Deadly Vows (Avilov Bratva #2)

26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Talia

I sit in the dimly lit living room, staring blankly at the flickering light on the ceiling. It’s late, but I’m wide awake, my thoughts racing, and my body tense. The silence of the house feels like a weight crushing me. Every creak and groan of the floorboards makes my skin prickle. Danny went out to buy beer. I tried the door and the windows, but I couldn’t get them to open. He must have them locked from the outside. I’m trapped.

I lean back on the couch, cradling my baby bump. I hum softly to the baby, pretending that it will keep it calm when I’m the one who has to stay calm. It’s been two days since I’ve been held against my will in this house. I don’t want to believe that at one time, I actually cared for Danny, the man capable of doing this.

The front door clicks softly, and I tense. Slow and deliberate footsteps follow, and my heart beats faster with each one. Danny walks into the room with an eerie calm, his broad shoulders filling the doorway as he looks at me with a gaze that’s hard to decipher.

“Why do you look so scared?” Danny’s voice is smooth as if this were normal, and he’s a doting boyfriend.

I swallow hard, forcing the words. “I’m not scared.”

He smirks, the kind of smirk that used to make my heart skip with excitement. Now, it just makes me feel sick.

“Liar,” he says softly, walking closer, taking his time like a predator stalking its prey. He stops in front of me, towering over me like a giant. I can feel the heat of his body and the intensity of his green eyes as they bore into me. It’s suffocating.

To my surprise, he reaches into the grocery bag and pulls out a pint of ice cream.

“Here,” he says, handing it to me with a plastic spoon. “I know pregnant women like ice cream.” He smiles sweetly and puts the grocery bag on the table. He pulls out a beer and pops open the can, taking a big gulp.

“Why are you doing this, Danny? Why keep me here?”

He crouches down so we’re at eye level, his face inches from mine. For a moment, I feel like he can see everything inside me - every thought, fear, and desperate wish to escape this nightmare.

“You already know why.” His voice is low, dangerous. “You’re mine, Talia.”

I shake my head, refusing to let a single tear fall. “No. You keep saying I belong to you, but I don’t understand. What do you want from me?”

His jaw tightens, and I think I’ve pushed him too far. But then he lets out a breath, standing up and pacing the room, his hands running through his hair in agitation.

“You don’t remember, do you?” he says quietly, almost to himself.

“Remember what?” My voice cracks with the frustration and confusion I’ve been carrying for days. “Just tell me, Danny. Please.”

He stops before the window, staring at the dark street with his back to me. He releases a deep breath before he turns to face me again. His eyes are cold now, almost detached.

“It’s not a coincidence that we met,” he begins, his voice flat. “It wasn’t fate or some random twist of the universe. I found you. I looked for years, but I finally found you. I watched you for months before we ‘met’. I knew exactly who you were.”

His words hit me like a slap. I stare at him, shaking my head, unable to process what he’s saying.

“What… what are you talking about?” I whisper. “You’re not making any sense.”

Danny walks over to the armchair across from me and sits down, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Your father killed my father,” he says, his voice cold and even. “And that wasn’t an accident. That wasn’t some mistake. It isn’t something I can ever forget.”

My heart stops. The room spins around me, and I feel like I’m going to be sick. I grip the side of the sofa to keep from passing out.

“No,” I choke out, shaking my head. “No, that’s not… that can’t be true. My father-”

“Your father murdered him,” Danny cuts me off, his voice sharp. “He beat him to death in a rage right there in the street between our houses. I was seven years old, and I watched it happen. I watched your piece of shit father kill my dad.”

The memory crashes over me like a tidal wave. I was three. I didn’t understand much then, but I remember the screaming. My mother had pulled me away, dragged me inside, but even then, I could still hear it - the horrible, sickening thud of fists against flesh, the crack of bone.

And then… silence.

“My father was having an affair with your mother,” Danny says, his voice hard now, full of bitterness. “He thought he could get away with it. He thought he could have everything - a family, a mistress, a life without consequences. But your father found out, didn’t he? And he didn’t let it slide.”

I feel like I’m drowning, gasping for air as the past suffocates me. My entire body shakes as I try to grasp what he’s telling me. The man I thought I knew was unraveling before my eyes, and the picture that was forming was terrifying.

“My dad was no saint,” Danny continues, his voice low but intense. “But he didn’t deserve to die like that. He didn’t deserve to be beaten to death in front of his own son.”

I can’t stop the hot tears from spilling down my cheeks, and I don’t bother wiping them away. “I didn’t know,” I whisper.

“Of course you didn’t.” Danny leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “You were a toddler. But I wasn’t. I saw everything. And after that… after your father went to prison, after everything fell apart, I promised myself that one day I would make things right.”

My breath catches in my throat as the pieces start to fall into place - the strange way Danny had seemed to know me even before we started dating, the way he always seemed so interested in my family, asking questions I didn’t think much of at the time.

“You tracked me down?” I ask, my voice trembling. “You were following me?”

Danny nods, unashamed. “It wasn’t hard once I found you. I watched you for months, learned your routines, and learned everything about you. And then, one day, I ‘bumped’ into you at the supermarket. You remember that, don’t you?”

Of course, I remember. How could I forget? The day we met felt like something out of a movie - perfectly timed and serendipitous. I had no idea it had all been orchestrated.

“You planned all of this,” I cringe, the horror of it sinking in.

“Yes,” he says simply, with no remorse. “Because you belong to me. You always have. You’re the debt the universe owes me for what your father did.”

I can’t breathe. The room is spinning. “You’re insane. This is insane.”

Danny stands up and walks over to me, kneeling down in front of me again. He takes my chin, forcing me to look at him. His eyes are burning with something dark I can’t quite name.

“I’m not insane, baby,” he says softly. “I’m just making things right. And now, with you here…with our baby…it’s all finally coming full circle.”

I flinch at the mention of the baby, a fresh wave of fear washing over me. “You think this will make things right?” I ask. “You think keeping me here, forcing me to stay, will fix anything?”

Danny’s grip tightens on my chin, and his eyes harden. “I think it’s the only way,” he says, his voice deadly serious. “You belong to me, Talia. You always have. And now, you always will.”

I pull back, wrenching my face away from his hand, but he doesn’t move. He just stares at me, waiting, watching.

“You’re sick,” I say, my voice stronger now, fueled by a sudden surge of defiance. “You’re delusional if you think this will even the score.”

Danny’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t say anything. He just stands up, looming over me once again.

“I’ve waited years for this,” he says quietly, his voice sharp as a blade. “Years of searching, planning, watching. You’re not going anywhere. Not now. Not ever. ”

I swallow hard, the lump in my throat threatening to strangle me. How did I not see this? How could I have missed the signs, the little things that, in hindsight, should have set off alarms? The way he always seemed to know too much, his uncanny ability to be wherever I was seemingly by chance. But now, it all feels like a trap I walked straight into.

I shift uncomfortably, trying to steady my trembling hands. “I’m not staying here. I’ll find a way to leave.”

“Leave?” His laugh is cold. “You won’t get far. The doors and windows are locked. And even if you did manage to slip out, where would you go? Who would believe you? I’m not the monster you’re making me out to be. To everyone else, I’m your perfect boyfriend, the father of your child. They wouldn’t believe you if you tried to tell them the truth.”

His words twist the knife deeper. I want to scream, to yell, to run, but I feel trapped, tethered to this horror that’s suddenly become my life.

“How can you do this?” I ask, my voice breaking. “This isn’t love. It’s not even close.”

He crouches again, his eyes narrowing with an intensity that chills. “Love?” He scoffs. “This isn’t about love. This is about balance. About making things right. My father died because of yours, Talia. He was ripped away from me. And now, you’re here giving me back what I lost. I’ll be the husband and father he wasn’t.”

I shake my head, unable to comprehend the depths of his obsession. “You can’t just claim a person, Danny. I’m not some object you can own.”

His hand moves to my cheek, the gesture almost tender, but it makes me want to claw my skin off. “You don’t get it yet, do you?” he whispers. “You were always meant to be mine. You’re the one thing the universe gave me to compensate for my loss. Everything was leading up to this.”

I slap his hand away, the anger bubbling up like a volcano. “You’re wrong,” I say through clenched teeth, my words heated with raw emotion. “This isn’t justice. It’s just more violence.”

His expression flickers and something dark passes over his face. But it’s gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced with that unnerving calm.

“Maybe,” he says quietly, standing up again, looming over me like a shadow. “But it’s the only justice I know. You and the baby are mine.”

I watch him as he strolls toward the door, my heart pounding so loudly it makes my ears ring. He stops just before he leaves the room, glancing back at me one last time.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” he says, his voice soft, almost pleading. “This is your life now. Accept it. It’ll be easier that way.”

And then he’s gone, the door closing behind him with a soft click. I sit there, stunned, my mind racing, trying to piece together what I’m supposed to do next. I feel like the rug has been ripped out from under me, and everything I thought I knew has been shattered.

But one thing is crystal clear – I can’t stay here. I won’t.

I stand slowly, my legs shaky, my breath ragged. I have to get out. I don’t know how, but I can’t let him keep me here. I walk over to the window, peeking through the blinds. The neighborhood is quiet, the streets empty and dark. The house is too far from anyone else to hear me scream. It feels hopeless.

But I can’t think like that. I can’t let myself be defeated before I even try. Be smart, Talia.

I move around the house, checking the doors and windows, looking for any way out. But every lock is in place, and every escape route is sealed tight. It’s like a cage, carefully constructed to keep me in. I think about breaking the windows but the ones I could climb out of have iron bars attached to the outside.

My breath quickens as I search for anything that could help. My eyes land on a set of knives in the wooden block on the kitchen counter. My hand trembles as I reach for one, the cool metal feeling foreign in my palm. I grip it tightly, feeling its weight, the assurance of protection, of survival.

I have to get out of here.

I glance toward the front door, but before I can make a move, I hear heavy and purposeful footsteps again. My heart skips a beat, panic rising in my throat. I hide the knife behind my back, stepping away from the kitchen as the door to the hallway creaks open.

Danny stands there, watching me. His eyes flicker down to my hand, and for a second, I think he knows. But then he smirks, shaking his head slightly.

“Still thinking about running?” he asks, calm but amused.

I say nothing, my grip tightening on the knife handle behind me.

“Don’t bother,” he continues, walking slowly toward me. “There’s nowhere to go. Nowhere you can hide that I won’t find you. It’s just you and me, Talia. And the sooner you realize that, the better.”

I step back, trying to keep the distance between us, my mind racing with a thousand different possibilities. But none of them end well.

“Why are you so obsessed with this idea?” I ask, my voice shaking but firm. “You talk about justice, the universe owing you, but this isn’t justice. This is revenge.”

Danny stops a few feet away, his expression dark. “Revenge, justice… what’s the difference?”

“The difference is that I didn’t do anything!” I shout, my anger finally boiling over. “I didn’t kill your father, Danny! I didn’t have anything to do with it!”

“You’re his blood,” he says coldly, his eyes narrowing. “That’s enough.”

I shake my head. “No, you don’t get to punish me for his actions. You don’t get to control my life because of something that happened years ago.”

He steps closer, his voice dangerous. “I do get to control your life. Because now, you’re part of mine. And you’re carrying my baby.”

I’m shaking, my heart pounding so loudly I’m sure he can hear it. My fingers grip the knife so tightly that my knuckles ache, but I don’t let go.

“I don’t belong to you,” I hiss. “I never have, and I never will.”

He takes another step closer, and in one swift motion, I pull the knife from behind my back, holding it out between us.

“Stay back,” I warn.

Danny freezes, his eyes dropping to the blade in my hand. His expression shifts from surprise to anger.

“You don’t want to do that,” he says, his voice a low threat. “Put the knife down.”

I tighten my grip, my heart racing. “I’m leaving,” I say, my voice stronger now. “I don’t care what you think or what you’ve convinced yourself of. I’m leaving, and you’re not going to stop me.”

Danny’s eyes narrow, and for a moment, I think he will lunge at me. But then, to my surprise, he steps back, raising his hands slightly in mock surrender.

“Alright,” he says, his voice eerily calm. “Go ahead.”

I hesitate as I take a tentative step toward the door, the knife still held tightly in my hand. Danny watches me, his eyes following my every move, but he doesn’t stop me.

For a second, I think I might actually make it. I might actually get out of this house, away from him.

But as I reach the door, something in his expression changes. His lips curl into a slow, cold smile.

“Run, Talia. Let’s see how far you get before I catch you. I’ll give you a head start.”

I force myself to turn the handle, open the door, and enter the cold night air. I don’t look back as I run.