Page 41 of Escaping the Bratva

V

The sound of my phone buzzing against the nightstand wakes me from my sleep. The room is pitch black. Sasha breathes evenly in my arms. After spending most of the night between her legs, we both passed out. I reach to my bedside table and squint my eyes at my phone screen. I don’t recognize the number, but I answer anyway.

“Hello?” I answer, trying to keep my voice quiet enough that I don’t wake Sasha.

“Hello, is this Mr. Kustov?”

The professionalism of the female voice takes me by surprise, and I already know something is wrong. I untangle myself from Sasha’s warm body and sit on the edge of the bed.

“Yeah, this is him.”

“Marcello Frost has just been admitted to Peak View Community Hospital. He had you down as an emergency contact.”

Ice fills my veins as her words sink in.

“What happened?”

“He was in a car accident. He was coherent when they brought him in, but he soon lost consciousness. We’ll be assigning him a room soon—”

“I’m on my way,” I say before hanging up the phone and dropping it back down on the table. How the hell did Marcello get in a car accident? I check my phone again. And at three a.m.? Something tells me this has Brighton’s name written all over it.

The bed ripples as Sasha turns over. “What’s wrong?” Her voice is soft and filled with sleep.

“It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.” I get up and walk to my closet, pulling out a pair of pants and a T-shirt to quickly throw on.

“Something is wrong.” She sits up against the headboard and wraps the blanket around herself to cover her naked body.

“Marcello has been admitted to the hospital. He got into a car accident.”

“Your business partner?”

I nod, but she can’t see in the dark. As if reading my mind, she flips on the lamp next to her side of the bed. Her side of the bed. I’ve already assigned her a spot in my bedroom.

She stands and grabs the clothes that lay on the floor.

“I’ll go with you.”

I shake my head. “No, it's too dangerous.”

I pull open my nightstand drawer and tuck the 9mm handgun into the waistband of my jeans.

“I want to be there for you.”

I look up to see her face is full of concern. But I can’t risk her getting hurt. If I ran into a group of Brighton’s men while on my way to see Marcello, I won’t be able to protect her, not by myself.

“If you want to help me, stay here so I know you’re safe. If you come with me, I’ll be distracted.”

Her shoulder slump in defeat, and I cross to the other side of the bed. I kiss the top of her head, breathing in the smell of my shampoo in the process.

“I promise this will all be over soon. Just give me some time,” I beg. I thought I’d come back to Sasha with a clean slate, but now she’s caught in the middle of my past coming back to haunt me. I have no idea how I’m going to take care of Brighton, but he needs to be dealt with before it gets out of hand.

I’m taken by surprise when she lifts her head and touches her soft lips against mine. “Be careful.”

“I will,” I vow. She slides back into bed, and Teddy, who was sleeping on the floor, takes the opportunity to hop onto the bed next to her.

I let out a sigh. “He better be back on the floor when I get back.”

She waves me off before cuddling up with the dog and closing her eyes. I take one last look at her before leaving.

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