Until the End (Volkov Bratva #2)(61)

“Prove it.”

Tilting her face up, he pressed a hard kiss to her lips, conceding to what she was saying.

He knew he had been a goner since the first day he laid eyes on her. Mishca couldn’t let her go, even if he wanted to.

“Vy budete menya v mogilu—You’ll be the death of me.”

Smiling, she said, “Were you telling me how great I am?”

Drawing back, he blew out a breath, laughing at the fact that he had been out negotiated…again. “Of course.” Kissing her again, he said, “You should get going. My business with the Albanians should be over soon.”

“Be careful, Mish.”

“You have my word.”

He dropped his arm, allowing her to pass him. “I still want to know who Johnny is.”





It felt odd being back at home, like the events over the last few days hadn’t happened. Dropping her bag on the floor, Lauren collapsed back on the couch, sighing at how relieved she felt at such a mundane act.

She had only been sitting for a couple of seconds before the doorbell rang, probably Luka bringing her whatever she may have forgot in his car.

Opening the door, Lauren gulped, wishing for the hundredth time that she had learned her lesson the last few times she had answered the door without checking to see who was on the other side.

She tried pushing the door shut, but one of the men threw his arm out, catching it before it could close. Instead of trying to go for her phone—knowing that she would not be able to call for help before they could get to her—Lauren reached for the vase, grabbing the neck of it and slamming it down on the man’s head closest to her, but there were too many of them for her to fight effectively.

She took off down the hall, stampeding feet echoing behind her. Just reaching the window in her bedroom, she wrenched it open, halfway out before someone grabbed her ponytail, yanking her back into the room.

A bag was thrown over her head, her wrists and ankles bound with ties. No matter her struggles, they were able to restrain her, carrying her down the flight of stairs to an unmarked van waiting at the curb.

Her heart was racing, but Lauren tried to stay calm. Her restraints were too tight for her to wiggle free, and the booted foot pressing against her back kept her from moving from her position on the floor of the van.

It felt like they traveled for hours though it was little more than thirty minutes. The sliding door was opened, the men around her climbing out, shaking the van. Someone grabbed her, tossing her over her shoulder, graveling crunching beneath their boots as they carried her into a building.

They went up a flight of stairs, the wood creaking beneath their feet. After about another minute, she was dropped down into a chair, her arms cut free momentarily before they were bound behind her back, her legs to the chair.

Then, footsteps receded.

She was left to her thoughts, the stillness around her causing more fear than the reality that she had been kidnapped. She couldn’t even say who had done it since she didn’t recognize any of the men.

She didn’t know how long she sat like that before she heard someone coming towards her and the bag was snatched from her head, making Lauren wince at the bright light from the windows around her. She was in a building, large holes in the ceiling pouring light onto the hardwood floors. She couldn’t see much, only what was directly in front of her since several men were currently moving around near the stairwell.

One was setting up a tripod some feet away from her, another fiddling with a camcorder. There was only one she thought she recognized and only after he turned to face her did she recognize who he was.

Brahim Besnik, Jetmir’s brother.

When he noticed Lauren’s attention on him, he smiled broadly, his eyes glinting with excitement as he stepped towards her, close enough that she could feel his breath on her face as he leaned forward.

“Good to see you’re awake.”

She couldn’t say much with the gag in his mouth. Laughing when he realized this, he yanked it from her mouth.

Not wasting her time, Lauren asked, “What do you want with me?”

“You? I want nothing from you, but I need something from that Russian of yours.”

“The diamond,” Lauren said. “He doesn’t have it.”

“And you know this? He would never share that with you even if he did, just to avoid a situation like this.”

“He—”

“Shut up. Now, this can be easy for you, or—” he reached out suddenly, wrapping his hand around her throat, squeezing just enough to cut off her air, “—I can make this one of the worst days of your life.”

When he finally released her, she coughed, breathing in deeply. Again, she asked, “What do you want?”

“How about a demonstration? You will read from there,”—he pointed to one of the men holding large cards—“and we will record a lovely video for the Bratva Captain.”

She looked from him to the other men that were waiting patiently, their smiles making fear course through her.

Without a doubt, she knew this was already the worst day of her life.





Mishca had waited at the drop for over an hour, but Naomi never showed. He tried calling her, but the disposable phone she had been using was disconnected.

“What are you going to do?” Vlad asked as they got back in the car.