Chapter 18

What was he talking about? Her new home? There were supposed to stop for a brief hello and be on their way.
Before she could voice out her question, a man walked into the foyer where they were standing.

“Ah, I see. You finally did it. I was thinking your balls would be too large to walk across the continent.”

“Semion,” she heard Michal say.

“Why are you standing there, brother? Won’t you come give your elder brother a hug?”

Katya looked from brother to brother. The look on Michal’s face was uncomfortable. Like he was displeased and disgusted at the same time. Still, he moved to his brother and hugged him.

“There there. I’m glad you are back home. Father will be pleased.”

*Father?

“Michal, what is going on?”

Semion gave her his full attention and she did not like the look in his eyes. Not one bit.
“Oh, she doesn’t know. What a shame.”

He left his brother and walked to where she stood. Standing in front of her, he placed a finger under her jaw and lifted her head higher.
“Little girl, this is going to be your new home for the next few weeks. Or months. It depends on how long it’ll take.”

*What in Hades name was he going on about? Her new home? She was supposed to be at her aunt’s place!

“I don’t know what you are talking about but if you can explain to me,” she glared at Michal angrily,” that would be the first step.”

Semion’s laughter echoed in the space.
“Feisty too. I like it. You know what we do to fiesty girls like you? Girls who think that world is safe? We keep them in a room for months, feeding them only scraps. A room with a single window so high above the ground that you will never see out of it. And we let your mind feast on you till you are begging to be set free.”

His words sent chills down her spine. God- she had been kidnapped. She had been kidnapped. Michal wasn’t a bodyguard her father hired. He was a kidnapper.
Her father was right. She shouldn’t have come to Russia.
*For the first time in twenty years, she wished she had listened to her father.

“Semion, cut it out. We don’t kill people here. At least, not innocent ones,” Michal said.

For a moment, nobody said anything. The only thing in the room was Katya’s perspiration and the sound of her heart beating fast.

Then he laughed. Semion- and the mean look in his eyes faded away.

“You could have allowed me to have my moment. Was it too much to ask?”

“Was he doing the voice again?” A heavily pregnant woman with a cup and saucer asked, walking to meet them.
*Where did she come from?

Michal went to hug her.
“Freya. How have you been?”

Freya handed Semion the saucer and teacup before slapping him on the back.
“I told you not to use the voice on her.”
To Michal, she said-
“You would know if you were around more often.”

Michal scratched his head.
“I had to do father's job.”



*Hold up!

“Can somebody please explain to me what is going on?”
*Because it felt like they were shooting a movie and she was the clueless actor.

Freya took her hand.
“I’m the big one’s pregnant wife and Michal is his younger brother. But if you want to know why you are here, then I suggest we find a chair for you.”






They were seated in a small room, chairs around a table.

“The simple explanation is- you are a hostage here,” Freya told her.

*She knew it. She had been kidnapped. They would demand some kind of ransom for her release. It was like the incidents she watched in those true crime documentaries.

“What do you want? My father will pay, almost anything,” she said immediately.

Michal sighed.
“Katya-

“Don’t. Don’t call me by my name, please,” the words came out unbidden.
She trusted him. Trusted that he would help her find the answers she desperately sought. But all he wanted was to use her as a collateral.

“What did you do to her, Michal?” Semion asked, “she really hates your guts.”

“We don’t want any money,” Michal continued, ignoring his brother.

Katya’s eyes widened. If they did not want money, it meant they were going to- *oh God, no.

“And no, you’re not going to die. We have scores to settle with your father. Once that is done, you’ll be free to go.”

Papa. They had to be business rivals. She was her father’s weakest link and her stupidity was going to cost her father.
She suddenly remembered a conversation she had with her father, when he caught her hiding on board his jet.

*I will not have the time to watch over you, Katya.”
“But papa,” she begged, “I am sixteen. I can take care of myself.”
“You do not know how things work in a foreign country. What if something happens at your aunt’s residence? Who will you call?”
“I’ll come find you. I know where the conference is being held. Please don’t send me back, papa. This is all I want as a birthday present.”
Her father turned his back to her, two men ready to escort her back home.
“If anything happens to you, Katya, I will not be able to pay the price. You will remain in the house, where Luyeva will watch over you. I will give instructions that you are not to go beyond the gates until I return.”

And she hated him. Hated the way he threw her dream away. The cold way he dismissed her tears and pleadings.
If only she could go back to that day and ask him what he meant by his statement.


“What do you want from my father?” she dared to ask, looking at Michal.

His eyes went cold and his lips stretched into a taut line.
“Everything. He took something from us and we want to make him pay.”

“My father is a hard man. He does not bargain with people.”

Michal grinned.
“With you here, he will have no choice than to come to terms with our agreement. After all, you are his only child.”


Katya could see it now- clear as day. Michal was right from the beginning. She was not an adult. She was a sheltered, spoiled brat who expected the world to do her bidding. She wanted answers when she should have stayed put, stayed at home.
How would she escape now?