Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
He lets out a sigh. “Let me think for a moment.” He stares at the doorway for a little while, then says, “I’ll grab the boy and pretend to threaten you by holding a gun to his head. Anything else will make the others suspicious.”
“Poor kid, but if that’s what it takes to keep him alive, I’m on board.”
Mikhail steps to the side while clearing his throat, an indication that someone is coming.
I get back to work, typing my butt off, while Rodian takes hold of a lock of my hair, twirling it around his finger to keep up the act that I belong to him.
“Danil’s calling,” Kirill mutters. “Yegor is en route.”
Rodian lets go of my hair and straightens before stepping right up to Kirill and looking him dead in the eye to intimidate him.
The stare-off lasts all but ten seconds before Kirill reluctantly lowers his head and moves to the side.
I press my lips together so I don’t smile and focus as I enter an illegal adoption chat room where babies and children who’ve been kidnapped are sold.
My stomach churns as Rodian leaves, and I feel Kirill’s eyes burning into the back of my head.
Just a little longer, Rosie.
I take turns closing my eyes while I work, and after what feels like hours, I hear Tim begging, “No. Please. Don’t shoot me.”
“Shut up!” Rodian snaps, and as I glance at the door, I see him shoving Tim so hard the poor boy sprawls over the floor.
“I’ve brought in more than a hundred million,” I shout, figuring I have to put up an act as well. “You don’t need to hurt him! He’s just a kid.”
“Yeah?” Rodian hauls Tim up by his arm. “Do you think a hundred mil is going to keep him alive when I know you can bring in more?”
He shoves Tim at me, and the boy falls half across me and partially over the desk. I grab hold of him, and getting up, I move him behind me. Leveling Rodian with a glare, I hiss, “If you touch a hair on his body, I won’t bring in another cent for the Bratva.”
Rodian pulls his gun out and stalks toward us, and for a moment it doesn’t feel like an act.
Stopping right in front of me, he leans down until his forehead almost touches mine and growls, “How fast will you bring in five hundred mil if I start taking body parts off the kid?”
I change tactics and beg, “Don’t hurt him, and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“That’s what I thought.” Rodian turns to look at Kirill. “The boy stays here as a reminder so she doesn’t get any ideas.”
“Got it.”
When Rodian leaves, I turn around and place my hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
With fear in his eyes and a quivering chin, he nods. “Thanks for helping.”
“Of course.” He’s finally talking to me, so I ask, “How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“Jesus.”
His lips pull down, and as he struggles not to cry, I pull him into a hug and whisper, “I won’t let anything happen to you. Okay?”
He nods, looking down while he fights his emotions.
“Do you have family?” I ask.
He nods again.
I promise I’ll return you to them.
“That’s enough!” Kirill barks. “Get back to work, Miss La Rosa.”
Wow, look who’s showing cracks.
As I sit down and type, Tim stands right beside me, his hands folded in front of him.
He watches how I work for a while, then whispers, “No wonder it was so difficult to keep you busy. How did you do that?”
“Shut up!” Kirill silences the boy, and I shoot the bastard a glare.
Rodian comes back in. “What the fuck is all the shouting about?”
“Nothing,” Kirill replies.
“You look tense. Take a break and calm the fuck down, soldier.”
Kirill glances from Tim, to me, to Rodian, then he stalks to the door.
“Stay with them,” Rodian orders Mikhail before he also leaves.
I can feel the tension building, telling me my family will attack any minute now.
I look up at Tim. “Just stay by my side.”
He nods, then looks at the screen as I continue working, while my heart beats in my throat.
Chapter 19
Enzo
I lift the binoculars to my eyes and focus on the prison beyond, my sight sweeping over the front gate and along the sides of the buildings and the guards patrolling the grounds. Some stop to talk while others move along the perimeter, looking bored out of their minds, like they’re not standing between me and the only thing keeping me sane.
Rosie is inside that fucking place.
Rage burns through my veins, and my fingers tighten around the binoculars until the hard edges bite into my skin.
The fucking Bratva took her from me and made her sit inside that prison to work for them while we mourned her.
While I had to listen to everyone talk about her like she was dead.