Page 55 of The Bratva's Plus-Size Bride

Before he could say anything else, Alina cocked her gun in his direction as a pained expression settled on her face, eyes wide with both incredulity for what she was doing, and anger at his refusal.

Shock struck Adrik immediately as he realized her switch, which ended up being a mutual reaction in that confined space. Against all odds, Alina had turned on him, letting out a shaky breath despite her firm grip. After everything, she was siding with Ben and Ari.

Suddenly, it was three against one, with me stuck in the middle.

“What is this?” Adrik asked just above a whisper, wearing a look of betrayal. It was so strong that the tension in the air seemed to shift, and I had the feeling I’d be able to touch it if I reached out.

Alina swallowed hard and kept her aim steady with regret in her eyes. “We’ve always been a team, Adrik. From day one, we had each other’s backs. But I won’t follow you down this foolish path. We could have what we want, but you’d rather let your ambition get the better of you.”

He seemed to shake with that idea, shock and betrayal morphing into anger. “You…you were supposed to be different from them and all the others. You’re my twin—my sister. Now I can’t even trust you…”

Alina was struggling to maintain her composure as she took a deep breath. “You will always be blood, but I’m not willing to go down with you—not like this. It’s a losing battle, and we both know that. We have to walk it back and find a different way. This is too much, even for us.”

Her words got beneath his skin as he looked at her with disbelief and uncertainty. While still gripping me tightly, he seemed torn between two places: angry vengeful toward the Levovs, yet distraught by his sister’s treachery.

There was only one of him, and his attention was being pulled in two different directions. Overwhelmed, he shook.

“Damn you,” he mumbled, eyes fixed on his sister.

Alina’s chest rose and fell with her compromised emotions as she shook her head, but couldn’t manage another word.

Glancing over at Ben, I caught how his eyes connected with mine. For half a moment, his anger shifted into silent pleading…rather, a signal. Despite not being able to say anything, I somehow felt as if words moved between us anyway.

His stare seemed to tell me one very important thing: Get ready.

As he tightened his grip on the pistol, he gave me a subtle nod.

This is it.

Looking back at Adrik, he said steadily, “End this now. Hand Gemma over.”

Almost like Adrik didn’t register his words while his gaze remained fixed on his sister, he shook his head, voice raising. “Damn you, Alina! After all I did for us, after—”

The deafening crack of a shot rang through the air, and with a quick, sharp sound, it hit its target.

Despite my restraints, I pushed myself out of the way and landed on my shoulder against the concrete. I heaved in several deep breaths as Adrik hit the ground in a heap, forced to look into his eyes as blood ran down his face. His eyes gave way to that shock before they glazed over.

Alina screamed as my eyes widened, horrified by the sight, yet unable to look away as trembled, breath feeling like it was knocked out of me completely.

“Gemma,” Ben's voice broke through, cutting in between me and Adrik’s body. His worried face was in mine as he swooped down and helped me back into a sitting position, cradling my cheeks as his eyes met mine. “Don’t look.”

I could only blink back at him while I struggled to process what had happened, and how he was in front of me. Even through the shock of it all, I could feel the beginnings of relief. “Is it…over?”

“Yes, you’re alright,” he reassured me, carefully lifting me to my feet as he put a secure arm around my shoulder while he shielded me from seeing Adrik’s body. “It’s done now.”

As I took those first hesitant, shaken steps, I noticed the slow crawl of his blood moving closer to us without even needing to look at him. It was enough to make my stomach turn, and I forced myself to look ahead as we walked.

Ahead, Alina was sobbing as Ari held her arms behind her back, still calling out for her twin despite his death.

In a wave, more Levov men filed into the space, moving in to secure the body and to take Alina away. They wasted no time at all, but with Ari guiding me, I didn’t have the chance to get stuck watching them.

Instead, we kept moving as Ari exchanged a nod with Ben as we passed.

For my sake, he didn’t let me fixate on the moment.

We eventually reached his car as the scene beneath the overpass was taken care of, and I felt Ben’s gentle touch as he carefully undid the rope around my wrists.

“I’m so sorry,” he murmured as he worked, carefully caressing my skin once the scratchy material dropped to the ground. Turning me around gently, he brushed his thumbs over my bruised wrists. As he met my gaze, his eyes were deep with pure apology. “I’m sorry I ever brought you into this. You never should’ve endured this. It had nothing to do—”

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