Page 72 of Stolen By the Bratva King

Then I spot David.

He’s a blur of limbs and strength and height. Gunfire pops inside the warehouse.

I bite my lip so hard I taste blood. I choke down the scream rising in my throat, then clamp a hand over my mouth. Mypalm is moist and tastes like salt. Pressure builds in my brain, adrenaline fusing to the bones in my skull.

I’m struggling with a sense of helplessness as I watch David tussle in the dusty, unpaved part of the parking lot.

David’s fist slams into Oleg’s stomach. Oleg stumbles back, sending a plume of dirt around his ankles. Oleg recovers quickly and charges David again. More gunfire pierces the night. I squirm in my seat, watching my bratva boyfriend pummel his enemy to the ground.

I gasp as Oleg crashes his knuckles into the side of David’s jaw. David’s eyes bulge and his mouth hangs open. He looks pale in the glow of the warehouse floodlights, his head swiveling from the crushing blow.

David collapses to the ground, his shoulders digging into the dirt as Oleg leaps on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

David lifts his knee and barrels it into Oleg’s side. Oleg’s fist smashes into David’s temple. David’s eyes close. For a moment of horror, I’m afraid he’s been knocked unconscious.

David’s eyes bolt open and he’s grinding his teeth, the veins and tendons in his neck straining as he tries to wrestle Oleg off him.

A bullet whizzes by David’s head. He ducks down. The air in my lungs fizzles out. My body evaporates. David is on the ground again.

“Get up,” I whisper as hot tears streak down my cheeks. “Please, David.”

After another moment, David blinks, and looks at Oleg still looming over him. Fury blazes in both their eyes. The contemptbetween them is going to end here. Someone is going to die. I screw my eyes shut and pray it won’t be David.

Another gunshot makes my eyes dart. It’s louder this time, closer. Ice scales my spine, making me shiver. Fear immobilizes me.

Oleg’s eyes are vacant. His jaw is slack. His body drops like a lead weight on top of David. David sputters. Blood spackles his shirt and face like paint.

“Everyone is dead inside!” The voice is Vlad’s. He’s framed in the light, standing just outside the doors leading into the warehouse.

When he sees David, he charges across the lot and collapses to his knees in front of him. Oleg’s limp body lays on top of David’s chest, his arms and legs sprawled out like a starfish.

Vlad lifts Oleg’s lifeless form from David’s torso. David is panting hard. My hand clutches the door handle, swinging it open.

My legs are a force of their own as I sprint across the parking lot. I crumple by David’s side.

“I’m okay,” he stammers, still looking a little gray. His bottom lip is bleeding, and his left eye is starting to swell.

Vlad’s eyes are huge. He’s breathing fast. “We swarmed them. We took down all of Oleg’s men.”

David tries to smile but it’s more of a grimace. He props himself on his elbows, the expression on his face a little disoriented.

I touch his face. Beads of sweat mix with a film of dirt and a layer of smudged blood on his cheeks and chin. I swipe them away with my thumb.

“It’s okay, baby,” I whisper. “You’re safe now. You did it.”

“Wealldid it,” he pants, licking his lips, looking at Oleg’s body which is laying face up next to him.

I catch a glimpse of Oleg’s dark eyes, staring up at the black sky, two empty vessels. I turn my head away. I breathe in through my nose to quell some of the nausea cresting like waves in my stomach, but the air smells like sweat and gunfire and blood.

Vlad and I help lift David to his feet as some of his men start stumbling out of the warehouse with dazed expressions.

Some of his guys are busted up very badly, bleeding, bruises blooming on their faces, gashes sliced across exposed skin, shirts ripped open.

I swallow down another aggressive swell of sickness and press my face to David’s hard chest. He kisses the top of my head. “You’re not hurt, right? The baby is okay?”

I lift my chin and offer him the most reassuring smile I can manage. “We’re fine.”

David exhales through his teeth. “Thank god.”

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