Free Brie’s City of Angels (Submissive in Love, #6) by Red Phoenix Page B

how close she’d come to being saved…
    “We were forced to spend the next five months playing a perverse game of cat and mouse as we tracked her from owner to owner.” Rytsar’s tone became more subdued. “She was broken, just skin and bones, huddled in a corner, high on heroin the day we finally caught up with her. When Titov approached Tatyana, she offered herself to him, begging her brother to be gentle. We foolishly thought we’d saved her when we brought her back home, but what did we know?”
    “But you did save her,” Brie insisted.
    “ Nyet . We failed to understand how shattered she was. Her family and I bought her smiles and assurances, and took heart when she forced herself to start eating again. The reality was that she was appeasing us, just biding her time—whether she knew it or not.”
    Brie felt chills when she heard his next words. “I’ll never forget the day she killed herself. I’m not a man for sentimentalities, but I bought her yellow flowers. It was a national holiday and I was in a rare mood to celebrate.” He paused, his voice becoming bitter and angry. “Now I only associate yellow with blood… I hate flowers.”
    “Why did she do it when she had so much to live for?”
    “Tatyana told me once that she was tainted beyond repair, and it made me angry. I swore to her that anyone who dared tell her that would answer to me personally. I failed to listen, radost moya . She was not talking about other people’s perceptions of her, but her own.”
    Brie heard the heartbreak in his voice when he confessed, “You cannot fix the broken, no matter how much you desire to. She was the one —my mate and the future mother of my children. When that maggot took her, he not only stole her future, but mine and that of generations to come.”
    Rytsar pounded his chest, howling in rage, the sound of sickening thuds carrying over the phone line. Tears rolled down Brie’s cheeks as she listened, knowing there nothing she could do to ease his suffering or the unbearable loss he felt.
    When the terrifying sounds stopped, an eerie silence followed.
    “Rytsar?” she cried out softly.
    His hoarse voice cut through the darkness like a beacon of hope. “That’s why this girl is important. Titov and I need her. We need her not only to survive—but to live .”
    Those words haunted Brie after they hung up. She put her computer away, no longer able to work. Instead she folded the blanket, laying it on the arm of the couch before heading off to bed. Just as she flicked off the lights, she heard the ding of the elevator in the hallway.
    She didn’t know what possessed her, but she jumped into bed and pretended to be asleep.
    Sir took his time, loitering out in the hallway for an unusually long period of time. Finally his welcome footsteps started towards the bedroom and she buried her head in the pillow.
    She heard him step inside the threshold, but then stop. After several long, agonizing minutes, Brie snuck a peek to see what was going on.
    Sir was standing in front of her, looking down with a knowing smile on his lips. “Just wake up?”
    She looked up at him guiltily. “No, never fell asleep.”
    He chuckled as he started loosening his tie. “I noticed the blanket was still warm in the other room, and you don’t usually sleep with your face smashed into the pillow.”
    She pulled back the covers and invited him to bed. “How was the opera with your sister, Sir?”
    The sparkle in his eye said it all. “It went far better than I hoped. Tell me, how was the party?”
    “It was wonderful, Sir.”
    “Since neither of us feels like sleeping, why don’t we fill each other in on the night’s events? Waiting until morning only ensures we’ll forget a detail or two.”
    “Did you hear about Rytsar and the girl?”
    Sir nodded, looking unhappy. “He texted me. I’ll be watching the situation closely, but for now all we can do is wait, trusting it will blow over without incident.”
    “Rytsar told