Page 75 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

By the time I stepped out into the street, I was beginning to panic. Each breath tightened my chest as I looked down the street and tried to work out which way to go.

I had nowhere to go. No home, no friends or family to take me in, and no money.

"Daisy?"

My head snapped around at the sound of a man’s voice. Dark suit, dark hair; the man was leaning against a sleek black car, smoking a cigarette, which he tossed away as I approached.

He looked familiar, like I had seen him before, but I couldn’t quite place him. Obviously, he was one of Ilya's men. Just one I hadn’t been in much contact with.

"Yes." My heart gave a little pang of relief. Of course Ilya had sent someone for me. Of course he had. There was no way he would just send me away when I was carrying his baby. Even if he didn’t want me, he would want the child.

Ilya was many things, but a deadbeat dad wasn’t one of them.

His eyes swept over me, from head to toe and then back upwards, and his lips twisted in a sneer. "Get in." Stepping forward, he swung the door open.

"Thanks." Gratefully, I gave him my bag and sat down. It wasn’t that the bag was heavy, just that I was so weak still, and I was relieved when it was gone.

The seats weren’t leather, and there was a man on the other side who wasn’t Ilya. In fact, I didn’t recognize him at all.

"Is Ilya—" The words had barely left my lips before the car door slammed, trapping me in the confines of the car with a man I didn’t know.

Any relief I had just felt disappeared. "Is Ilya waiting for us?" I asked hopefully, but my heart was suddenly thundering in my chest. I could feel it knocking against my ribs painfully.

The sound of a gun cocking back was answer enough. Swallowing hard, I turned to him completely.

He wasn’t dressed in a suit. His clothes smelt like old smoke and dirt. Like he hadn’t washed them in quite a while.

"Ilya isn’t here." He pressed the gun against the side of my stomach.

Had Ilya sent these men to me because he wanted me to disappear? Was the past repeating itself again? But if that was true, he wouldn’t do it this way. He would lock me up and wait for the baby to be born before putting me down like a useless broodmare.

There was no way Ilya would kill his unborn baby. He might hate me, but he didn’t hate his children.

"We are going for a drive, Daisy. And you don’t need to worry; if you do as you are told, nothing will happen to either of you."

Either of us? My eyebrows shot down, but I nodded mutely. I didn’t know who "either of us" meant, but I did know one thing. He was lying.

Even if there hadn’t been a muzzle of a gun pressed into my side, I would have known that.

I had everything to worry about.

"You want me to do what?" It was the only time I had spoken since I had gotten into the car and realized that this was all wrong, and my voice cracked with fear.

The man ran his fingers over the scruffy beard, drawing attention to it. I was such a fool. No one who worked for Ilya would ever look so unkempt. Even the man driving who was wearing a suit should have sent alarm bells ringing because the suit was so creased and didn’t fit properly. Ilya's men were always pristinely put together.

Scruffy beard pushed the muzzle of the gun painfully into my side, and I winced back, trying to get away from it. His hands were shaking so much I was worried that it was about to go off.

Not that it would make a difference at this distance. If it went off, I was as good as dead. My baby would die instantly.

"You are to go in there and pick up the brat."

Brat? My eyes narrowed. Was he seriously calling Alec a brat? If I hadn’t known these weren’t Ilya's men before, I did now. His whole organization worshipped Alec. They were all unofficial, overprotective uncles to that little boy, and each one would lay down their lives for him.

"I’m not doing that." Setting my shoulders, I lifted my chin, defiantly staring into his eyes. "You can do what you want to me." I wrapped one arm over my stomach like that would protect my unborn baby. "But you leave Alec alone."

He laughed, the gun scraped against the skin of my stomach as he leant forward to invade my space and lifted my shirt with the muzzle. His foul breath blew across my face, making me feel like I was going to vomit.

"You have two choices, Daisy."