Page 89 of Auctioned to My Bratva Boss

Every hair on my body stood on end. I glared at her, twisting frantically to get away. But I was bound tight. I couldn't back up an inch.

"Enough, Veronica." The thin man suddenly spoke. "You really cut her face, that psycho will tear this place apart. Pissing him off does us no good—don't screw up the real business just to vent."

Veronica stared at me for several seconds, then reluctantly withdrew the knife.

"Such a buzzkill." Every word dripped with poison. "If I'd known it'd be this much trouble, I should've had those guys finish you off back then."

I froze. Was she talking about... those Russian thugs who threatened to kill me that night? Veronica sent them? Matvey didn't lie to me? God, I'd gotten it all wrong. He'd been telling the truth the whole time.

My chest felt sour and numb. He did care. He was just protecting me from all the danger in that clumsy, forceful way of his.

"If you'd finished her off back then, would we be standing here using her as leverage against him?" The man's bruised eyes swept over me. "She's carrying Matvey's kid now. Whatever we demand, Matvey will fucking agree to it."

My blood turned to ice. How did they know?

"Don't look so shocked." Veronica curled her lip at me. "Think you hid it well? I have plenty of ways to get information on you."

Her mood seemed to improve.

"True, just you alone—some nobody woman—couldn't make Matvey willingly bow his head." She said. "But you've got his twins in your belly. That changes everything."

Fear crawled up my spine like a snake. And I knew this feeling wasn't for me—it was for those two unformed lives inside me. I was sure Matvey would come for me. With his abilities, with how he felt about me, he'd come.

But right now, I hoped more than anything that he wouldn't show up—this was clearly a trap set for him.

Veronica pulled out her phone and took a picture of me tied to the chair.

"There." She looked at the screen, speaking slowly. "Time to send your pakhan a little gift."

Chapter Twenty-Five

Matvey

Hours after Riley vanished, I sat in the bratva headquarters.

I couldn't reach her. All I'd found near her place were her keys.

I had Anton deploy every man we had. We'd tear New York apart if that's what it took to find Riley. Damn it, where the hell did she go?

Just as panic clawed at my chest, a message lit up my phone screen.

"How much will you pay this time? The auction house. Come alone. You know what to do."

With the text came a photo of Riley.

She was tied to a chair, duct tape over her mouth, blonde hair spilling messily around her shoulders. Those blue eyes I knew so well held the one thing I never wanted to see—fear.

If I hadn't been forcing myself to stay in control, the phone screen would've already shattered.

My worst nightmare had come true. Riley had been kidnapped.

I recognized the background instantly—the wide stage, the red velvet curtains.

The auction house where I'd bought Riley. Victor Marchetti's territory.

At the edge of the photo were two blurry figures—one bald, the other in a brown leather jacket. I knew them. Marchetti's thugs. Those bastards always dressed like street trash.

What I hadn't expected was Veronica and Victor working together.