Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
He shakes his head. “I have no idea, but you’ll remain my prisoner until you’ve proven your innocence. Until every member of my group and others knows that you do not pose a threat.”
I shake my head. This sounds impossible, and I dislike not having more concrete guidelines. What exactly will “proving my innocence” entail? But I fall into silence next to him. I can’t control any of this. And though the thought of what he proposes terrifies me, I have a chance to do what Caroline told me to.
“I don’t really understand what I’m going to be doing,” I tell him.
“You will behave as my slave,” he says. “We will board the auction ship and you, as my slave, will do exactly as I say. We will take the ship to harbor, then board a plane to Russia. In Russia, we will meet with our sisterhood Bratva group, and once there we will oust the men who plan on bringing the refugees to America.”
“This sounds dangerous,” I whisper. I wish I hadn’t eaten lunch. I’m afraid I might lose it.
He looks at me curiously and tips his head to the side. “Of course, it is,” he says softly. “But you will not do this alone.”
I scoff. “Right. I get to have you, the man I once—”
I stop. I can’t believe I almost said something that would betray my old feelings toward him. I amend what I was going to say.
“You, the man who’s been nothing but a total jerk to me, as my protector. Lovely.” I know it’s a risky thing to say. He’s already punished me, and I have no doubt he’d do so again if given the chance. But I’m angry and hurt and honestly? Fucking terrified.
I brace myself for his anger. The Stefan I’ve seen in the past few hours is nothing like the man I thought I loved. He’s so much harsher. Cruel, even.
“Taara.” The gentleness in his tone surprises me so much, I whip my head back to look at him. “It was a mistake following me.”
I swallow hard. “I know that now. I’d have to be a fool not to have realized that.”
He shakes his head. “My men want you dead,” he says in a choked voice. I blink in surprise. Is he upset by this turn of events? In front of the others, I saw no such regret. “I have to prove your innocence.”
“Do you?” I ask. “And do you have to order me into silence and smack my ass and drag me around like a child?”
His brows draw down and he’s once again the formidable, fearless leader of the Bratva.
“If I have to? Yes. And much more, Taara. So much more.”
I look out the window. I don’t want to talk to him anymore. I imagine I hear the regret in his voice. I imagine I even hear his remorse. But I won’t let myself even hope for more than eventual freedom.
I sigh. I will do what he says. Even if it kills me.
Do I have a choice?
Chapter 7
Stefan
We take my private jet to Boston. Taara sleeps beside me, and I’m glad she does. She might not even realize that her head falls onto my shoulder in slumber. The girl always looks a little tired, so it actually pleases me to see her resting beside me like this. And for one moment, I imagine she isn’t my captive, but my woman, and we aren’t going undercover and into the face of danger, but on a trip together. Just me and her.
We land after the sun’s set, and when I shake her shoulder, she wakes with a start and a little scream. It saddens me that she’s afraid. I wish our circumstances were so much more different than they are.
But I have a job to do, and I will not falter.
“You’re fine,” I say sharply, though what I want to do is gather her close to me and assure her she’s safe. I can’t, though. We are about to board a ship under the guise of being master and slave, and I need her to know her role here.
I watch her pretty, pouty lips turn downward while she schools her features. She hates me now. She should, but a part of me wishes this didn’t have to be the case. I liked the way she looked at me before, all sweet and eager to please. And though I love a good, feisty woman with spunk, her hatred of me is wholly different.
I turn her to face me. “We board the ship tonight. Remember who you are.”
It seems being woken has made her grumpy, for she frowns at me. I shake my head and remove the collar and chain I brought with me from my pocket. “You will pose as my slave.”
“I don’t know what that means. I didn’t even know people still had slaves. I seem to recall we abolished slavery back in, say, Lincoln’s time.”