Page 65 of Unwilling Bratva Bride

Donovan.

Picking my gun up from where I dropped it on the floor, I pressed my hand to Adley’s shoulder as I raised my weapon toward Donovan. Vlad was still there, keeping an eye on him, and as soon as he saw me aim for the fucker’s head, my fucking brother started up with that damn headshaking.

“He dies, Vlad. HeshotAdley.”

Vlad stepped around Donovan, still holding his gun trained on the man, but he didn’t fire. I knew what he was doing. I knew it was the fucking protocol with shitbags like this. I knew that both Sergei and Lev wanted a word with this asshole.

But he’d shot Adley.

“Vlad,” I dragged out, clamping down on my molars.

He shook his head, holding up his wrist with his watch. He wanted me to wait. He knew there wasn’t time for this, too.

“Ivan…”

I snapped my attention to Adley. Her color was off, and the wound was still bleeding heavily.

“Goddamn it!”

My gun clattered to the floor as I dropped it, and I returned my hand to Adley’s neck, pressing down. She moaned as pain rocked her, and my brain scrambled. I wasn’t losing her. I wasn’t watching this woman die on the damn floor moments after saying, “I do.”

“Abe!”

He was at me in a flash. “Cleaners are two minutes out. You need to get back to Lev’s. I’ll get you both in the car. Vlad and I will wait for them and meet you there with our new chum.”

Abe looked over his shoulder at Donovan, and I cursed. That fucker was going to pay for what he did to my wife. After Sergei and Lev had had their words with him, I was going to snap Donovan’s neck with my bare hands.

But we did need to go—now.

Standing up, I lifted Adley into my arms as gently as I could. She groaned, and Abe quickly took off his jacket and pressed it to her wound. I held it there, trying to staunch the flow of blood, and then met his eyes briefly for a quick nod.

He knew as much as I did that it was as close to a “thank you” as I could muster right now.

I looked back at Vlad. “You got him?”

He nodded, tearing a piece of Donovan’s jacket free as he stole it from him. Vlad wrapped the ragged fabric around the man’s bleeding shoulder. He was in better shape than Adley for now, and I locked my eyes on him as he glared up at me.

“You’re going to give Lev and Sergei everything they ask for. If you do, I’ll kill you quickly. But if they decide you’ve been less than helpful, I’m going to take my time breaking the bones in your hands and feet until you’re begging me for mercy.”

Donovan tried to offer up some stupid rebuttal, but Vlad clocked him again, knocking the guy’s head back with a solid right hook.

Starting for the door, I called over my shoulder, sure Donovan could hear me.

“Don’t worry, Tommy. We won’t bury you in some ditch. You’ll be delivered back to your family. A warning for everyone about what happens if you so much as ruffle a hair on my wife’s head.”

***

The car ride with Adley was a blur of panic and desperation. I drove so quickly to Lev’s that I was sure I’d broken my record for speeding offenses. And red lights had become just a suggestion.

There weren’t any by Lev’s mansion, tucked away in its own private little corner of the world, and I mentally thanked the paranoid fucker for being cut off. Any cops that had been alerted to my complete disregard for the law lost me in the twists and turns leading to Lev’s.

Adley’s eyes fluttered as I looked over at her. We were pulling up to the door now. She just needed to hang on a little longer.

“Come on, baby. You’re okay. Stay with me.”

She didn’t respond. She hadn’t for a while now. But I could still see the rise and fall of her chest. Adley wasn’t gone. Shewouldn’tbe gone.

Swinging through the curved drive that led up to the front steps, I slammed the car into park and jumped out to get Adley from her seat. The passenger side was stained red with her blood, and my stomach dropped yet again.

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