Cruel Paradise - A Mafia Romance Chapter 178

EMMA

It took some effort but the girls are finally asleep. Reagan is honk-shoo-honk-shoo-mimimi-ing away and Caroline’s eyes are fluttering softly. They’re crammed in together on the dirty old mattress despite the fact that the bed is quite big. Old, yes; rotten, yes—but big. How nice of our captors.

Josh, on the other hand…

He’s sitting by the window, having tried for the first hour to break it open. Turns out those wooden boards are nailed in tight. The last fading remnants of light are slanting in through the little gaps between the planks.

I drape the girl’s school sweaters over them as blankets and when I’m satisfied they’re not gonna wake up, I inch over to Josh. He makes space for me on the table he’s sitting on. I climb aboard and hike my legs up.

“Your boxing has gotten really good.”

One corner of his mouth twitches up. “I need to practice more.”

“You’re already amazing. You had Ben on the ground, Josh.”

That gets a brief smile out of him before it disappears and he shrugs self-consciously. “Only because I took him by surprise.”

I shake my head and pat his knee. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a lot braver, smarter, and stronger than you think you are. You just need to believe it.”

He nods. “Ruslan tells me the same thing.”

“Does he now?”

I can sense the conflict raging inside his little head. Can almost feel it, like pre-storm pressure in the air. His eyes keep darting to my face and then away again. I know he’s scared but he’s desperately trying to hide it. Mostly because he’s trying to take care of me and the girls.

“We’re going to be okay,” I whisper to him.

He arches an eyebrow in a way that’s so eerily similar to how Ruslan does that I shiver. “How?” he asks.

“I don’t know how,” I admit. “I just know. Your mom used to tell me to manifest what I wanted and it would come. Do you know what ‘manifest’ means?”

He shakes his head.

“It means to visualize something and wish for it as hard as you can and it’ll come sooner or later. Matter of fact, she liked to say she manifested you.”

I smile fondly at the memory. Thinking about Sienna these past few months hasn’t hurt me as much as it once did. The ache won’t ever fully leave, I don’t think, but it’s no longer quite as sharp around the edges.

Josh smiles. “I wish I remembered her more.”

“Oh, honey, if you only knew how much all three of you remind me of her. Your compassion and kindness—that’s all Sienna. Reagan’s feistiness, Caroline’s creativity—it all comes from your mother. She’s always with you, even when you don’t know it.”

I raise my arm and Josh leans into my shoulder. I try not to make a big deal out of it, but he never lets me hold him like this anymore. “I heard you talk to Ruslan,” he mumbles softly. “Are you really not gonna be with him because of what he said?”

I gulp. Isn’t that a doozy of a question?

“The first few days, I genuinely considered it,” I admit. “But I also don’t know what happened that night to make him so…”

“Sad?”

“Right. Sad. I owe it to him to hear his side of the story first. And even then…” I glance down at Josh. “I know he loves you guys. He was just in a bad place that day. Sometimes, people say stuff they don’t mean because they’re afraid of what might happen if they were completely honest.”

Josh frowns. “That’s confusing.”

I laugh. “For you and me both, bud.” I tousle his hair and kiss the top of his head. “How about you try to get some sleep?”

“No. You sleep and I’ll stay up and keep watch.”

“Josh, sweetheart, you’re tired.”

“I’m not.”

I purse my lips. “That’s another trait you get from your mama—stubbornness.”

He snorts a laugh. “Okay, I guess you can take the first watch. But I’ll take the second.”

“Deal.”

Barely five minutes later, he’s on the bed next to his sisters, dead asleep. It gives me some relief to see them all together like that, even if I have no earthly idea how to get us out of this situation.

My phone had been wrestled away from me back on school grounds, so my live location isn’t about to help Kirill or Ruslan find us. Which means I’m gonna have to use my imagination to get us outta here.

I stand in the middle of the room and turn on the spot. Come on, Emma, think like an action star. Manifest your way to freedom.

Then I hear the lock turn in the door. I freeze, dreading the sight of Adrik again. But when the door opens, I’m faced with…

Ben.

Which is not a whole lot better.

“You,” I snarl softly.

To my surprise, he walks in and shuts the door. “Don’t try to rush the door or anything. Adrik’s got men posted outside it.”

I scowl at him. “You really think I’d try to escape without the kids?”

There’s a beautiful purple bruise on the left side of his face and he’s sporting a colorful split lip, too. Honestly, Josh deserves a standing ovation for that performance earlier. A few more minutes and he would’ve made mincemeat of the rest of Ben’s sneer.

Apparently, Ben is thinking along the same lines, because he glances at all three of them in the bed. “Where the fuck did he learn to fight like that?”

“Where do you think?”

He walks over to the boarded window and sits on the same table that Josh was using as a window seat. “They replaced me pretty damn fast.”

“What did you expect, Ben?” I want to say so much more but self-preservation keeps my tongue in check.

For now.

But I need to play this smart. I don’t have my phone on me. I don’t have a gun, either. Which means Ben is my only way out. I walk over to the table and lean against it, as far from him as possible.

“How do you even know Adrik?”

He flinches like the name stings him. “I don’t. Er, I mean, I didn’t. He approached me a few days ago. Said that I could get revenge on Ruslan for everything he’s done. Said that he would protect me from him.”

“How did he know about you in the first place?”

“He was working with that reporter, Remmy. Which is how he knew about our deal. And when he couldn’t find Remmy, he decided to find me instead.”

I suppress the gag reflex that any mention of Remmy inspires and stay focused on the moment. “And how much money did he offer you?”

“None.” Ben offers me a shifty glance. “He told me I could get my kids back.”

“Bullshit. You didn’t do this for the kids. How much money did he offer you, Ben?” My voice is getting a little stronger, a little louder.

He grimaces and mumbles something unintelligible.

“I didn’t hear that.”

“Ten grand,” he croaks. “He offered me ten grand.”

I shake my head in disgust. “Good to know you can be bought so cheap. For God’s sake—these are your kids, Ben. That motherfucker was out there waving a gun in their faces and threatening their lives. And you delivered them straight to him. How can you be so surprised that they’ve replaced you with the only man who’s ever tried to protect them?”