Page 35 of Sin in My Inbox (Sexting Spark #1)

Avery

The cold handcuffs left marks on my wrists. Two massive guys gripped my arms, dragging me toward a clinic. Every step brought me closer to some unknown terror, but it also brought me closer to my mother.

"Move it." One of the guards shoved me roughly.

The basement reeked of disinfectant so sharp it felt like needles stabbing my nostrils. When that heavy metal door swung open and my eyes found that frail figure huddled in the corner, the entire world just stopped.

Mom.

She was sitting on some shitty medical bed, her hands cuffed to the railings. Her face was ghost-white—we'd only been apart for one afternoon, and she already looked like she was falling apart.

"Avery?" Her voice trembled, carrying tension and despair. "You shouldn't have come here. Just go!"

Shouldn't have come? How the hell could I not come? Seeing my mother chained up like some animal, treated like garbage—it lit a fire in me I'd never felt before. Pure rage, burning through my veins .

The guards shoved me into a chair and cuffed me up.

The cold metal bit into my skin, but all I could focus on was Mom.

The other people in the room started filing out, their footsteps echoing off the concrete like death knells, but I could feel their eyes on us from the doorway.

That suffocating weight of being watched pressed down on my shoulders.

Once the guards stepped away from the room, Mom couldn't hold it together anymore. She struggled forward, the metal cutting deeper into her wrists, her voice completely broken. "Avery, baby, tell me what is going on? Why are they doing this to us? What did you do?"

My throat closed up completely, tears flooding my eyes. "I'm sorry, Mom. God, I'm so sorry," my voice cracked into pieces, "I was so naive, but I never thought-never thought they'd drag you into this mess."

I desperately tried to see her face clearly, but tears kept blurring my vision.

Seeing me cry made Mom's eyes fill up too, silent tears sliding down her pale cheeks. She shook her head weakly. "Don't cry, Avery. This isn't your fault."

"Mom, I'm gonna get you out of here." I took a shaky breath, fighting to pull myself together, looking straight into her eyes with every ounce of determination I had. "Whatever it takes."

Right as those words left my mouth, I heard Ella's familiar voice from outside the door. She was talking to the guards stationed there, her voice soft but crystal clear in this concrete tomb.

"Did you guys hear that?" Ella's voice carried this perfectly crafted worry. "Sounds like something's going on upstairs."

"What?" one guard asked.

"Like someone moving around, or maybe something fell over." Ella's acting was flawless—that concern sounded completely real. "You should probably check it out. If someone broke in..."

The two guards exchanged a look, then one said, "You stay here and watch them. I'll go check upstairs."

"No, you both need to go." Ella pushed back. "If there really is an intruder, one person might not be enough. I can handle these two. "

The guards finally bought it. They rushed out of the basement, their footsteps pounding up the stairs and fading into nothing.

The second she was sure they were gone, Ella burst through the door. She pulled a small key from her pocket, her movements smooth as water, no hesitation whatsoever.

She pressed the key into my hand, her voice barely a whisper but packed with urgency. "Quick, I can only buy you a few minutes."

The key felt ice-cold against my palm. I gripped it tight like it was my last lifeline, but this terrifying thought smacked me right in the face.

I whispered frantically, my voice shaking with fear, "Ella, if they find out you gave me this key, you'll be exposed too! What will they do to you?"

Ella's eyes didn't waver for a second. "Don't worry about me!

" Her voice was rushed, carrying this burn-the-bridges kind of intensity.

"Listen, Avery, I'm sick to death of this hellhole!

" She quickly glanced at the stairway, lowering her voice.

"I've got somewhere to go. Once you're out, I'm getting out of here too. "

I nodded, no time for second thoughts. My hands were shaking as I fumbled with the key. Finally, with this tiny click that was barely audible, my cuffs popped open.

I rushed to Mom, using the same key on her restraints.

I helped her up, feeling how weak her body was. "We need to get out of here right now."

We headed for the door, moving as fast as we could down the hallway. I was hyperaware of every sound, scanning for any threat or opportunity.

But just as we were about to escape this underground prison, disaster struck.

Footsteps echoed down the stairwell—heavy, authoritative steps that hammered against my nerves like drumbeats.

My heart shot straight to my throat, every muscle in my body tensing up instinctively.

"Shit." Ella cursed under her breath, her face going white as a sheet. "Thomas is coming. "

Thomas? That name... wait, Thomas as in Dmitri's brother Thomas?

If it really was him, then what the hell did all this mean? He was actually betraying his own brother?

Sharp pain stabbed through my chest. Dmitri had already been through so much betrayal—hadn't he lost enough? Did they have to crush even this last thread of trust?

Ella shot me a quick look, something complex flashing in her eyes, then she made a decision that caught me completely off guard. She walked toward the stairwell to intercept Thomas, using her body to block his line of sight.

"Ella?" Thomas's voice bounced off the stairwell walls. "Where are you going?"

"Someone broke into the clinic. I need to check it out." Her voice sounded totally natural, like she was just reporting an emergency. "There's noise upstairs—could be Dmitri's people."

I tried to control my breathing so it wouldn't make even the tiniest sound. If Thomas bought this story, maybe he'd go check upstairs first, giving us precious time to escape. But I knew this hope might shatter any second.

I grabbed Mom's hand and slowly moved deeper into the hallway, following the route Ella had mapped out for me earlier. Mom's hand trembled in mine, but she followed my lead without question.

Suspicion crept into Thomas's voice, making my spine turn to ice. "Dmitri's people? Impossible. He's still—"

He didn't finish that sentence, but I could hear the danger in his tone. He was starting to doubt, his instincts telling him something was off.

I heard his footsteps heading toward the basement. Each step hammered against my heart, reminding me how little time we had and how much danger we were in.

"Quick, there's a back door here," I whispered to Mom, helping her toward a small door I'd just spotted.

But the second Thomas appeared in the main doorway, I knew we were out of time .

His gaze locked onto us as we tried to move, his voice eerily calm. "I see. Looks like our little guests decided to leave without saying goodbye."

He walked into the basement, followed by several men I'd never seen before. These guys all had the same cold, dead eyes that seemed to drop the temperature in the room by several degrees.

I felt Mom trembling beside me, but she still tried to stand tall and hold onto me tight. That maternal protective instinct made my heart clench even tighter, while also sparking this unbreakable determination deep inside me.

No matter what, I was getting Mom out of here safely.

"Tie them up," Thomas told his men. "Then get ready to move them immediately."

But I wasn't going to let that happen. I wouldn't let them drag us somewhere even more dangerous, somewhere even harder to escape from.

I carefully scanned the room, looking for anything that could help us get out.

Heavy junk on the overhead shelves caught my attention. I steadied myself and made my decision.

"Wait." I suddenly spoke up, my voice echoing off the concrete walls. "Let my mother go, and I'll give you what you want."

Thomas stopped and looked at me. "Really?"

"I'll be your spy. I'll tell you important information about his business, but only if you guarantee my mother's safety." I spun this lie fast—this whole nerve-wracking lifestyle had clearly improved my bullshitting skills dramatically.

Thomas smiled. "Interesting proposition. Let your mother go, and you'll still behave?"

"Obviously you think I'm a fucking idiot?" He gestured, and three of his men started closing in on us.

"Then what kind of guarantee do you want?" I stepped back, deliberately looking panicked while actually calculating distances. The men instinctively picked up their pace, trying to cut off our escape route.

Now—the second they walked under the shelving.

I slammed my shoulder into the shelf beside me. Everything on it came crashing down, instantly creating chaos as the three men got buried under the avalanche, blocking the only side path.

"Mom, run!"

I grabbed her hand and rushed toward the back door I'd found earlier. Once we were through, I quickly braced the door shut, trying to buy us precious escape time. Behind us, Thomas's furious cursing and pursuing footsteps echoed, but I didn't look back. Every single second was precious now.

The back door led to a narrow alley. The night air hit our lungs like razor blades as we ran down the alley, my heart pounding like crazy, pumping our muscles with every ounce of strength we needed to escape.

But Mom's steps gradually slowed. Her health had never been great, and even with adrenaline driving her to keep up with my pace, she was hitting her limit.

The pursuit was getting closer. My brain went into overdrive as I pulled Mom into an abandoned building. It was dark, full of debris and broken furniture, but it also offered possibilities for hiding. More importantly, this chaotic environment might help us shake our trackers.

I brought her to a relatively hidden corner. "Mom, hide here. Don't make a sound, don't come out. No matter what you hear, don't come out."

"Avery, don't!" Mom tried to stop me. "It's too dangerous to go out there now."

"I have to draw them away." I kissed her forehead, that familiar warmth making my heart ache. "Mom, if I don't come back, please tell Dmitri I love him."

Tears filled Mom's eyes as she shook her head. But I ignored her protests, quickly grabbing some debris to camouflage her hiding spot.

I turned and ran in a different direction, deliberately making noise to attract the hunters' attention.

I stepped on broken glass, knocked over obstacles, letting my footsteps echo through the empty building.

Soon I heard pursuing footsteps, which meant my plan was half successful—they were following me instead of looking for Mom .

But I knew this game wouldn't last long. My stamina was limited, while they had numbers and strength. Eventually, they'd catch me. But at least I'd given Mom a chance to survive.

When I got cornered in a dead end, when Thomas and his men finally blocked all my escape routes, I was completely exhausted. I leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath while mentally preparing for whatever was coming next.

"Tired of running? That was quite an entertaining chase. But the game's over."

Thomas walked toward me, wearing that satisfied expression of a hunter who'd caught his prey. When he narrowed his eyes and lifted the corner of his mouth in that smile, I realized how much he looked like Dmitri. That was exactly Dmitri's expression when he was satisfied.

I didn't answer, just stared straight into his eyes.

Thomas slowly approached. "You've caused me a lot of trouble. But I think when Dmitri falls into my trap trying to save you, it'll all be worth it."

He reached out to grab me, but I quickly slapped his hand away.

My voice carried a warning. "Don't touch me, you disgusting piece of shit."

Thomas laughed. "Seems like you're not as smart as I thought. Maybe you haven't figured out the situation you're in?"

He grabbed my hair and yanked me up from the ground. The pain in my scalp hadn't even registered before he slammed two hard slaps across my face. The force was so brutal that my cheeks immediately burned, but I still gritted my teeth and tried to stay standing.

Just as he reached out again, ready to use force to subdue me, Ella appeared. She was breathing hard—clearly she'd been running to get here too.

"Stop."

Thomas turned to look at her, something vicious flashing in his eyes. "Ella, for your father's sake, back off. Otherwise I won't show mercy."

Ella took a deep breath and straightened her spine as she stepped forward. "Yeah, guess it's time I put away my boring-ass sympathy." Ella shrugged. "But still, I hope you'll be gentle with her. After all, she's pregnant."

Thomas froze. His eyes went wide, mouth hanging slightly open like he couldn't process this bombshell.

Why? Why would Ella spill that secret now?

My hand unconsciously moved to my stomach, like I was trying to feel that tiny life growing inside me. It triggered some fierce protective instinct I'd never felt before.

Ella kept her eyes on Thomas. "You want to beat her into a miscarriage and lose such a valuable bargaining chip?"

Thomas's face went through a whole range of emotions. I could practically hear his brain spinning, recalculating the situation, weighing risks and benefits all over again.

But soon, something way more dangerous lit up in his eyes. Not fear—something much more sinister. Pure excitement.

"Pregnant?" He repeated the word, then suddenly burst out laughing. "This is fucking perfect. A pregnant woman. Dmitri's about to become a daddy. This is like the universe handing me the perfect gift on a silver platter. Why the hell would we bother trying to turn her into a spy?"

He turned to look at me, and that look made me feel terror like I'd never experienced before. "You know what, sweet Avery? I just had the most brilliant idea."

His smile turned even more twisted, even more disturbing.

"A brilliant idea about how to maximize the value of you and that little life growing in your belly."