Page 54 of Escaping the Bratva

Marcello nods. “He needed them to get to you.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why he isn’t here.”

“The Bratva doesn’t do anything for free. In order to get their help, he had to swear alliance.”

My heart, which had previously only contained a dull ache, now completely drops to my stomach. He’d sworn allegiance to the mafia.

“What does that mean?” I ask, my voice dropping to a whisper.

“He’s a member of the Russian mafia now. If they say he has to do something, he has to do it. The Bratva comes first in everything, and in exchange, he’s protected. They assigned him the job of training new recruits. He knew you’d never accept that kind of lifestyle, so he took himself out of the equation.”

I should be crying, but the only emotion I’m capable of right now is anger. He took himself out of the equation? Meaning he assumed he knew what was right for me?

“Give me his address,” I seethe.

Marcello gives me a look of pity but writes down something on a piece of paper and passes it to me.

“Go easy on him. He was just trying to do the right thing.”

I stand from the chair and turn my back on him. “Bullshit,” I mumble.

*****

After a six-hour drive, an alarming amount of fast food that my body obviously needed, and begging Alyssa to watch Teddy, I pull up to the address Marcello gave me. It’s a small cabin-like home surrounded by tall trees with a nearby lake that’s completely frozen. It’s eerily quiet out here. Not V’s style at all. He steps onto the wooden porch with his hands tucked in his pocket and a look of confusion on his face. I get out of the rental car and slam the door on the way.

“You son of a bitch,” I say as I rush towards him. I didn’t take the time to change out of my pajamas, and the cold air stings my skin. The time has done nothing to calm my anger. If anything, being alone with my thoughts has made me angrier. I put two hands on his chest and push with all my strength, but he barely moves.

“Kitten—”

“No, you don’t get to barge into my life again and then just disappear. I was fucking kidnapped, and you thought you’d just drop me off at home and I’d forget all about you.” I smack his chest, but it could be made of steel for the little reaction V gives.

“Calm down.”

“No! I’ve been calm and now I’m pissed.”

I reach up, intending to slap his face, but he catches my hand and turns me around so my back slams against the house. He holds my arms against my chest.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yell at him, and I’m happy that there isn’t another house nearby, or they probably would have called the cops.

“I didn’t want to leave,” he says, the words coming out like it pains him to say them. The scent of fresh body wash fills the air around us.

“Then why did you? Why didn’t you talk to me?”

“I made a deal—”

“I know about the Russians. You made that deal to save me, and you really thought I’d turn my back on you?”

His hold loosens on me, and this time, instead of hitting him, I surprise myself by wrapping my arms around his neck. He doesn’t hesitate before capturing my mouth with his. It feels like we’ve been apart for months instead of days. I push myself as close to his body as I can possibly get. I need his warmth more than I need to breathe right now. He grabs my ass, and I wrap my legs around his waist like a monkey. I’m aware that we’re moving, but I’m so caught up in how his body feels against mine, I don’t even care where we’re going. My heart, which plunged to my stomach hours ago, now feels so huge, it could burst out of my chest.

I’m never letting him leave again. He lays me down on a couch, but I never let go of him as he uses one hand to pull his pants down just far enough so his cock sprains free.

“Fuck, kitten,” he moans.

“I need you, V. I need you so fucking bad.”

That’s all the encouragement he needs. He pulls my shorts and panties to the side and sinks into me. I bite his lip hard enough to draw blood, but he only groans in response. I widen my legs because I want to feel every inch of him.

“You feel so fucking good,” he says as he grips the arm of the couch behind my head and uses that to keep himself steady as he thrusts into me. A fire in my belly starts to grow as he uses one hand to stroke my clit. No one will ever be as good V. He’s mine, and no man will ever come close to the kind of love we have for each other, love that started twelve years ago and that I’d tried my best to ignore, but it's always been there, simmering in the background. My walls start to tighten around his hard cock.

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