I nod firmly. “I need you to be a good girl.”
“No, Adrian.” She’s scared. Of course, she is. The gummies seem to take the edge of it, though. Her body remains relatively relaxed. “You can’t do this.”
“Please, Kateryna. I don’t want to make threats or knock you out. Play this game with me.”
She locks eyes on me, searching my face. “Where are we going?”
I shake my head and tie the gag around her mouth. “No!” she screams around it.
“Just until you’re in the van.” I tuck a sweater around her, so she won’t get cold, close the lid of the crate, grab my packed duffel bag and quickly finish wiping the apartment of any prints or DNA either of us left behind before I wheel her out. Then I lock the door and leave the key under the mat for the landlord.
As soon as I get the crate loaded in the van–thank fuck for the liftgate–I open the lid to the crate and take off the gag, placing my finger on her lips. “See? You can trust me, no?”
Kat’s startled gaze skitters around the ceiling of the van and back to my face.
“Be good.” I leave her in the back with the lid off and shut the back gate then jog around to the driver’s side. My phone rings, and I check the screen.
Ravil.
I decline the call, even though I know it will cost me when I see him again.
If I see him again.
I check under the front seat of the van and find Feodor left me a pistol as I asked. I tuck it in my jacket pocket now.
“Adrian?” The fearful pitch of Kat’s voice makes my chest cold.
“Right here. I’ll be with you the whole time. I’m not selling you. I’m not leaving you. Okay?”
“Cage time,” she says weakly and relief rushes through me.
I was asking a lot for her to turn this into a sexual fantasy and not a terror, but she’s trying.
Driving in the UK is a total pain in the ass because of the left-hand side of the road, but I handle it. I get to the dock, where I climb in the back of the van.
“Gag goes back on, malyshka. After your cage time, I’ll give you everything you need. Da?”
She closes her eyes and hums softly like she’s working to keep herself from freaking out.
“Good girl,” I murmur and reattach the gag then close the lid.
I sure as hell hope this works.
I unload the crate from the van and wheel it in front of my shipping container. The guy named Rodion is there, waiting for me. I give him 200 pounds, and he opens it up and lets me in with the crate, closing it behind me.
I immediately remove the lid from the crate, so Kat can get eyes on me. “I’m still here,” I say, as if my presence is a comfort to her. As if I’m not the guy who has her tied up in a crate about to set sail for America.
She tries to speak around the gag, but I hold my finger to her lips.
“Gag stays on a little longer.” I stroke her face and lightly fondle her breasts, trying to make this pleasurable instead of frightening. It seems to work. After a few minutes, she makes a soft humming noise and lets her eyes drift closed.
I stroke my hand over her scantily clad ass, admiring her form with my palm. I keep her relaxed and calm this way for more than an hour when our shipping container is finally lifted and transported onto the freight ship.
Once there, I remove her gag. Her lids flutter open. “Where are we?” Her voice sounds hoarse. I fumble in my bag for a bottle of water and lift her to a sitting position to take a drink.
“Are we on a ship?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes are wide and horrified. She looks around the inside of the shipping container. “Why?”
This is how my sister was transported to America.
I don’t tell her that, though. My original idea of reenacting, or mostly pretending to reenact all the things done to Nadia now seems horrific. What was I thinking?
This whole plan is starting to feel half-baked. Is that the real reason I won’t call Ravil back? Because I’m certain he’ll tell me to abort-mission? That I’m out of my mind?
Fuck.
Now I’m not only out of my mind, but I’ve dragged Kat with me. Wild, sweet, beautiful Kat. The girl who is quickly becoming something precious to me.
Even though it’s not safe yet, I pull out my knife and cut her wrists and ankles loose. “Come here, malyshka.” I reach in to lift her out. Instead of using my help to climb out, she clings to me like a koala bear, wrapping her slender legs around my waist and burying her face in my neck.
“I’m sorry, Kateryna. I know that sucked.”
“It did,” she agrees but doesn’t sound all that upset.
I stand holding her, rocking from side to side like she’s a baby needing comfort. After a moment, she says, “I do want to play cage with you, though.”
A puff of laughter escapes my chest. “Good. Because we will have plenty of time to kill on this ship.”
“Where are we going?”
“America.”
“My father isn’t in America.”
My senses sharpen. “Where is he?”
“If I tell you, will you let me go?”
I only consider it for a moment. “Nyet.” It’s impossible. I’d never get near him without her as my bait.
“Why not?” She sounds offended.
“I won’t make you responsible for your father’s demise. That isn’t right.”
“And this is?” She kicks her legs, and I put her down on her feet. She glares at me. “I think you have a contorted notion of right and wrong, Adrian.”