Page 51 of Stolen By the Bratva

“You’re nothing but a fucking traitor,” the soldier accused. He pointed at Andrey on the floor and twisted his lips as he struggled to keep a lid on his temper. “You’ve betrayed us all. You’ve betrayed the Family!”

I tilted my head to the side, peeved with his outburst.

“Who killed him?” he demanded.

“I did.” I stood as tall as I could, ignoring the biting stabs of pain in my shoulder and back. I would never let Mila take the blame for Andrey’s murder. She didn’t deserve that fault. “And you’re going to run home and tell him. Tell Pavel the good news.”

“That you shot his son?” he shouted, reaching for his gun.

I fired one shot at his hand, hitting my mark perfectly and preventing him from trying anything else. He’d live, if with a nasty scar.

He dropped to one knee, hugging his mangled arm to his chest as he reacted.

“Go home. Tell Pavel the good news. That I’ve ended the waste of life that he called his son.” I tightened my arm around Mila. “And that I’ve claimed a wife.” Without looking away from him as he rocked and cradled his arm in pain, I pressed a quick kiss to her temple.

The faster he could relay this information, the quicker my uncle would be pushed to losing it. I needed him off balance, riled up, and crazy with how messily his world was crumbling apart.

“Fuck you. You’ll never get away with this, Aleksei!” He staggered to his feet, weaving in his steps as he turned and rushed out the door, still holding his arm up protectively.

Once he was gone, I checked that the priest was still standing. Maxim, too. They needed medical help, and I wouldn’t keep them here and prevent them from getting it.

My younger brother sighed, stepping closer with relief and worry mixed in his troubled expression. “You’re all right?”

I nodded. With Mila, I sure as fuck would be. “You?”

He winced but nodded. “Before you go,” he said, quick to know that we couldn’t linger here. After he reached into the pocket on the inside of his jacket, he handed over papers.

“What’s this?”

“Nikolai snagged them from a Kastava guard near the Colver dock.” He raised his brows, wondering if he’d need to explain further.

He didn’t. I flipped the papers open, spotting the familiar coded lines of gibberish. These were more copies of that same encrypted correspondence that I’d been hoping to use for answers about that big shipment. That trade was intended to damage the Family, and I hoped that these new papers would shine light on how Sergei Kastava planned to set the Valkovs up.

“Thank you.” I refolded the packet of papers, aware of Mila watching me with an unreadable expression. Once I slipped them inside my jacket, secure in my pocket, I realized that she had yet to look away.

Her curiosity intrigued me, but it wasn’t the time or place to put her on the spot about her observations and the strange way she stared at me.

For all I knew, she was just zoning out, skittish and slow to react or think after all that had happened. She’d just killed a man, and I bet it was the first time she’d taken a life. She’d just married me, and I knew she had to have mixed feelings about that after that brief moment of her hesitating to flee the scene.

I’d cut her some slack. Just a little. Once we were out of here and I saw to my wounds, I would focus on helping her adjust to our new life.

Eliminating Andrey was a huge, important step in my agenda, and I couldn’t have anticipated how soon he could’ve been taken out of the picture. I had assumed that I would need to hunt him down and draw him out of hiding, but no. His ego, his pride, had brought him here with a lame attempt at foiling me.

“Until I see you next time,” Maxim told me, leaning in for a feeble pat on the back. He didn’t touch near my wound, but still, we were both running on fumes from the extent of our beatings. I knew without asking that he’d handle the bodies in my wake.

“You too, Sister,” he added with a sly smile for Mila.

She dipped her chin in acknowledgment and shifted her weight on her feet.

Curious or not, she was mine—now and forever, like the priest had declared.

It was the fastest, bloodiest wedding I’ve ever witnessed, but it was over.

We were married, and it was time to get my wife out of here.

22

MILA

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