. “Get up.”

“No.” The more I defy Dante, the easier it gets.

“Get up, Nadia. I won’t ask again.” There’s a clear underlining threat there. I’m still not fully sure what Dante is capable of and I don’t want to risk it, so with a sigh, I do as he says.

“Good.” His eyes rake over me, from head to toe. “Now, slip the blanket off. I want to see your pretty wedding dress. ”

“It’s cold in here,” I whisper.

“Take it off.” The way he commands it makes a tremor go through me. It settles right inside my core.

Slowly, I let the blanket fall to the ground. Dante circles around me like a lion, testing my defenses, trying to find a way in.

He makes his way back facing me. “Take your dress off.”

I gasp. “No.”

“You would deny me?”

My eyes fall to the floor. When I have to be bravest, I’m usually the most scared.

Dante places his fingers under my chin and tilts my face back up. With nowhere else to look, I’m forced to meet him in the eye. “You are so beautiful. But so afraid. Like a little doll I can play with.”

“I’m a woman,” I whisper. Why can’t I sound more confident? My anxiety spikes whenever I’m around men and I never know how to act.

“Oh, I know.” His eyes rake over my body. My stomach flutters in a way I don’t fully understand. “And that’s exactly why I want to see you. I want to know what’s hiding under that wedding dress. I’ve been curious ever since I took you.”

“And if I say no? Will you force me to get naked?”

“You are my enemy, Nadia. Would you expect me to act any other way?”

He’s right. Dante isn’t here to be a nice man. He’s not here to be my boyfriend and show me respect. He’s here to hurt me. Our kiss made me forget that for just a moment but Dante is a bad man and I can never forget that again.

“It’s cold in here. If you turned up the heat, then…”

“Then you’ll willingly take your dress off? Look at you. Always bargaining. It’s smart but it won’t work this time. You see, there’s no heat attached to the basement. And since I can’t take you out of here, it’s either take off the dress yourself or I’ll do it. That’s my offer.”

I’m not sure which is worse. If Dante takes my dress off, he could be rough. He could rip it and then I’d have nothing to wear. Nothing to keep me slightly warm at night, other than the blanket and it’s not much.

But if I take it off, I’ll have to deliberately take my dress off in front of him and I’m not sure I can handle that. To take that action would mean I have some say in this. But at what cost ?

In a strange way, it would be almost easier to have Dante do it. That way I don’t have to feel any guilt about doing it myself.

“Well?” he asks, raising a perfect eyebrow. He’s so startingly handsome sometimes. It’s hard to believe someone so beautiful has such an evil soul.

“I’ll take it off.” It’s the best way to ensure my dress stays intact.

“I was hoping you would say that.” He takes a step back from me. “I’ve been curious what’s under that dress. Is your body just as beautiful as your face?”

My hands reach around to my back and undo the buttons there. Except, I’m struggling with a middle button. It’s too far away, either from below or above.

“Having difficulties?”

“I can’t reach it,” I admit, my hands dropping to my sides. “So, maybe we don’t have to do this. We just stop this now.”

“You’re cute, Nadia. Turn around.”

“I can take my dress off.”

“It doesn’t seem that way. Turn around.”

My eyes flick behind Dante and see that he left the basement door open. Without hesitating, I run right past him and make it to the first step before he wraps his arms around me.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I had to try.”

“I can’t begrudge you that, can I?” He lets me go and quickly walks up the stairs and shuts the door firmly before coming back down to me. “There. Now, no funny ideas. Turn around.”

I do as he says. It’s not worth fighting. I’ll only end up hurt.

Dante’s hands are heavy on my back but they’re not unpleasant. His touch sort of zings in a way, sending goosebumps over my skin.

His hands move down to the button at the middle of my back. He runs his fingers over the button, playing with it, and tickling my back in the process.

I jump at his touch. It’s too intimate. Too… sensual.

“There.” He undoes the final button and opens the back of my dress. “No bra? I’m shocked, Nadia. That seems a little naughty.”

“I’m small chested,” I whisper, my face in flames.

“I want to see that. Finish taking your dress off.”

I start to slip the ripped sleeves down my arms but Dante stops me .

“I want you to face me,” he instructs. His tone is deep and heavy. Gruff. There’s desire in his voice. I’ve never heard it directed at me but I’ve heard it from men in movies or sometimes when Erik speaks to Anya.

But Dante is talking to me with that tone. With desire . None of it makes any sense. He’s made it clear that I’m his enemy. Why would he feel any sort of desire for me?

That only makes me fear him more.

With a deep breath in and out, I turn around to face him. He stands there in his dark suit, looking dangerously handsome. My brain becomes cloudy.

“Nadia.”

I push my dress down until it pools at my feet. My hair is long enough to cover my breasts and my underwear is covering my lower body from his view. He doesn’t ask me to take off my underwear.

He takes a step closer to me until we’re chest to chest. Silently, he pushes my hair over my shoulders, exposing my breasts to his eyes. I’m trembling. A fire is working its way through my body – a fire I don’t understand.

“I knew it,” he murmurs.

“Knew what?”

“Your body is as beautiful as your face.” His fingers trace over the top of my chest. So close to my breasts and yet, he doesn’t go there. “Fuck, your body is delectable. I want to taste it.”

My lips part. He places his fingers on my open lips, his thumb slowly moving over the bottom one.

“You didn’t pull away when I kissed you before. Why?”

“I didn’t think I could.”

“Is that the truth?”

My cheeks burn hotter. The truth is that I enjoyed our kiss. The truth is that it made something in my body wake up. The truth is that if Dante kissed me again, I wouldn’t push him away. I might even pull him in closer.

“Tell me, Nadia. Tell me the truth.”

“I enjoyed it.”

Something flares in his eyes. “I’m surprised. You’d enjoy a kiss from your enemy?”

“It just felt good not to be so afraid for a moment.”

“Oh, Nadia. I think that is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”

“If you feel bad for me, then let me go. You don’t have to do this. ”

“But I have to.” His fingers skim over my neck and down to my upper chest again, before moving between my breasts, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind as he reaches my stomach.

His hand is right above the waistband to my panties. He could so easily take them off me. The urge to run away and move even closer to him at the same time is pounding through my body. His touch is electrifying. I’ve never known touch like this.

“I wonder what you look like down here,” he muses, running his finger along my waistband. I hold still. “Hair? No hair? Did you get waxed for your wedding day? Wanted to be perfect for Viktor?”

I did, in fact. Anya took me to get waxed, saying that without hair in the way, Viktor would be able to show me more pleasure.

I just never knew at that moment that it wouldn’t be Viktor seeing me naked but Dante Moretti instead.

No words come out of me.

Dante gives me a naughty look, like he’s asking me to tempt him. I stare back, almost daring him to try.

But then my shyness wins out and I avert my gaze. I can almost feel his disappointment.

Dante drops his hand and steps away from me and picks up my wedding dress, throwing it over his arm. “I’m taking this with me.”

“But it’s so cold down here. I’ll freeze at night.”

“You’re my enemy, remember?” Any of the warmth he just showed me is gone, replaced with nothing but cruelty. “You don’t get to be comfortable.”

He leaves the basement with my wedding dress in tow.

Dante

What the fuck am I doing?

Getting too close to Nadia is not the right course of action. I need to hate her. Despise her. And yet, I’m desperate to pull her back into my arms and kiss her .

Seeing her in nothing but her panties has made me rock hard. If I didn’t have such good control, I would have thrown her on that mattress and ravaged her right then and there.

And I think she would have went along with it.

Nadia is a confusing, confounding little creature. Pure and innocent but there’s a pain lurking underneath her. A darkness. Maybe her father put it there. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that Nadia isn’t exactly who I thought she would be.

She’s a lot shyer than I thought. But there’s a bravery to her. It’s a subtle strength. She’s terrified and yet she has the courage to bargain with me. Not many people would do that.

Nadia is mystifying and because of that, I need to get away from her. I need to return to my mission and my mission is to drive Erik and Anya mad.

And I know exactly how to do it.

As night falls, I go to the nearest hospital and down to the lower basement where the morgue is. The forensic pathologist on sight nods at me to enter. His name is Sampson. When I was coming up with my plan to kidnap Nadia, I had Matteo reach out to Sampson and blackmail him into working with us.

“This is illegal,” he mutters as he leads me into the morgue. He opens the morgue cooler and pulls out a dead body of a young woman.

“I don’t care if it’s illegal. Cut off her finger.”

“I could lose my job for this.”

“You’re already going to lose your job if you don’t do as I say. Remember, Sampson, we know all about what you did to your previous assistant. You don’t want that going public, do you?”

He frowns, then sighs. “Fine.”

“You’re the one in charge here. No one will notice a missing finger. You’ve already completed the girl’s autopsy.”

“But she has parents. They’ll notice if her finger is missing.”

“Have they seen her body yet?”

“No,” he admits.

“Then just tell them she lost it somehow when she died. No one needs to know. If no one looks too hard, no one will see. Now cut off her finger.”

Grumbling under his breath, Sampson finally does as I say. The girl’s finger comes right off. One easy slice.

“I have to put it on ice if you don’t want it to decompose.’

I stuff my hands in my pockets. “ Then do that.”

With more grumbling, Sampson sticks the finger in a cooler on ice and hands it to me. “There. Now, we’re even. I’m done.”

“No. We’re not done. We’re only done when I say we’re done and I might have more use for you. I might not. But that’s the beauty of this relationship. You never know when I’ll need you.”

“You’re the devil,” he growls.

“At least it’s warm in hell.” I wink before whistling as I walk away, carrying the dead finger of some innocent girl.

Anya

A package arrives on our doorstep.

It’s from an unknown sender and I immediately know it has to be from Dante.

“Erik!”

He comes running and stops in the doorway when he sees the package. “It could be a bomb.”

“Or it could be…”

He sighs. “Let me handle this.” Gently, he picks it up and walks outside. “In case it’s a bomb. I don’t want you anywhere near me.” He opens the package and tenses.

“Well, is it a bomb?”

I can tell by Erik’s face that it’s not, which doesn’t bring me any comfort. Because that means…

“Let me see.” I rush over to him and look inside.

It’s a woman’s finger.

“It’s Nadia’s,” I whisper. Any hope I might have had has been completely dashed.