Page 81 of The Bratva King's Claimed Bride

“No, Igor, put down your gun.” She looks up at me with big eyes. “You put down your gun, and Kervyn will put his down.”

I look over her head at Kervyn, slowly take my finger off the trigger, and holster my gun.

Arina turns around. “Kervyn, your turn.”

Her brother looks down at her and nods, holstering his gun. That’s when I realized Danil and Arseny have also drawn guns. They holster theirs, too, and Arina turns to Luka. “Let him go, Luka. He wasn’t trying to hurt me.”

“He wanted to take you away from us again,” Luka says bitterly. “He should learn a lesson.”

“I think it’s safe to say he has,” she says. “Now, please, let him go.”

No one moves, and I wonder if Luka is going to take a potshot at Matvey when Arina blurts out. “I’m pregnant.”

Luka turns around to look at her, along with the rest of us.

She turns around to look at me. “I’m pregnant with our baby.”

“Arina…” I say softly, my chest tightening with emotion.

“But I can’t be in your life if you’re constantly trying to kill my brothers.” She turns around to Kervyn. “And I can’t be in your life if you’re constantly trying to kill my husband.”

She looks between us. “Until you two figure something out, the baby and I will be in neither of your lives.”

“Arina, it’s my child…” I say, taking a step forward. Kervyn also takes a step forward, and Arina holds up her hands. “I’m not letting you two battle it out over me. Kervyn, let Matvey go with Igor now.”

“And then what?” Igor asks. “When will you come home? We need to be a family.”

She looks at me almost desperately, and for a moment, there’s just silence before she finally seems to reach a decision.

“Yvonne. Call Yvonne. I want her to take me somewhere neither of you knows about so I can have some peace. I can’t make a decision with everyone constantly around me trying to tell me what’s best for me. I’ve taken care of myself up until the day you kidnapped me, Igor, and even then, I took care of myself until we developed it into more. I know you both love me, but I can’t continue to feel like I’m being torn in two.”

She starts to cry, and I reach into my pocket. Kervyn watches me, his hand on his gun, but I bring a cell phone out. “You can go with Alfie. He’s outside. He will take you to fetch Yvonne, and she will take you somewhere safe to have some time alone.”

Arina nods. “Okay.” She wipes her tears away and looks at Kervyn. “Okay?”

“Yes, of course, Arina. We want what’s best for you. We don’t want to stress you out,” he says. “If there’s anything we can bring you, please let us know.”

“Yvonne will come to get my stuff,” she says quietly. “I just need some time.”

Chapter 27 - Arina

I watch as Igor calls Yvonne, but I can already tell the tension is gone. I turn around to Luka. “Please, just let him go. He didn’t want to hurt me.”

Luka looks at Kervyn, who, without turning around, nods his head. “Let him go, Luka.”

Matvey carefully steps around Luka, then Arseny, to skirt around to stand behind Igor.

“Thank you,” I say softly.

“Yvonne will be waiting for you to pick her up,” Igor tells me. “Go, no one will know where you are. You have my word; none of us will bother you.”

I look at Kervyn and then at Igor. “Go. Catch a taxi with Matvey back to the house. I need to make sure you’re all okay, both you and Kervyn before I leave,” I say.

Igor looks at Kervyn, then at me, and nods. “Okay, Arina. Whatever you want.”

He turns and grabs Matvey by the arm, muttering to him in Russian. I’m pretty sure he says stupid boy, which makes me smile. He’s such a protective big brother. I turn back to Kervyn.

“You’re not mad, are you?”

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