Page 103 of His to Own

I rush to the window and open it again before I jam the fork into the screen, ripping it. I manage to make a hole big enough to get out of. I poke my head out of the window to see that I’m at the back of the house. There’s no around. I can escape.

My dress is too heavy and big but I force myself through the small hole and land on the ground with a hard thud. The rip of fabric. My dress. My mother would be horrified at the sight of me right now.

I get to my feet and limp around the side of the house. I can see one of my kidnappers out front. My eyes land on a large gate at the end of the driveway. There’s no way I can get over that without the guard seeing. I would be caught. Aleksander probably has cameras set up everywhere. He might already see that I got out of my room. I need to find another way out of here.

I keep the fork clench in my hand just in case.

The backyard is just… woods. Trees upon trees that look like they go on for miles. There’s a chance I could get lost in there but it’s my only chance.

I run into the woods and I don’t look back.

Maxim

Nikolai informs me that the license plate number belongs to a man named Richard Petrov. A Russian and an American. How ironic.

We arrive at Richard’s house – a fairly simple cottage. Speaks to the fact that he has some money but not a lot.

I pound on the door but no one answers. Nikolai and I share a look before I pull my gun out and shoot the lock and then kick the door in. No one is home. We search everywhere. Nothing. No one.

“Maybe he left a clue as to where he took Elena.”

Nikolai nods and we both continue to search the house. I find a private home office and, after picking the lock off the bottom drawer of the desk in the middle of the room, I find a stack of papers. Business reports. Money transactions.

All from a company. A strip club called Joe’s Girls.

“Nikolai,” I call out. After he appears in the doorway, I hold up the paper. “Look into this strip club. See who owns it.”

A call to his hacker friend only takes a few minutes to find out that the strip club is owned by none other than Aleksander Baranov.

“He took my fucking wife,” I hiss. “Aleksander has my wife.”

“And we’ll get her back. We’ll bring reinforcements with us this time. We’re going to invade his house.”

“You like to make peace deals, Nikolai, but if you do this, war is the only outcome.”

He grimaces. “I know. Aleksander has left us no choice. We have to get Elena back. She’s my sister now and I care for her. Let’s go after Aleksander.”

Both Nikolai and I call in a lot of our men to come join us. The guards I hired all agree to come with and it doesn’t take long for us to arrive at Aleksander’s mansion with a whole force behind us. Thirty men. I am not playing games this time. I am getting my wife back.

The guard out front looks terrified out of his fucking mind and he starts firing the moment we get out of our cars. But Nikolai shoots the man, killing him dead.

It’s just this large fucking gate between me and my wife. Despite everything that has happened between me and Elena, I won’t stop fighting to get her back.

She is mine after all.

Chapter Fourteen

Elena

My evening gown gets caught on roots as I run through the forest. In the early morning, the air is still crisp and cool, making me shiver. I can even see my breath. My bare arms have no protection but none of that matters right now. All that matters is getting away from Aleksander’s house and regaining my freedom.

“Elena!” Aleksander’s deep voice calls out through the air. I stop in my tracks with a gasp. Looking around, I only see trees but he’s clearly close enough for me to hear him. “Elena. You surprised me. Not many people can surprise me. I’m impressed. If you come back to me now, I won’t hurt you.”

I duck behind the nearest tree and calm my breathing down. My ears strain to listen. Where is Aleksander? It didn’t take him long to realize that I left.

It’s then I hear the sound of gunshots in the distance. I peek a look around the tree but all I see is dirt and leaves and nothing else.

“Elena,” Aleksander sing songs. He’s nearby. Where is he? “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” He doesn’t know where I am either. That gives me an advantage.