The Bratva King's Kidnapped Bride - Page 50

How long was it going to be until we stopped? Should I be hoping it was sooner or later? Thinking about what might happen at our destination made me roll back onto my side and try my slow breathing exercises again. I still felt sick and groggy and like I might lose consciousness again, something I was determined to fight against.

Raising my hands as quietly as I could, I reached for the necklace Aleks had given me. Holding the smooth heart shape in between my fingertips and tracing around the diamonds was a comfort, reminding me that he was out there, probably already going crazy since I clearly wasn’t answering my phone now. He’d find me. I had to believe that.

I patted my neck frantically, feeling around under the collar of my blouse. It wasn’t there. My necklace was gone. It must have broken during the frantic struggle back at the office building. As I pictured it lying somewhere in the dirt, fury like I’d never felt before washed over me. A growl rose from my throat, and I kicked toward the front seats as hard as I could.

“Knock it off,” one of them said. “Holy fuck, she’s going to get us killed.”

Causing an accident sounded like a great idea, so I kicked harder, my hands clasped at my neck where the heart should have been. A hand smashed my head into the seat, a thumb grinding into my mouth through the burlap. I could smell the salty sweat as his palm covered my nose, cutting off what little air I could get.

“Knock. It. Off,” he ground out, pressing harder.

I stopped kicking, and he let go. It did seem odd to get so upset about a broken necklace when my life could be in its final moments, but that was much too scary to think about. Being pissed off about something trivial was easier on my battered mental state. When I was somewhat calm again, my stomach started heaving once more.

This time no amount of pretending to be on the beach could make it settle down. I ignored it as long as I could, but it seemed like it was showtime.

“I’m going to throw up,” I called. Just speaking made it worse.

“Shut up.”

I hoisted myself to sitting and put my head between my knees, shrugging off the hand that tried to get me to lie back down out of sight. My mind wasn’t on other drivers possibly getting concerned about the person with the bag over her head, I was desperately trying not to get sick all over myself.

“I’m really going to puke,” I said, retching dangerously. “Please at least take the bag off.”

After a slew of cursing, the car pulled over and rolled to a stop. Someone jumped out, and then a blast of hot air hit me. The back door swung open to my right. He grabbed the back of my shirt and hauled me halfway out of the car. My cuffed hands hit the ground hard and I crumpled. Right before my face hit the pavement, he yanked me up, tugging on the knotted rope behind my neck, and then whipped the bag off my head.

Not a moment too soon. I threw up, trying to hit his leather shoes out of spite. At the same time, I tried to take notice of where we were. Any road sign or something I might recognize. We weren’t on a main highway since there wasn’t much traffic. Only one semi truck had whizzed past us in the few minutes it took me to empty my stomach.

On the other side of the pavement was a ditch full of cacti and agave, and a whole lot of nothing after that. Were we on our way to the desert? That thought didn’t do anything to quell the nerves that must have made me sick in the first place, and I dry-heaved a few more times before the guy decided I was done.

“I’ll leave the bag off if you lie still,” he said. I looked up, but there wasn’t a hint of compassion in his eyes.

A sense of hopelessness settled over me as I nodded weakly. I’d already seen their faces when they’d attacked Sergei and me in the elevator. They made no effort to conceal themselves now. And we were headed out into the desert, a notorious place to make someone disappear forever.

He shoved me back into the car, and I curled into a ball. The driver turned around and scowled as the other guy told him about the deal he’d made with me about leaving the bag off.

“One move, one sound, and the bag is back on. And you’ll go in the trunk,” he said.

I closed my eyes until he started the car again, taking my silence for compliance. There was no way I wanted to end up in the trunk, with or without the bag over my head.

Once we were on the road again, I tried to watch out the corner of the window to see if I could catch any signs on an overpass or a tower I could use to identify where we were heading. Keeping track of the turns might have been helpful if we made any. Except for one left after about ten minutes, it was nothing but a long stretch of nothing but electrical wires. The only sounds were of the rare truck passing us, which happened less and less, and my captors’ low muttering in a language I didn’t understand.

If only I had taken Aleks more seriously, but hadn’t I done what he said? Sergei was glued to my side as he’d been instructed, and I really was going to go straight home after I delivered the meals to the charity. Someone had been determined to grab me, just like Aleks had feared. Everything I thought was foolish paranoia had turned out to be true.

What kind of business dealings led to kidnappings and murders? I had no experience in this life. Even when my family had money, it hadn’t been anywhere near the level of Aleks’s empire.

More than anything, I wanted to see his stern face melt into a smile. I wanted to feel his arms around me. There was no way I never saw him again. No way we didn’t get to kiss and make up. I might have had limited time with him, but these jerks weren’t going to cut it even shorter.

I had to believe all that was true, or I’d disintegrate. Giving up on watching nothing but the cloudless sky out the window, I rolled over and closed my eyes. With my head throbbing from the punch and my stomach still acting up, I began to plan the honeymoon I’d been dreaming about before this little blip in our happy life happened.

Because I was going to see Aleks again. I had to.

Chapter 30 – Aleksandr

I pulled up to the building, passing the lines of police vehicles and parking a block away. It took a few seconds to get myself together enough to go and deal with them. The building was under their control, and I didn’t even have the power to send them on their way.

I was on the phone with Lev as I walked up, ignoring the young rookie I didn’t recognize who tried to stop me from striding into the lobby. My brother was trying to determine if anyone we had on the inside was working the case so that we could get any information they’d otherwise hold back from us.

A detective I recognized came running as soon as the rookie squawked about me crossing the crime scene tape. I glanced at his badge and held out my hand, surprising him into momentary silence.