Giving Ariana time to process everything, I leave the front door open so she can come back inside when she’s ready and begin to make mac and cheese.
I have no idea what I’m going to do to keep myself busy while we’re here. Workouts. Checking the underground chatter. Chopping wood because the nights are cold out on the lake with winter right around the corner.
That’s it.
Fuck, I might just die of boredom before this is all over.
As I plate the food and grab two bottles of water from the fridge, I hear Ariana come inside. Instantly the atmosphere changes, her fear tensing the air.
Picking up my plate, a fork, and the water, I head to the living room and take a seat on one of the couches. “Come eat,” I tell Ariana before I bring a bite to my mouth.
Minutes pass with only silence behind me, but I can feel her eyes burning on the back of my head. Finally, I hear her pick up the plate, and a couple of seconds later, she comes to take a seat on the other couch.
I keep my eyes on my food, highly aware of every movement she makes. I won’t be surprised if she tries to attack me with the fork.
When I’m done eating, I place the plate on the coffee table, and taking a sip of water, my gaze settles on Ariana.
Her eyes keep darting to me, her body tense. Again I take in the unique hazel color of her eyes, giving the impression of liquid gold bleeding into the green ring around the irises.
She only eats a quarter of the food and finishes most of the water, then she gives me an apprehensive look. I raise an eyebrow at her, and it has her asking, “What about my mom?”
“What about her?”
“There’s no reason for you to go after her. She’s in a nursing home. She has Alzheimer’s.”
Even though I know it’s a waste of time because Ariana won’t believe anything I say, I try to reassure her. “We’ll be notified if a hit is taken out on her. She should be safe for the time being.”
“Usually, if people like you try to take down a member of the Bratva, you eliminate the whole family,” she says, her voice trembling.
Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on my thighs. “If people like me come after you, you’d be dead already. You wouldn’t see it coming. The fact that you’re sitting here should be enough to give you peace of mind.”
“Peace of mind,” she scoffs and then lets out a bitter chuckle while shaking her head. “You break into my apartment. Choke the living shit out of me. Kidnap me, and now you’re keeping me on some island…” She lets out a huff. “Yeah, peace of mind is the last thing I have right now.” A frown forms on her forehead, then she says, “I saw you on Saturday. At the Starbucks. How long were you watching me?”
“It’s good to hear you’re not totally clueless of your surroundings.” I lean back against the couch. “Two days. The contract for you came through three days ago.”
“Why would someone take out a contract on my life?” she asks, her eyes filled with doubt.
Wanting to give her time to adjust to her circumstances before dropping another bomb on her, I answer, “You being Sergei’s daughter is enough of a reason.”
“Will you let me call my dad?”
I shake my head. “Wait for my associate to make contact with him. It’s safer that way.”
Ariana shakes her head, and getting up, she carries the plate to the kitchen.
I reach for my own plate and rise to my feet. Ariana stands by the island in the middle of the kitchen, her eyes following me.
I set the plate down on the counter, then say, “If you try to attack me with that fork, it’s going to end with me tying your ass to the bed.”
Ariana darts forward, and as she lifts her arm, my right hand darts out, and I grab hold of her wrist. Twisting her hand, I force her to let go of the fork as I spin her until her back slams against my chest. She lets out a frustrated cry as I wrap my left arm around her waist. Lifting her off her feet, I stalk toward the stairs.
“Let go of me,” she hisses, thrashing in my hold.
Her soft scent drifts up to me, and feeling her petite body struggling in my arms makes my own body take notice of her. I shove the unwelcome burst of desire down faster than it rose.
“You won’t get away with this! My dad and brother will find me.”
I let out an annoyed sigh as I carry her up the stairs, avoiding the back of her head as she tries to headbutt me. Walking into her bedroom, I let go of her with a hard shove, and it sends her sprawling over the bed.
She begins to push herself up off the mattress, but I grab hold of her hips and whirl her onto her back. Placing my knee on the bed, I straddle her while grabbing hold of her wrists.
“Let go of me,” she screeches, fighting me like a wildcat to free herself.
I lift her hands to the wrought iron bed frame and reach for one of the belts I left in the room when I untied her earlier.
“NoNoNoNoNo,” she begins to chant, her face tightening with panic.
Wrapping the soft leather around her wrists, I tie her to the bed frame, then bracing my hands on either side of her head, I glare down at her. “Stop!”
Her body instantly stills, and she stares at me with wide eyes.
Christ, she’s breathtaking.
“The last thing I want to do is babysit your ass. I’ll keep you tied to this bed if I have to. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re comfortable or not. I just have to keep you alive,” I bite the words out past the attraction and irritation whirling in my chest.
Her lips are parted, breaths exploding over them, and the sight only turns me on more.
“Do you understand, Ariana,” I demand.
She quickly nods.
Pushing away from her, I stalk out of the room and yank the door shut behind me.
“Worst job of my fucking life,” I mutter as I head to the security room while trying to ignore the way she made me feel.
ARIANA
My heart is racing a mile a minute as I stare at the closed door.
Crap, he’s strong. I put everything I had into fighting him.
Tilting my head back, I look at the belt and try to yank my hands free, but when the leather bites into my skin, I slump against the mattress and glance at the door again.
I’m not even going to try and lie to myself – Demitri terrifies the hell out of me.
When he was on top of me with that dark glare, only one word came to mind. Hellhound. It looked like he wanted to tear me to pieces. I was a second away from having my life flash before my eyes.
Eventually, my racing heart starts to calm down, and I try to wiggle my hands free, but after a while, I give up and let out a miserable sigh.
I try to listen for movement in the house, but there’s only silence.
With nothing else to do, my thoughts turn to the past day and how quickly my life changed from happy and carefree to terrified and tied to a bed.
I have no idea how I’m going to escape. I have an appointment to do a lady’s makeup, but she’ll probably just think I canceled on her.
I’m not close with any of my neighbors, so none of them will notice I’m missing.
Last year, when I had the flu, I skipped three weeks because I didn’t want to give it to my mom, and the nursing home staff didn’t contact me at all.
Crap.
This is so bad.
I’ll probably be dead for days, if not weeks, before I’m reported missing.
The suffocating hopelessness returns in full force, making me choke up.
Time crawls, and when the room grows dark, I start to squirm. I need the restroom, but I don’t want to call for Demitri.
Every couple of minutes, I try to shift my lower body to ease the pressure on my bladder. When there’s no sign of Demitri, and it’s clear he has zero intention of untying me tonight, worry has me yanking against the belt.
As my desperation grows, I yank harder, ignoring the bite of the leather against my skin.
Crap.
I let out a panicked whimper and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to focus on anything else but my aching bladder. It feels like it’s going to burst.
With every passing minute, the pressure in my abdomen builds.
Giving up, I yell, “Demitri! I need the restroom!”
I watch the door with hopeful eyes, and when there’s no sign of him, I call for him again.
It feels like an hour passes with my yells going unanswered. A drop escapes, and I let out a panicked squeak.
NoNoNoNoNo.
Pinching my eyes shut, debilitating humiliation creeps over me, and then I lose the battle. The luke warmth spreading beneath me crushes me, and a degraded sob escapes.
Turning my face into the crook of my arm, I try to hide from myself, unable to deal with what just happened.
I lose track of time, not moving a single muscle as the wet spot beneath me grows colder and colder.
Suddenly the door to the room opens, and I instantly tense up while shame crawls through every ounce of my being.
When the light is turned on, I press my face harder against my arm, keeping my eyes tightly shut.
A moment later, Demitri unties my hands, and the second I’m free, I dart off the bed and, keeping my eyes on the floor, I run into the bathroom. I slam the door shut, and with a trembling body, I dart into the shower, clothes and all.
I refuse to think of what happened.
At least, I try not to.
Opening the faucets, I strip out of my clothes while the cold water rains down on me. I kick the soaked fabric to the corner of the shower, and shivering, I reach for the body wash.
When the water starts to grow warm, a humiliated sob flutters up my throat, but I swallow hard to keep it from escaping.
I keep washing, trying to remove the most degrading thing that’s ever happened to me from my body.
By the time my skin is red and tender, steam fills every inch of the bathroom. I turn off the faucets, and grabbing a towel, I wrap it around me and then sit down on the closed toilet.
Tears sting my eyes, and unable to keep them back any longer, they slowly begin to fall.
The only clothes I had, are lying in a soaked heap in the shower.
I wet the bed like a toddler.
I’ve been ripped away from the safety of my apartment and dropped into a nightmare.
Everything becomes too much, and my emotions spiral into a devastating mess.
I can’t deal with any of this. It’s too much.
A knock on the door has me jerking, and I turn my face away, pressing my lips together to keep the sobs from escaping. A shameful blush creeps up my neck when I hear the door opening.
“There are clothes in the bag,” Demitri says, and then I hear the door shut again.
I suck in a quivering breath and glance at the bag he left for me. Then, getting up, I go look inside. I pull out a t-shirt and sweatpants. Unfortunately, there’s no underwear, so I quickly put on the clothes, just thankful to have something to wear.
Using a towel, I squeeze the excess water from my hair. Only then do I look through the cabinet. It has everything I’ll need, and taking a new toothbrush, I open the packaging and quickly brush my teeth.
Not ready to face that bed again, I sit back down on the closed toilet and stare blankly at the tiles.
I don’t know for how long I hide in the bathroom until Demitri knocks on the door again. This time he doesn’t come in but just says, “Come eat, Ariana.”
I shoot a scowl at the door.
I hope he chokes on his dinner.
