All Chapters of Kidnapped by the Russian mafia: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWODO YOU LOVE HIM?AURORA“Start with the giant Russian carrying you around my foyer.”I laughed.I couldn’t help it.Whitney had been waiting until we were safely behind the closed doors of one of the palace sitting rooms.Apparently that was as long as her patience lasted.The room was supposed to be private.As private as anything could be with Isla guards stationed outside both doors, Avery’s men walking the corridors, and half the palace being transformed into something that looked increasingly like a military compound.Whitney had dismissed two members of the staff.Closed the doors.Pulled me toward the enormous cream-colored sofa.Then immediately started interrogating me.“Aleksandr?” I asked innocently.“No. The other giant Russian who lifted you off the floor because you called him sir.”“There were several Russians in the foyer.”“Aurora.”I smiled.She stared.I tried not to laugh.Failed.Whitney grabbed a pillow and hit me with it.“Ow!”“You deserved t

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOURTHREE WORDSAURORAAleksandr did not take me to my room.I realized that approximately halfway up the palace staircase.“My room is the other way.”“I know.”I looked at the back of his head.“Then where are we going?”“Somewhere secure.”I stopped.He took another step before realizing I was no longer following.Our hands stretched between us.He turned.“Aurora.”“You promised.”“What?”“No more deciding where I go without telling me.”His expression changed.Behind us, Whitney made a tiny sound.I looked over Aleksandr’s shoulder.She and Avery were three steps below us.Anya and Viktor were farther down.Everyone had stopped.Wonderful.An audience.Aleksandr looked down at our joined hands.Then back at me.“You are right.”I blinked.That was easy.Too easy.“What?”“You are right.”I stared.“Did you hit your head?”Viktor laughed.Aleksandr glared over his shoulder.“No.”I looked at Aleksandr again.“Then where are we going?”“The royal family wing.”“Why?

Absolutely. Picking up the instant the gunshot explodes above the underground room, with the envelope still in Aurora’s hand.CHAPTER THIRTY-SIXTO MY DAUGHTERSAURORAThe gunshot exploded above us.Everything changed.Aleksandr moved before the echo died.One second he stood beside me.The next, his body slammed into mine and drove me down behind the metal table.“Aurora!”Another shot.Then another.Pop.Pop.Not close together.Not wild.Controlled.Outside.Avery grabbed Whitney and pulled her behind the concrete wall beside the stairs.Viktor drew his weapon.Anya dropped beside the cabinet.The underground room that had felt like a grave full of secrets seconds ago became something else entirely.A bunker.A trap.“Report,” Aleksandr snapped.His hand pressed against the back of my head.His body covered mine.The radio on Avery’s vest crackled.Static.Then—“Contact north side!”More gunfire erupted overhead.Whitney flinched.Avery shoved her farther behind him.“How many?”“

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHTYOU’VE BEEN WARNEDAURORABy the time we returned to Isla Palace, I was exhausted.Not sleepy.Not exactly.It was the kind of exhaustion that lived beneath my skin.Too much had happened.The cottage.The underground room.My mother’s letter.The photograph.Petrov.The gunfire.Mikhail.Daniel.My father.Alive.Those two words still didn’t seem real.My father was alive.And coming to Isla.I stepped through the palace doors with Aleksandr’s hand pressed against my lower back.Security was everywhere.More than before.Men at every entrance.Armed guards along the corridors.Avery’s people mixed with royal security.Doors that normally stood open were closed.Every person entering or leaving was being checked.Because Elias Vale was somewhere on Isla.And nobody knew where.Whitney entered behind us with Avery.“Where are my parents?”Avery didn’t stop walking.“Safe.”Whitney stopped.“Avery.”He turned.She crossed her arms.“Where are Clara and Dwayne?”“Som

CHAPTER FORTYTHE WAY OUTAURORA“Someone inside the Martago family.”Nobody moved.Nobody breathed.For several seconds, the only sound in the enormous palace foyer was the faint hum of the air conditioning.Whitney stared at Daniel.Her face had gone completely blank.“What does that mean?”Daniel still held my hand.His fingers were cold.Too cold.His body looked exhausted from the trip, but his eyes were sharp.Alert.Watching everything.Everyone.“It means exactly what I said.”Whitney stepped forward.“No.”Avery immediately moved with her.She didn’t seem to notice.“My parents are Clara and Dwayne Martago.”Daniel nodded.“I know.”“So if you’re about to accuse either of them—”“I’m not.”Whitney stopped.Daniel’s voice softened.“Clara and Dwayne had nothing to do with Elias.”Her shoulders dropped.Mine did too.Avery’s expression didn’t change.He remained watchful.“Then who?” he asked.Daniel looked toward the guards stationed around the foyer.“We shouldn’t discuss thi