The Bratva's Baby (Wicked Doms 1)

This was just for show, and I know it, but I’m disappointed. I wanted more than her blanket compliance. So much more.

I listen as the water in the bathroom turns on and off, my gaze wandering to the beautiful dress that hangs over a chair when I freeze. Along the hem of the beautiful gown I see several dots of dried, crimson blood. For the first time in my adult life, the vision sickens me. I turn away, and after a moment I make a call on my phone, demanding a few things I need. Ten minutes later, the dress is picked up and sent away, and Sadie lays down in bed. She watches in silence but says nothing. The second request I made will take a lot longer than ten minutes.

I lay quietly next to her until she’s fast asleep, then close my eyes until sleep finally comes. When it does, my dreams are filled with visions of her dress, blood-stained and torn, and her screams of pain. I run to her, my blood pounding with the need to avenge her, to save her, and I finally wake in a sweat. The sun rises out the window and Sadie sleeps soundly.

I walk quietly to the bathroom and take a shower, trying to wash off what I can’t.Chapter EighteenSadieThe next few days pass in a weird blur. Kazimir is… different.

The glimmer of humor he once showed me is gone and instead, he’s quiet and brooding. Sullen, even. At first, I’m thankful for the break. It’s exhausting keeping up with his moods and demands, and at first, I like being left to my own devices. A few times he brings me to the library to read while he works on his computer, but he ignores me until he’s done, then he has me come upstairs with him.

This goes on and on. He doesn’t even feed me on his lap like he did at first, but pushes plates of food in front of me and instructs me to eat. I even decide to disobey him once, to test him, to see if I can break him from the sullenness he’s descended into. When he pushes the plate of food in front of me, I shake my head and with a defiant shake of my head, tell him no. He doesn’t ignore that. With a frown, he glares at me.

“Eat your food, or I’ll spank that pretty little ass of yours.”

“Would be better than your sullen silence,” I mutter, then clamp my mouth shut as my cheeks heat. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. He merely raises a brow and points to my food.

I don’t want to push him. I eat it in silence.

I was kidnapped. I’m wedded against my will to a man I don’t love. I should be happy he has almost nothing to do with me.

Why do I want to see him smile?

Why do I miss the way he would bring me pleasure and even… pain?

After two weeks of living with him in brooding misery, I decide something has to change. One morning, when he’s in the shower, I think about it. I don’t want to be around him when he’s like this.

I want to get away from him. I’m trapped. I know if I push things, he’ll punish me, but then I wonder… will he?

Do I want him to?

The cleaning crew will be here any minute. The bell rings, giving me a good excuse to enact my plan.

I open the door and Demyan stands in front of me, holding a large padded manila envelope. “Where’s Kazimir?” he asks.

I shrug. ”In the bedroom, I suppose. Who knows?” I wander back into the living room and pretend to slump against the couch. “He wants all packages brought to the small table in the bedroom, please.”

And when Demyan goes, I run to the hallway. There’s nowhere to go here, but if my plan works well enough, there won’t need to be.

As if on cue, the cleaning crew exits the elevator. I greet them warmly and speak animatedly to them about utter nonsense, as none of them speak a word of English. When I hear Demyan enter the kitchen, I gesture for them to enter the apartment, and quickly grab the mop and bucket. It’s industrial-size, on wheels, and big enough for me to crouch behind. I step back onto the elevator and crouch behind the bucket. Demyan comes in, clearly distracted, and gives but a cursory glance to the cleaning supplies before he punches a button. The doors close, and I feel excitement rising as we descend. I’ve escaped… for now. I can’t truly escape, but I can get a little reprieve.

Demyan exits on the first floor, and thankfully no one else enters the elevator. When the doors close, I hit the button for the floor with the library. I wonder for a moment if it won’t work for me. If somehow it only works for those who were given security access. But somehow, maybe because Demyan already unlocked it, or because security measures were somehow disengaged, the elevator goes down. When the doors open to the library, I step off with a mixture of dread and glee. He’ll punish me for this, but it might shake him out of whatever brooding silence he’s dwelling in. And hell, I can’t continue this any longer. At least if I have to answer to him, I’ll get some space away from his brooding silence.