Page 98 of His to Own

I look up to see… a large mansion. It’s white and gold. A little tacky in its extravagance but still pretty to look at. My head whips around but I can’t see any other neighbors. This is a large, rich area. The neighbors are few and far between.

The driver of the van opens the front door and motions us inside. The moment I step into the mansion and sense the door behind me closing, I feel all hope is lost.

Footsteps are loud on the marble floors. It’s then that I see a man approaching me. He’s tall, broad shouldered, and handsome. His three piece suit is all black with a hint of grey. A pocket watch is in his hand but he stuffs it into his pocket when he looks up at me.

“You’re a few minutes behind. I don’t like it when people are late,” he says.

“Sorry, boss,” the man behind me says. His hands tighten on my wrists and I wince. “She put up more of a fight than I was expecting.”

“Of course she would put up a fight. She was being kidnapped. Who wouldn’t?” His eyes find mine and I flinch. Who exactly is this man?

He approaches me and I try wiggling away but the man behind me only tightens his grip on my wrists. “So, you’re Maxim Morosov’s wife.” He takes the rag out of my mouth and lets it fall to the ground. “You may speak.”

So this is about Maxim. “Who are you?”

“That’s not really information you need to know. You just need to know that you’re going to stay here and provide me with information.”

“Information?”

“On your husband. He had the audacity to come to my home and try to make a deal with me. Him and your brother-in-law. I gave your husband a parting gift.” He motions at his shoulder.

It’s then I realize who this is. “You’re Aleksander Baranov.” I remember Maxim telling me about him. How he caused some issues. How he… cut off a man’s head as a message. Maxim never cut off anyone’s heads – that I’m aware of.

“Your husband mentioned me, I take it.”

“What do you want with me?” I whisper.

“I told you. Information. I need to know what your husband is up to. What he’s planning.”

I frown. “Why me? I don’t know these things. I don’t know what he does. You kidnapped the wrong person. Please, just let me go.”

“Playing the innocent act, I see.”

“I am innocent.”

“You’re married to a mafia man. No woman who’s married to a mafia man is innocent. You will give me what I want. Now, I’m not a complete monster. I’m not going to torture you. Yet. For right now, I’m going to play nice. I’ll set you up in one of my guestrooms and you’ll have all your meals with me. We can get to know one another, Elena.”

I shiver when he says my name. There’s an obvious hint of danger to it. This man wants me to provide information on Maxim or he’s going to hurt me. I’ve received the message loud and clear.

“Put her in one of the guestrooms,” Aleksander commands. “She’s of no use to me right now. Too afraid. But once you calm down, we can talk.” He pulls out his pocket watch and nods. “We made good time.”

The man behind me shoves me towards a hallway off the main foyer. The guestroom he puts me in is beautiful. Decorated with soft whites and greens, it looks more like a woodland fairytale than a prison. But this is a prison.

My kidnapper shuts the door behind me and locks it.

My body is frozen. What exactly is going to happen to me here? All I know is that it can’t be good.

Will Maxim find me? After how tense things have become between us, he might just leave me to rot. He can find a new wife who will make him happier. Or does he care about me enough to come find me?

Even if it’s not love, he’s a possessive man. Maxim will not appreciate another mafia man taking what he believes to be his.

My eyes flick to the window. I rush over to it and manage to get it open. My kidnapper placed me on the first floor. I can jump down from here.

But there’s a screen in the way. I try hitting it but it doesn’t budge. I don’t have a knife or scissors to cut it. I can’t stop though. Lana never stopped when she was kidnapped. I can’t stop now.

I have to fight.

I hit the window screen again.