You once said I was no kind of mother…
Trying to keep our baby safe and warm would be too much effort where we’re going…
He sucked in his breath. She was trying to tell him where they were going. Folding the letter, he shoved it at Cooper. “They’re going to Russia.”
“Let me guess, boss,” Cooper said sourly. “You want to handle this alone.”
Nikos gently handed the baby to Mrs. Burbridge. Kissing his son goodbye, he turned to face Cooper with rage surging through his veins. “Hell, no. I want every man we’ve got on the plane within the hour. And get Yuri Andropov on the phone. It’s time to call in a favor.”
CHAPTER NINE
ANNA shifted slightly in her chair, trying to shift the cords that bound her wrists without attracting the attention of Victor or his goons. Her hands felt hot and sweaty with the effort, but the rest of her felt like ice as she worked the broken tines of her great-grandmother’s ring against the rope.
On the car ride from St. Petersburg she’d briefly felt the spring sun on her face, but the backroom of the Rostov Palace felt cold as ever. Especially as she’d listened to Victor’s men ransack the Princess’s china in the kitchen. Biting her lip, she watched as Victor and one of his men set up an old black-and-white television near the fire.
“It’s not working. We’ll miss the game,” the bodyguard complained in Russian, trying to position the antenna.
“It’ll be fine,” Victor snapped in the same language. He took the antenna then, realizing that there was no electricity, dropped it in disgust. “Go help with dinner.”
“Why can’t she make us dinner?” the man grumbled, nodding at Anna. “Make the woman useful for once.”
Victor glanced back at her, and she froze.
“Oh, she will be useful. But only to me. Get out, I said. I want some time with my future bride.”
As Victor approached she pressed her wrists against her T-shirt, hoping he wouldn’t notice that one of the cords binding her to the chair was finally starting to fray.
She’d been praying that customs officials would discover her when they arrived in St. Petersburg, but Victor’s connections, along with a well-placed bribe, had allowed his private plane to arrive unmolested.
At least her baby was safe, thousands of miles away with Nikos. She’d bought her child’s safety with that horrible letter Victor had forced her to write. Would Nikos see her clues?
Maybe he won’t even care, she thought hollowly. He’d made it clear that he wanted her permanently out of his life, and this was about as permanent as it could get.
Victor pulled off her gag. “Here,” he said, sounding amused. “Scream all you want. No one will hear you.”
But she didn’t scream. She just pulled away from his touch, glaring at him.
He laughed, folding his arms as he looked around them. “I can see I need to renovate my so-called palace. No heat. No electricity. And all they’ve found in the kitchen so far are potatoes and teabags.”
“I hope you starve,” she replied pleasantly.
“That’s not a very kind thing to say to your future husband, is it? You and I both need to keep up our strength. I’ll send one of the boys to the grocery store. And as for heat…we can supply that on our own, later.” He gave her a sly smile. “Any requests? You’ve been refusing food and drink for hours.” He ran his hand down her arm, making her shudder with revulsion. “You must eat something.”
“So you can drug me? No thanks.”
“Ah, loobemaya,” Victor said softly, brushing back a tendril of her hair. “I wouldn’t go to so much trouble if I didn’t love you so much.”
“You call this love?”
“Until Stavrakis’s spell wears off, and you understand it’s really me you want, I need to keep you close. You will realize how much you want me.” His voice sounded threatening as, massaging her shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise, he added softly, “Very soon.”
Ignoring the loud sounds of crashing china and slamming cabinet doors in the kitchen, Anna pulled her shoulder away from his hand. “I love Nikos, and I always will.”
He yanked back her hair, causing her head to jerk back. Anna dimly heard men shouting from the kitchen, but all she could see was Victor’s sadistic face, inches away from her own. “Forget him. Forget his baby. I will give you others. I will fill you with my child tonight. You belong to me now. You will learn to obey my will. You will learn to crave my touch—”
He forced his lips on hers in a painful ravishment that was meant to teach fear. And it worked. For the first time Anna began to feel truly scared of what he would do to her.