Page 15 of The Bratva's Innocent Bride

The mere thought of the Bratva engaging in something like that would make my father turn in his grave. To him, honor was the most important thing. Sure, our code of honor may differ from the rules of the law. My father may not have found it pertinent to spare lives or pay his taxes, but he would have never laid a hand on a woman or child. He never would have killed an innocent, no matter how much good it did the family. And that’s the code I carry with me.

That’s part of what makes Allard’s actions so disgusting to me. There are many people who join the family, seek out this way of life, because they want the benefits afforded to them. Those people are making the choice readily, understanding what they’re getting themselves into.

I glance over at Fiona, realizing that by taking her, I’ve engaged in some of the behavior my father would have turned his nose at. But, in all fairness, I thought I was kidnapping Olive Allard—a woman in this world. A woman who has accepted the risks associated with the riches you get from being a mafia princess.

And now I have Fiona here, this crazy, off-kilter woman who can get out of any binding. And I’m not sure what to do with her.

“Jesus,” she breathes, when she sees Allard kick one of the women, then laugh, before they’re shuffled down under the deck of the boat.

Before I know what’s happening, Fiona has unlocked the car door and is falling out onto the gravel. I frantically whisper after her.

“Hey,” I say, scrambling to get out of my seat, hurrying toward her side of the car. She’s making her way to the slope of the hill, like she might walk all the way to the ship and stop this herself.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask, grabbing her bicep. For the first time since I took her from the office building, she looks truly angry at my touch.

“What am I doing?” she breathes. “I’m going down there to demand that he stop. That he let those women go. Or maybe I’ll just free them myself.”

“Okay,” I say, putting my hands up. “You might have a way with knives, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to take on dozens of highly trained men yourself, Fiona.”

“Someone has to do something,” she hisses. I am not going to just stand here and watch as another woman has her liberty taken from her. And quite frankly, I’m disgusted with any person who can do that.”

“He will shoot you in the face, Fiona. He won’t hesitate. They’ll put your body in a refrigerator box, fill it with concrete, and haul you over the side of the ship when it’s out in neutral waters.”

“You don’t—”

“I do know that! Because my brothers and I have been following Allard since he—“ I stop myself, realizing I’m just about to reveal to her that Allard managed to get weapons out from under our noses. “It doesn’t matter,” I say, taking a breath. “What matters is that he’s a bad guy. He’s worse than any person in the Bratva, Fiona. My brothers—they gathered intel that one of the women trafficked on his boat gave birth. And he threw the baby overboard. To lower costs.”

Fiona sucks in a breath, her hand going to her mouth, a look of horror gracing her face. Since taking her from the office, she’s been nothing but strength and resilience, and now she finally looks like what I expected from her in the first place.

A scared woman.

The worst part is that I’ve only known her for a few days. And yet here I am, feeling pissed off at Allard for letting her down.

“I’m sorry, Fiona—” I start, but she cuts me off.

“So, we’re just going to stand here and do nothing while those women are shipped out of the country? Is that what you’re telling me? What if I call the cops?”

“No,” I say, putting a hand out before realizing she has no phone. She grins and lifts her hand, flashing my own phone to me. When did she have the chance to get my phone? I add pickpocket to the list of things that she’s capable of, then snatch it back from her. She almost grins, her smile watery and her eyes distant. I tuck my phone into my suit jacket's inside pocket, hoping that it deters her from slipping it out again.

“Listen, Fiona,” I say, taking a deep breath and putting my hands on her shoulders, guiding her back to the car. “I realize it’s painful to watch this and do nothing, but we’re working on a plan to stop this. The first part of the plan was getting Olive—”

“Olive doesn’t know a thing about this,” Fiona insists when I get into the driver’s seat next to her. “She would have told me if—if—”

“No, I believe it,” I say, shaking my head. “I don’t think she knows about the mafia either, and if she does, I don’t think she knows about the lengths her father takes to make his money and fight for an upper hand. But do you see how I can't let you go now that I’ve brought you into this?”

“I—” Fiona laughs, pushing her hands over her face and letting out a frustrated scream. “I just can’t believe that you can sit here, knowing every single one of those women is about to drop off the face of the planet. If we don’t help them now, they’re done. What if it was your sister down there? Would you have the same cavalier attitude about waiting to hatch your plan? Or would the fact that she exists to you as a human being spur you to action?”

I stare at her, mouth open. How did she know about Anya? And also, why is her question actually making me second-guess my actions?

If it were Anya, my brothers and I would tear up that boat to get to her. I would do everything I could to ensure the ship didn’t leave the dock. I would trace her to the ends of the earth to find her.

I take a deep breath.

“If we try to help those women, and we fail, we would just be alerting Allard that we know—”

“I don’t need to hear anything else,” Fiona says, her eyes going hard. She crosses her arms and turns away from me.

I barely know this woman, but for some reason, her scorn cuts me to the bone. It’s an impossible situation, but of course, I would rescue my sister because she’s my family. I don’t think it makes me a bad person to prioritize my family above other random women I barely know.

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