Page 24 of Forced Bratva Wife

It was all so clearly not my apartment, and this was all so clearly not my life—not the one I thought it was anyway.

“Lev.” My mind splintered, thinking back to his words.

I think you’ll find Pavel that touching what’s mine will cost you your life.

His. He had claimed ownership of me and, in the same breath, made it clear that he would harm my father if he even dared to try touching me. Where had that kind of protector been when I was growing up? I could’ve really used it back then.

Frustrated, impotent rage swam through my blood. I’d never been able to do anything, never stood up to my father, and Lev had done it without blinking.

“No one has ever done that for me before.” I thought back to my mom, a new sob taking me. “Not since…Oh my God, he really did it. Pavel killed her.”

My body couldn’t settle on what to feel. Hell, it couldn’t decide on a temperature, an overwhelming heat suffusing me. I tore off the thin jacket, flinging it to the bed as I began to pace the room. The sound of my boots on the floor clacked loudly, and I tried to focus on the rhythm.

A panic attack was right on the edge, and I did not want to deal with that.

“Okay, what’s in front of you? Just deal with what’s in front of you. One problem at a time. Start with the most severe.”

I repeated the coaching of my attendings. Their guidance on handling the worst cases at the ER, how to stabilize each area and each person, according to what was the most concerning.

“You need to get out of here. One. That’s the most pressing thing. The rest can be dealt with later.” I shook my head. “And after a lot of therapy.”

I walked to the door, pulling the chaise back across the floor. It proved to be much more difficult this time since I wasn’t hopped up on the adrenaline that had been helping me. Still, I was able to get it back in place without hurting myself. I went back to the door, a trickle of excitement blooming through me that I hadn’t heard the lock click into place.

Trying the handle, it turned. I could leave. I could get out of this damn house if I was careful enough. Using every amount of steady control I could muster, I opened the door, cautious of any creaks it might make. I stuck my head out into the hall and looked both ways; there was no one on guard.

My heart pounded as I stepped into the open and closed up the bedroom behind me, holding the knob turned so that it wouldn’t make a sound as I let the door close again.

“Holy shit. I’m out.”

I kept my voice low and crept down the hall slowly, searching for any other exit aside from the main entrance where I’d just been taken. I couldn't take that approach. There were bound to be people around there.

Just as I turned down another hall on the top floor that seemed to lead to another wing of the house, I heard a loud boom come from downstairs. I’d never heard one, to be certain, but something told me that wasn’t a firework.

“Gunshot.”

A chorus of yells erupted from down the main stairs, back where I’d argued with my father. I froze in place. There was some kind of fight going on. It would make the perfect distraction to try and escape.

“Leave, Parker. Just go.”

A distinctly pained shout came up from the lower level. Someone was injured. Probably many people were injured. They would need a doctor if a gun was involved, or any type of weapon for that matter. I was a doctor or the closest thing they were going to get to one.

I stood at the top of the stairs unmoving for what felt like years, and then I took off running toward the main entrance.

Chapter 13 - Lev

The house erupted into chaos only moments after the men still at my home got Pavel out of there. He’d left kicking and screaming practically, but apparently, he wasn’t just a raging piece of shit. He was also devious.

The group from Pavel’s office had returned, and it looked like hitting the office had been anything but a simple recon mission.

“The fuck happened?!” I shouted at Pietor.

He crossed the crowded entry hall floor to my side as I stared down at the destruction. Three of my guards were banged up pretty damn good, helping each other to tie bandages taken from their ride’s emergency kits and stopping bleeding.

“Pavel hired help is what.” Pietor swiped blood away from his eye as it dripped down his face. “Fucking heap of ‘em waiting at the office just in case we showed up. Your boy had a feeling we’d go hunting, apparently.”

Rage boiled through my veins, making my stomach clench down as it spewed acid up the back of my throat.

“They got the fucking jump on you? And how you’d let that one—”

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