Page 26

I groan softly as the headache pulses heavily in my skull, shooting pain down the back of my neck. What happened?

I roll over, feeling the softness of whatever I am lying on.

Where am I?

I was in town. I was shopping for—

Everything slams into my mind as I remember exactly what happened.

Rico. Where is Rico?

I try and sit up, but nausea forces me to lie back down again.

I press my hands against my eyes because the pain is so intense.

“You’re awake.” My father’s cheerful voice drifts towards me from somewhere in the room.

I blink away the bright light and force my eyes to focus.

“Dad?” my words come out in a crackled whisper through dry lips.

I lick them, realizing how thirsty I am.

“Hello, my darling. Welcome home.” His figure is walking towards me, and finally my eyes are able to focus on his face.

That smile.

A smile of triumph and pride.

I push myself up into a sitting position on the sofa I’ve been passed out on.

I move slowly, because if I don’t, I am definitely going to throw up.

“Can I have some water?” I mutter softly, looking around and seeing that we aren’t in my father’s main house. We’re in his second mansion.

“Of course you can.” He snaps his fingers towards someone else in the room. They leave, presumably to get me some water.

I shut my eyes because my vision is still thick and blurry. My eyes are watery and heavy.

My entire body feels heavy.

“So, aren’t you happy to be home? I mean, don’t you think my plan was just brilliant?” My father is chatty and walking back and forth in front of the sofa.

“What plan?” I sigh.

“My plan to be patient. To wait. I’ve been waiting all this time. As soon as I found out where you were, all I had to do was wait.”

“Wait for what?”

“Wait for you and that idiot Leon to let your guard down. You got too comfortable. You relaxed and forgot that I was just there on the sidelines, patient and ready. You see, as soon as you thought you were safe, I knew you would start taking chances, taking risks. All I had to do was stay quiet and be ready for that moment.”

Marie walks in carrying a glass of water for me. Her face is tight with worry, and I can see she wants to say so much to me, but she wouldn’t dare.

“Here you go, Sasha,” she says softly as she places the water next to me. For a second, she lifts her hand, wanting to reach out and touch me. Her eyes are narrowed, filled with concern. “Are you feeling okay?”

My father grabs her arm and yanks her away from me. “Enough of that. Get away from her. All I asked for was water. I don’t want a whole ceremony,” he snaps angrily.

Marie looks as though she wants to cry. It’s been so long since I last saw her. My heart breaks for her; she’s been stuck here this whole time, and all I want to do is hug her. She was my only source of comfort.

“Well, basically, my plan was a complete success.” My father carries on talking about his brilliant plan as though it’s the only thing that matters. He hasn’t even asked me if I’m okay. Shit. The syringe. They injected me with something. What was it? Would it be harmful to my baby?

I rest my hand over my stomach as anxiety rushes through me.

And Leon. Leon will definitely try to get me back. He’s going to put himself in danger to try and rescue me.

I bite my lower lip. I don’t want him to get hurt. What if something happens to him? My father has so many guards. Looking around, I can see men walking outside the window. They’re patrolling the perimeter of the property in full force. I think he’s even hired extra guards because there are a lot of new faces here.

He’s ready for Leon.

He’s prepared because he’s expecting him to come and find me.

As I pick up the glass of water with shaking hands, my father is still telling me how brilliant his plan was, how easy it was easy for him. He’s so self-obsessed.

But—would he maybe soften if he knew I was pregnant? Would he consider not hurting Leon if he knew I was carrying his baby?

“Dad?” I say, drawing hit attention towards me and interrupting his rant.

“What?” he barks.

“I have to tell you something.”

“Well, spit it out, I don’t have all fucking day.”

“Dad, I’m pregnant. I’m going to have a baby. Leon is the father.”

He cracks up laughing, a loud guffaw that bursts from his mouth.

“And?” He shrugs his shoulders as though what I’ve told him means less than nothing.

“And…Leon is going to be the father of my baby. We need to make a truce with him and his family. For the child’s sake. We can make some kind of agreement and—"

“Why the fuck would I do that?”

“For the sake of your grandchild ,” I say angrily. “Aren’t you even slightly happy that your daughter is pregnant?”

“Oh, darling Sasha, my slow, weak, pathetic daughter—of course, I’m thrilled that you are pregnant. Over the moon, actually.”

“You are?” I say, filled with hope.

“Yes, because now I can use the vermin you’re carrying to control that Leon Dubrov. I’ll be able to get him to do whatever I want, forever. I mean—it’s the most incredible type of control. I can use that kid to bring him to his knees. I will destroy him,” my father says excitedly. “This is by far the best news you could ever have given me.”

“Dad. You are talking about my baby .” I want to cry, seeing his reaction and having the truth sink in like this.

“Yes,” he nods, not understanding why I’m upset.

“Your own family. Your grandchild,” I keep trying to reason with him, but the more I do, the more I can see it’s a lost cause. My father doesn’t care that he is going to be a grandfather. He doesn’t care that I’m going to be a mother.

He doesn’t care about anything except for the fact that he can use this little life to control someone else. That’s all he wants. Power. The ability to have a hold over someone.

I can feel the tears stinging my eyes and I try to blink them away, knowing he will mock me for crying. But then I realize I don’t care if he does.

Why should I care about a man that doesn’t care about me?

“Did you ever love me?” I say through clenched teeth as the tears stream freely over my cheeks.

“Ugh. You look pathetic. Why the fuck are you crying? You always cry. It's weak, and people will see straight through your weakness and use it against you.”

“Did you ever love me?” I scream loudly, filled with rage.

“Darling—love? What the fuck kind of question is that?”

“You don’t even know what love is, do you?”

“I don’t need love. I need money and power. I need men to fear me. I need control.”

I shake my head, my fists clenched tightly.

My own father has never had an ounce of love for me.

I see that now. I see it more clearly than I’ve ever seen anything before in my life. I was nothing to him, nothing but a mouse in a trap that he could torture and torment just for the joy it gave him.

“I understand more than ever why my mother left you,” I say quietly, more to myself than him, because I see no reason to speak to him anymore.

He is irredeemable as a human being. There is no hope for understanding or compassion. There never was.

“Left me. What a joke. Your mother didn’t leave me,” he laughs.

“She did. She left you when I was born,” I say, confused. That is what he’s always told me.

“No, darling. I said she gave up on us. You need to pay more attention to my words. I’ve always been very clear about how weak your mother was, and after you were born, I locked her in the basement to teach her a lesson about strength. It turned out she wasn’t strong enough to learn it. She gave up.”

“You—you killed her?”

“No. She gave up .”

“You locked her in the fucking basement and starved her and left her for dead. She didn’t give up. You killed my mother,” I shout.

He laughs. “What difference does it make?” he shrugs.

I glare at him with so much hatred in my heart that I am beginning to understand how Leon has stayed so focused on revenge all these years. I am beginning to see why his entire life revolved around making my father pay for what he’s done.

I can’t even look at him anymore. I can’t bear to accept that he is my father. My blood. I want nothing to do with him.

I turn my face towards the window and stare out of it. He talks a little while longer, but I don’t reply.

Eventually, he gets bored with me and leaves.

Marie is still standing in the corner of the room. She rushes over to me.

“You’re pregnant? Is it true?” she says with tears in her eyes.

“It’s true.” I nod as she pulls me into a tight embrace.

“Oh my sweetheart. I’m so happy for you. I’ve missed you so much, but I’m so sorry to see you here. I thought you’d gotten away. I thought you’d escaped.”

“It’s going to be okay, Marie. But I need your help. You were always able to help me sneak out. Can you help me again?”

“There are so many men here now, the entire outside area is heavily guarded. All of them have guns.”

“But you know all the secret ways in and out of this house.”

She nods, but she looks terrified.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“If I stay here, nothing good will happen to me. You know that.”

“I do,” she says with her mouth pulled tight.

“Marie, you need to help me get out. And I will make you a promise. I’m going to come back for you. I’m going to get you out, too.”

Marie shakes her head. “I’ll help you, Sasha, but don’t you dare ever come back here. Not for me. Not for anything . Once you are free, you stay away.”

“I’m coming back for you.”

“You’re not,” she says again. “Now come on, let’s move quickly while your father is gone.”

She grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet. My legs are a little shaky from the drug, but I’m stronger than I was when I first woke up.

She pulls me towards the living room door, sticking her head out into the passage to check if the way is clear.

She gasps loudly and takes a step back, bumping into me.

“What is it?” I whisper.

“Hello, Sasha.” Rico’s evil chuckle drifts through the living room door as he steps inside, his arm raised in front of him, the barrel of his gun pointed right at us. Marie takes another step back, pushing me behind her to protect me.

“Rico,” I say, shocked. I didn’t realize he was still here.

“Yes, it seems you forgot about me. And it also seems we have a traitor living in this house.” He nods towards Marie. “You’ve been helping her sneak out?”

“Leave her alone,” Marie snaps, heated and protective.

“Marie, don’t. He’ll shoot you.”

“Damn straight, I’m going to shoot her. Danil will be pleased to know we’ve gotten rid of a rat.”

His finger moves over the trigger and Marie cries out. I’m about to push her out of the way, because I know Rico can’t shoot me, but he clearly won’t hesitate to shoot Marie. I can’t lose her. And I can’t let him kill her because she was trying to help me.

Rico’s finger tightens on the trigger as a broad smile spreads across his face.

“Goodbye, rat,” he snarls.

But gunshots and shouts from somewhere outside have him spinning towards the noise. Two more loud shots echo through the air.

I take the only chance I think I’ll have and grab a heavy marble ornament off the table to my left and swing it at Rico.

He grunts loudly as it smacks against his skull.

He turns back towards me, his eyes glazed over for a second, and I quickly grab his gun.

“You fucking bitch,” he hisses as he runs at me.