Page 68 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

Those hours passed, and I didn’t hear anything from him. It made my blood boil all the while.

Just as the sun started coming up, we drove around the west side of the city when I noticed a black car pull in behind us. It moved recklessly, squealing tires as the barrel of a gun appeared out the window.

My eyes widened at the realization.

I jammed my foot against the gas pedal, urging the SUV to go faster. I swerved away from those bullets, hearing as they either ricocheted off the vehicle or hit the asphalt. More cars followed suit, trailing behind us.

A scream came from Alessia, which only frayed my nerves more.

They had to be Bruno men. There was no question about it.

It was likely another last-ditch attempt at trying to pick me off so that he didn’t have to face me after all that time.

“Vik, call for backup and fire at them!” I shouted into the back, focusing on the road ahead as best as I could despite the onslaught of bullets coming at us.

As Alessia cried out, petrified by the situation, Vik was quick to grab his phone and send a message.

“Get down,” he instructed her, using himself as a makeshift shield while he pulled a rifle from beneath the seat.

From the rear-view mirror, I watched as he stuck the barrel out the window and fired back at them.

I tried my best to keep the car straight and to prevent any crashes. While there were cars on the road, we were lucky it wasn’t during rush-hour traffic. Instead, the nearby cars swerved out of the way and tried not to get caught in the crossfire.

But no matter how fast I went, the men were gaining on us. Taunting us with their speed and copious guns firing in our direction, they certainly had the upper hand at that moment.

Regardless of how bad it looked for us, I couldn’t let anything go wrong. Grace needed me, and I’d be damned if I didn’t fight as hard as I could for her.

Gritting my teeth, I drove on, gripping the wheel as tightly as I could.

The ring of gunfire made me anxious, and I could only hope that Vik’s shots counted for something.

But to my relief, those familiar SUVs took up the rear and returned those bullets with precision. One struck a tire, causing them to burn out before they could get away. The others seemed to try and push forward, but when the rounds became too much, they pulled away, taking different alleyways.

Our men stayed hot on their trail to eliminate that threat.

Cutting off my path to separate us from the action, I made sure to hit more obscure roads to not be tracked again.

The moment we hit the open road and had the chance to catch our breath, I swallowed hard and looked through the mirror.

“Everything alright back there?”

“We’re fine,” Vik said, and while the bewildered look in his eye suggested he was at least somewhat shaken up, he didn’t look hit. That was what mattered.

Relieved that they were both alright, I kept pushing, hoping we could find someplace to hunker down in the meantime. I couldn’t let anything happen to Alessia, not when I needed her for the ransom trade. She was the clearest path to getting Grace back.

After some time of driving, I pulled into a deserted parking lot and tucked the SUV in behind an old building.

I took the opportunity to get out and stretch my legs while Vik watched over Alessia to make sure she didn’t slip away.

While it had been a close call, my mind moved swiftly to Grace all over again. I spent all night without her, and the thought of not knowing how she was or where she had been taken was eating me alive.

I didn’t want her to be afraid, but I could only imagine how awful it likely was for her. She had toughened herself up over the last few weeks, yet I didn’t know how she would handle being abducted all over again.

It was my worst nightmare come true, and I was desperate to have her back.

My phone rang in the pocket of my trousers, and I wasted no time reaching for it. I had hoped to see Elias’ number, letting us know where we could recover her from, but my stomach dropped at that newly-familiar number.

Pietro.

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