Page 55 of Forced Bratva Bride

We carry him inside to one of the back rooms, and Paval calls the doctor.

Chiara rushes in. “Maxim, what happened? Is that Stefano?”

“Yes, there was an explosion at his warehouse before we even had a chance to look around.”

“Is he alive?”

“Injured, but alive. Paval, how long will the doc take?”

“Ten minutes.”

The doctor confirms that Stefano will be fine. He patches up some small cuts and bandages his leg where a piece of metal sliced pretty deeply into his flesh.

“Keep an eye on him, though. Just to be sure. If anything changes, he needs to be brought to my clinic.”

“Thanks, doc. We will call if we need you.”

The doctor gathers his things and leaves.

Chiara sits down on the bed next to Stefano and reaches out to touch his forehead.

I watch her with jealously burning inside me. I don’t want her to touch him. I don’t want her to help him. I don’t even want her near that asshole.

“Chiara, leave him. He needs rest.”

“It doesn’t make sense though, does it? Why would he blow up his own warehouse? Why would he put himself in danger like that? You said the explosion killed the two men who were standing right next to him. He's an asshole, but he isn’t stupid.” Her eyes are still locked onto his face, a concerned look twisting her brows together as she bites her lower lip.

“Chiara, I said get away from him. We can’t trust him. He might have set the bomb with wrong timing. Maybe he didn’t intend to be there when it went off.”

“That’s ridiculous, Maxim.”

I walk over to her and pull her away from him.

“Let him rest. We'll ask him about it when he wakes up.”

For two days Chiara and I tend to Stefano’s wounds, changing the bandage on his leg and keeping an eye on him. Chiara is gentle and caring, while I am perhaps a little more crass about it all. Paval checks in every day as well. We all want answers.

“Nothing yet?” Paval says, standing next to the bed and looking down at Stefano’s peaceful form.

“Nothing. The bleeding on his leg stopped—"

“What the fuck is going on?” Stefano leaps out of bed, his eyes wild and delirious.

“Fuck,” I say, holding up both hands. “Stefano, calm down, man, there was an explosion.”

“A fucking explosion you set, you motherfuckers. What the fuck is going on, where I am?”

“You are in my house—"

Stefano comes flying at me, his shoulder slamming into my chest. I grab him and use his own momentum to spin him away from me, and he falls to the floor, skidding across the carpet.

He leaps back to his haunches, springing up again. I grab him around the neck, locking him in a tight grip, and he grabs at my arm, trying to bend it backwards.

“Stop,” Chiara shouts from the doorway. “Stop right now.”

“He just woke up and went crazy,” I say, not letting him go.

“Max is right, Stefano started this,” Paval shrugs.

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