Page 11 of The Bratva's Hostage Bride

After she slips on her shoes, we take the elevator down. We go out onto the sidewalk, stand there, and wait. I know it won’t take long for a cab to arrive, so I take out my wallet and offer her a business card. It has my name and my number on it.

“Here, in case you ever find yourself in a scary situation again and need someone to rescue you. My services are always available.” I give her a toothy smile, and she meets my eyes as she takes the card.

“Thank you,” she says quietly. “I’ll remember that.”

The cab arrives, and I open the back door for her. I shut the door, and it pulls off as Monty comes around with the car. He gets out, and I climb into the driver's seat. “I’ll meet you at the casino in two hours,” I tell him before I pull off.

As I walk into our family gym, where Arseny, Wynter, and Clyde are already working out, my mind is on Hannah.

“You’re late,” Arseny says as he sips his protein shake. I down half of mine before I set it aside.

“I had problems last night,” I say, starting to get the weights ready.

“I heard. Do you have any idea who it was?” Wynter asks.

“None. I was hoping you would all know some more?” I fix the weights to the bar, and I stand behind the bar. “Come on, Arseny. You’re up first.”

He settles himself on the bench, and Wynter starts rattling off about various families that have it in for us. My mind drifts to Hannah and how shy and beautiful she was.

Vaguely, I hear my name being called, and suddenly, I’m shoved aside by Wynter, who helps Arseny out from under the weights.

“What are you daydreaming about?” Wynter growls. Arseny was calling you for over a minute to help him with the slipping weights.”

I feel hot in the face. “I’m sorry my mind was elsewhere.”

“It was probably daydreaming about some girl,” Arseny says, rubbing his neck.

“It’s got nothing to do with a girl,” I protest, flustered.

Wynter, Clyde, and Arseny watch me for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” I say again. “There was a girl…”

“You see,” Arseny gestures to me. “Always a girl.”

“No, last night during the shooting. There was a girl I had to save. Hannah. I took her to my penthouse to recover from the alcohol and the shooting.”

Wynter puts a hand on my shoulder. “No girl is worth your brother's life, you fool.” He gives me a slight shake. “You know life is generally dangerous. Not to have your head on right can lead to a lot of unnecessary death.”

It’s my turn to blush, and I turn to Arseny. “It wasn’t meant, I’m sorry. I’m here.”

We finish our workout without further incident, and when we’re done, we go to shower. I come out feeling as though they punished me by making me do extra reps, which I suppose I deserve for nearly choking my older brother.

“Where are you going to now?” Arseny asks as he runs his fingers through his hair. “Kervyn?”

“I want to go see the damage to the casino first and deal with the police. Then I’ll report to Danil and Kervyn,” I say as I put on deodorant.

I stroke my face. I should have shaved. My stubble is becoming a beard again. I run my fingers through my hair and brush it to the back of my head.

I pull a shirt on over it, and it displaces the hair, but I leave it like that as I buckle my belt.

Wynter comes out in just his pants. His body is covered more in scars than tattoos, though there are plenty of each. “Make sure you’re not followed.”

“I will. Monty will be with me.” I grab my bag. “I’ll catch up with you all later.”

They all say their farewells to me before I walk out of the gym and to my car. I glance at my watch. It’s been over two hours. Monty will already be at the casino waiting for me. I have never really been good at keeping time.

I get in my car and pull off, my mind drifting to Hannah again. I try to focus on the present. I’m going to have to seem like I’m cooperating with the cops. I know my guys would have gotten all our cash out last night. We’ll need to count that and make sure none is missing.

---