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)
Nikki Golubev, her father, had been visiting her a lot more lately. She’d seen more of her biological dad in the last two weeks than she had in her whole twenty-five years. But that didn’t come as a surprise, not when she knew they had found her a man to marry. Now all they were doing was making the arrangements for the wedding. She had nothing to do with it. In two weeks, she had a fiancé and had tried on three wedding dresses.
Nikki’s wife had been there to assist. Her snooty nose stuck up in the air, clearly not happy with the idea of helping her husband’s unwanted daughter.
That was what she was—unwanted.
They were only following orders by Sergey. He wanted her married and protected.
And she now lived with him. Sergey killed her mother, removed all of Beverly’s belongings from the house she grew up in as well as the apartment she rented, and had been forced to live with him. This was new to her.
Sergey had a lot of enemies, and with that many enemies; there were soldiers surrounding him at all times.
Faith had also come to realize the screams she heard at night were not from ghosts.
No matter the time, day or night, Sergey’s business never stopped. The screams were those of his enemies. Faith had always tried to find whoever it was, and didn’t know if she should try and set them free, or help them in some way. She was never able to find them.
Wherever he tortured them was either very well-hidden, or he had removed them by the morning. She never saw anyone coming or going.
And now, she had snuck out a couple of days before her wedding. She wore the diamond ring that was so heavy on her finger. The man she was due to marry wasn’t a Brigadier or anyone of high standing within the Bratva. Sergey couldn’t allow that. He was an associate—someone with money and wealth. She had heard her grandfather and her fiancé, Paul, talking.
There was a shipment of women coming into the docks. They were going to be set to work as soon as possible. They had even talked about a few fatalities on the journey. They were talking about women as a commodity. Cattle.
The cab driver pulled up several feet from the main gate.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but there’s no way I’m going too close. It’s not good for … you know, business, to be seen so close.”
Faith pulled out of her thoughts and looked at the driver. “Oh. It’s fine. I’ll walk.”
“Do you really need to go there? Not a lot of good comes from women who enter that place.”
Every part of her was screaming to turn around and leave. It was stupid of her to even try and care. There was no way Tank would want to see her, but since they had made the trade, she couldn’t get him out of her mind, and she needed to know he was okay.
Also, there was also a tiny little detail—she felt compelled to see Brute again. He’d not been cruel to her, so she didn’t understand why it mattered to her to see him again.
“Yes, I … it is important. Do you mind waiting?”
“I’ll wait twenty minutes, but if you’re not out by then, I’ve got to leave.”
Faith didn’t like that, but she didn’t see why twenty minutes would be a problem. “Thank you.”
She slid out of the car, grabbing the care package, and then walked quite hurriedly toward the main gate. The first night she’d been taken and thrown in the cell, she had seen the main gates were wide open. Not today. Everything was locked. The gates were sealed shut.
Past the gates, near the main door, she saw a couple of women outside, leaning against the brick wall, smoking cigarettes.
She looked for a buzzer for anything, but then a guy she didn’t recognize who wore the leather cut, came to the gate.
“Hi,” she said. “Is, uh, Brute around?”
This guy had several scars on his face. She couldn’t remember his name, but she stared into his eyes. He tilted his head to the side.
“Why are you here?”
“I came to see Brute and … Tank.” She hated how warm her face felt.
“Ah, you’ve come to see the guy your grandfather’s fucked with. You want to rub it in his face that you’re free and he’s still fighting for his life.”
Faith felt sick to her stomach. “No, no, I-I-I-I wanted to m-m-make sure he was o-o-okay.” She hated stumbling over her words, and it had been a long time since she had last done so.
The man looked at her with hatred.
“Do you think I don’t know what this shit is? It’s a trap. Where’s Sergey?”
“I don’t know. He’s dealing with business. He doesn’t know I’m here.” She didn’t know why she felt such shame. Faith didn’t want to look him in the eye, he looked so angry with her.