Page 112 of The Lazarov Bratva

Love.

It’s not a word I typically hear and one that I reserve to only those in my closest circles, but here Alena is, giving it to me with her heart, and it’s the most precious thing she could ever say.

Suddenly, the unfamiliar sensation that flutters in my chest each time she’s near makes sense. It’s not anxiety or anticipation like I’d tried to reason. The reason my heart races and my chest tightens, that unfamiliar fluttering sensation that’s plagued me for weeks, rattles around my insides like a trapped butterfly.

It’s love.

I love her, too.

I just don’t know how to say it.

And now, as her grip tightens on my arms and she seems somewhat unaware of what she even said, time rolls forward with my chance to say it back.

Only those words tangle together in my throat, choking me, and I can’t work them past my lips. All I can do is stare into Alena’s beautiful, wide eyes and say… nothing.

“What if I talk to him?” Alena asks, glancing between Nastja and me, still seemingly unaware of what she let slip. “Maybe I can show him that I’m alive and happy, tell him I’m never going back, and maybe he’ll leave you alone?”

“No.” I manage to force that word out, and my hands tighten on her shoulders. “Make no mistake, he will drag you back with little care for what you actually want.”

“What are we going to do, then?” she asks, stepping into my arms.

“You could run,” Nastja offers, and my gaze snaps to her. She holds up her hands, palms forward. “I’m just saying it’s an option.”

“Could we?” Alena sounds hopeful. “We could run away together?”

“No,” I say painfully. “We would be running forever, and now he knows I have you, he’ll keep chasing until I’m dead and you are…” Words falter. I can’t even entertain the thought of Alena anywhere but by my side.

“Well, okay, then.” Alena sucks in a breath and stands a little taller. “Is there a way to face him together?”

“No, Alena. I know what you think you should do, but I’m not letting you within a hundred feet of him, do you understand?”

“Why not?” she demands, her eyes flashing with that subtle fire I’ve enjoyed from her brattiness.

“Because he will do everything to get his daughter back as a matter of principle, and I would not be able to focus on anything else but you if you were near.”

“But—”

“No, Alena!” I snap again.

She steps back, and my hands fall away from her shoulders, my mind racing with a hundred thoughts split between keeping Alena safe and facing down Aleksander. It’s the only real option here.

As much as I have planned to overthrow him, I hadn’t given much thought to what would happen if we came to blows. For Alena, though, it will be worth it.

“Boss!” Andrev comes sprinting around the corner, panting harshly as he stumbles to a stop.

“What is it?” I demand.

Andrev’s gaze flicks between all of us before settling on me. “Aleksander. He sent an envoy to the house. We killed them all, dumped the cars in the forest, and burned them, but I got a message from your friend in the Family. Aleksander is planning to come right here, full frontal assault. He’s coming to burn this place to the ground.”

“Now?”

Andrev shrugs. “Unsure. No movement yet. They’re still planning, but we don’t have much time.”

“Did you get an address? Where he set up shop?”

Andrev nods.

Fuck.

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