Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
She tried not to look up as they made their way out of the basement. Faith was aware of people watching them, but she ignored them, keeping her gaze on the floor, rather than looking up.
Without watching where they were going, she knew there was less chance of her being able to make an escape, but she didn’t want to get caught up in all that trouble from escaping. The only thing she wanted was to be able to get out of this clubhouse alive. She knew she wasn’t going to do that if she made them angry.
All too soon, she was in another room. This was a bedroom. There was a large, imposing bed, and it made her pause as she looked at it. The sound of the door closing made her heart race, and she spun to see Brute, flicking a lock into place.
“I don’t like to be disturbed.”
“Do you get disturbed often?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She couldn’t help but imagine lots of women swarming into his room, naked, begging him to fuck them. She didn’t even know where the image came from, but it was there, and she quickly tried to shove it out of her mind.
Brute removed his leather cut, and she watched him as he sat on the edge of the bed, untied the laces of his boots, and then kicked them to one side. He seemed so much larger than life, up close. In her cell, where there was always distance, he didn’t seem quite so terrifying.
“Do you live here?” she asked.
He didn’t answer.
Glancing around the room, she saw several pictures, most of them club, but then she saw one that surprised her. It was of Brute and Sergey, but what did surprise her was the happiness on both men’s faces.
She took a step toward it, then another. “You knew my grandfather.” She reached out and placed a finger on the picture. “But … you … I … this makes no sense.”
“I do know your grandfather. It’s why I know what I’m dealing with.”
“But you look like you’re friends in this picture. If you’re friends with him, why are you … why did you … none of this makes any sense.”
She rubbed at her temple, a little confused.
Brute and the whole Evil Fallen Bratva were supposed to be the enemies of the Golubev Bratva.
He looked at her then at the picture, before he reached down and pulled up his shirt. At first Faith looked away, a little unsure as to why he was removing his clothing. She hadn’t been around many naked men before.
“Look at me,” he said.
She forced herself to turn to look and she tried to keep her gaze on him, but the image on his chest struck her hard. Dead doves, one by one, falling on the ground, and above them, tiny human skulls rising up like a graveyard. Like the dove she had.
“You were a Golubev.”
“Yes. I was making my way up the ranks. Men and women feared me, and my name was used to instill fear. To terrify. People knew I would be great. My family were proud.”
“What happened?”
“One day, a shipment of cocaine was meant to be docked. I was to oversee it, handle the distribution. Something didn’t feel right to me, so I held my men back, and sure enough, there was a delivery of cocaine, but there was also a whole crew of law enforcement ready to take hold of that delivery. They held back, waiting for me, and I knew Golubev had set me up.” He ran a hand down his face. “When I returned home, I found what Sergey had also done. He’d killed my family.”
She gasped. “What?”
“My mom, dad, two little sisters, and brother. All of them, dead. The dove torn off my parents’ skin. Golubev betrayed me and took everything I cared about. From that day forward, he made an enemy out of me.”
She looked back at the picture. Her grandfather had told her often that he wasn’t a good man, but in her eyes, he wanted to be so. How could he be a good man if he was willing to do that?
“Why did he do it?” Faith asked.
“Fear,” Brute said.
To Faith, that made it even worse.
****
Brute hadn’t intended to tell Faith about her grandfather quite yet. He’d been waiting for the right time. His men didn’t agree with him coming here with her. They didn’t think he should be giving her the time of day. Road was already prepared to start sending body parts to Sergey. Igor was chomping at the bit to get to them.
Tonight, he should have been balls-deep inside a woman, enjoying the peace and freedom he knew was only sparing right now.
Instead, he glanced down at Faith’s head. She had already fallen asleep. The romantic movie she put on had been a little boring. He’d watched the movie but hadn’t quite taken it in, still reeling from going down memory lane.