Page 46 of Brutal Bratva Boss

Kat gives me a stern look. “Theo, do not lie to me. I’m not stupid.”

“And I’m not lying.” When Kat glares at me I sigh. “Nothing appears to be wrong, but I have a bad feeling. I asked Gavriil to get the men to do a perimeter check just in case. So, until they come back and tell me otherwise, nothing is wrong,” I clarify.

Kat chews on her lip. “Do you think it could be something?”

I shrug a shoulder. “I can’t be sure, but I hope not.”

Some commotion from the front of the restaurant draws my attention. There is some shouting, a lot of stuff I can’t make out, and then I hear the first shot.

The people at the surrounding tables dive to the floor. Everyone starts screaming. The contents of the tables are knocked off and the sound of glass breaking mingles with the wails of scared patrons.

My eyes connect with Kat’s terrified face over the table for a brief second before I jump up and dive in her direction. She slides off her chair, crouching under the table. “Get the woman,” comes from somewhere behind me before another shot goes off. I feel something hit my side as I duck under the table, and a searing pain spreads from the area.

I keep myself curled over Kat as the chaos continues around us until I hear Gavriil calling my name.

Kat moves to stand at the same time I do, but the room spins around me and I stumble to the side, shooting out a hand to stabilize myself on the table. Kat rushes to me, shouting for Gavriil, I think. My suit jacket is pulled back and Gavriil yells something about someone being hit. Fear grips me and I try to look for Kat to make sure she is okay, but I am disoriented and everything around me is fuzzy. My legs give out beneath me. Someone catches me before I hit the ground. Kat’s voice is in the background, barking orders. I feel something slide under my arms on both sides and I get hauled up.

And then the darkness closes in around me.

***

An annoying beep and the sound of voices pull me out of my deep sleep.

My mouth is dry and my body aches worse than it has in a long time. My eyelids feel like a ton of bricks are weighing them down, and it takes a considerable amount of energy to pry them open.

The light is blinding, and everything is a blur as I blink a few times, trying to clear the fog.

“He’s awake,” someone says.

Fingers and something cold presses against the inside of my elbow, and something constricts around my upper arm.

My vision finally clears enough for me to look around at the people in the room.

A doctor is the closest, standing next to my bed, his fingers still on my arm. He leans over, holding my eyes open as he shines a light into my eyes. It is fucking bright and hurts like a bitch.

“He seems stable. For now,” the doctor says to Gavriil, who is standing behind him, before he looks back at me. “Can you remember what happened?”

I try to shake my head, but my reactions seem delayed. I attempt swallowing, but that too proves a lot of effort.

“You were attacked,” the doctor says.

The more I think about it, the more little bits of information creep in. “Shooting.”

The doctor nods. “That’s right. You were shot. It was a twenty-two caliber round point, so it went straight through. There was some muscle damage, but you were lucky enough that it did not nick any major arteries. I did need to give you quite a few stitches, though, and you lost a lot of blood, which is why you’ll be feeling under the weather for a while. But all in all, you should make a full recovery.”

I nod, and Gavriil places a hand on the doctor’s shoulder. “Thanks, Doc, we appreciate you saving our man.”

“Of course. Although it did help that you were able to get me to him so quickly.”

Gavriil accompanies the doctor to the door before walking back to my side.

“What happened?” I ask.

“We were ambushed. We’re still not quite sure how they were able to get so close before we spotted them. At first, we thought it might be Alexandr. He wasn’t happy when we informed him that the deal did not serve us anymore and according to what was agreed, that meant it was no longer valid. He didn’t take it well and made a lot of threats that night.”

“At first?” is all I can manage.

“It wasn’t him.”

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