Page 73 of Kidnapped Prisoner By the Bratva

His gaze dipped, and then he looked up at my face again. “Are you…?”

“Pregnant?” I finished his question and still gave the answer. “Yes.”

His reaction was delayed, but those eyes never left mine. Silence stretched between us—not awkward, not tense—justpeaceful. He reached out to grab the back of my neck, fingers rubbing it in a massaging motion.

Val leaned in, pulling me closer to him until his face mirrored mine, and I could feel the warmth of his fresh breath on my skin. I placed my forehead on his as his fingers intertwined with mine.

Neither of us said a word, but I could feel the joy radiating from him. This was the beginning of a new chapter in both of our lives—uncharted waters that we would navigate together.

At that moment, the world drifted into the background, leaving just the two of us. And the baby we were expecting.

***

Val

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.

Three years. That’s how long it took me to finally get back at Akim Antosha for all he’d put me through. I didn’t wait this long because I never had the chance to hurt him. No. It was all part of my plan to get even.

I wanted him to forget about my threat, to live his life thinking he could get away with what he did to me. But tonight, I decided it was finally time for the old bastard to atone for his crimes against me.

My wife and I were expecting a baby, and I vowed that they wouldn’t live in a world where Akim Antosha existed.

Against the cold rooftop of a high-rise building, I lay flat on my belly, my black outfit blending seamlessly with the night. I squinted an eye through the scope of my rifle, tracking Akim in the opposite skyscraper’s lit window.

The shameless bastard was in a hotel with one of his mistresses. She was naked with her breasts pressed against the glass as he fucked her from behind.

With a steady breath, I aimed at the bastard’s forehead, waiting for the right time to fire. Oblivious to the danger lurking atop the building across from him, he continued ramming the lady as hard as he could.

Like a predator stalking its prey, I waited patiently, watching his every move. Seconds later, his head came into view, giving me a clean shot. I cocked the rifle, the click sharp in the night air, and then with one calm squeeze of the trigger, a gunshot rang out.

Bang!

Akim’s lover screamed at the sight of his body drowning in the pool of his own blood.

Sirens wailed in the distance, but my mission here was complete. I’d be long gone before the cops arrived. They’d never find the shooter, and given the type of man Akim was, the Bratva would never trace the killing back to me.

Akim had a lot of enemies, and over the last three years, he’d pissed off some really powerful people who wanted him dead. Everyone would be so focused on his most recent enemies, and no one would even think to look in my direction. No one would remember the one enemy from his past.

Akim had been a master of manipulation. But I guess that title belonged to me now.

*****

THE END