Page 84 of Claimed By the Bratva Brothers

“There he is, that piece of shit,” one man says.

“We were lucky they got here in time,” Max says, then gives me a subtle nudge with his shoulder. “And you did the right thing.”

“I killed a man,” I reply, a knot still tightening in the back of my throat. “I know I had no choice. I know. But it doesn’t change the facts.”

“You’re going to have to process all of this one day at a time. You’ll have to forgive yourself, baby,” he says, keeping his voice down while our attending paramedics go over to other injured agents to check and make sure they’re good to go. It got surprisingly messy in there. I’d have thought that the crooked Feds would surrender upon seeing their colleagues, but one too many of them chose to go down swinging, unable to cope with the shame of having been exposed. “Lyric,” Max pulls me back into the present. “You’re going to be okay, I promise.”

“I’m already okay,” I tell him. “We’re alive. It’s all that matters.”

“There will be congressional hearings,” the Deputy Director tells Artur and Ivan once he’s done with their statements. “I hope the three of you will attend.”

“Only if you keep your end of the bargain,” Max politely cuts in.

“I gave you my word. Full immunity,” the Deputy Director begrudgingly replies. That means about a dozen active investigations will be coming to an abrupt end, but given the shitstorm that they’ll be dealing with, I think they’re better off not bothering with the Bratva for a while.

Ivan comes over and plants a kiss on my forehead. “How are you feeling?”

“Better now,” I say, giving him a weak smile.

“They’re going to run some tests at the hospital,” Max tells him. “Just to be sure.”

“Good,” Artur says.

“It’s been quite the ride,” I say, once Max and the guys are done bringing me up to speed with how we got to this point in the first place.

But they were true to their word. They swore they’d turn the Bratva’s businesses legit, and they used an iron fist to get the job done.

“We still have a long way to go,” Max says. “But from what I can tell, the other families are on board. For real this time.”

“And the Larionov’s?” I ask.

Max shakes his head. “They have no choice.”

“We’ll be having some conversations with the Chinese and the Japanese and anyone else who was at that meeting with Bowman,” Artur adds. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better. We expect some retaliation as a consequence of our decisions but we’ll deal with it as it comes.”

The coroner comes out while his assistants push Bowman’s gurney through the open doors. The mere sight of that black bag fills me with dread and a peculiar sickness of the soul. I’m responsible for that, and like Max said, it’s going to take a while for me to deal with it.

“Lyric!” Shelby cries out while two officers try to hold her back from breaching their line. But she manages to slip past them. She runs right at me, while Artur motions for the cops to leave her be. “Oh, Lyric, I’m so sorry!” she says as she throws her arms around me. “I was worried sick about you.”

“It’s fine, Shel. I’m okay, I promise,” I reply, softening in her embrace.

The strange comfort she gives me is something I didn’t even know I needed until now. Her warmth, her familiar face, her unending kindness—it all prevailed against my father’s wretched charms.

“I heard what happened,” Shelby says, her eyes searching my face. “Are you hurt?”

“More like sore,” I sigh deeply. “And still shaking.”

She glances down at my trembling hands, a pained flash dancing in her gaze. “That’s the adrenaline wearing off, babe. You’ll be okay.”

“Let’s hope so.”

“And Bowman?”

I shake my head slowly. “He didn’t make it.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I mumble, and Shelby is quick to catch on. Besides, the worried looks on Max, Ivan, and Artur’s faces speak volumes. Just enough to give her a rough sketch of what happened. “What matters most is that it’s over.”

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