Page 35 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride

“What message?”

The captive swallowed hard as his face continued to drain of all color while he sweated profusely. He shook harder, apparently struggling to find the words again.

My gaze intensified as my impatience grew. “What message?!”

He flinched at my booming voice, hearing the feedback of it as my words returned within the steel walls of the warehouse. “Matvey…he heard you were flaunting your new wife around the other heads. Your name has been circulating more in those spaces and…he can’t stand it. He wants her…”

My brows furrowed at that. “What?”

He forced back another whimper. “He wants your wife for himself…he wants what you have in nearly every way to spite you. Boss said the Gromovs will have their time soon enough.”

“That bastard,” I muttered to myself as I scrubbed my free hand down my face. “It wasn’t enough for him to follow us to New York…”

It didn’t matter what my family did or how we handled things. Regardless of our ambitions and goals that seemed specific to us, Gromov was constantly in our shadow. From Canada to the States, and surely as far as we’d be willing to expand, I had no doubt Matvey would only continue.

I was tired of him and his family constantly leeching off our success. Sure, I bolstered his cause by outbidding everyone at that godforsaken auction, and practically handed him thefinancial advantage on a silver platter, but I had to do something about them.

Not only was Matvey digging where he shouldn’t be and causing issues between us and the Levovs, but he also had his sights set on my wife. The one I had gone through all of this trouble for—who I had to kiss up to her brothers for, all while putting my skin on the line.

And right when things were looking up for us. Right when I was beginning to earn her trust.

Even thinking about Matvey getting his grimy hands on Lara was enough to enrage me further, and my jaw clenched as I looked down at the pathetic hostage. It didn’t matter how hard the Gromovs would hit us or how they might scheme against us, because I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.

The moment I saw her on that stage, I made a silent promise that I’d keep her safe, and I made that promise again to her brothers. I damn well wasn’t about to break it.

The man heaved out a panicked breath, eyes intensifying as he looked at me, likely assuming he found a weak spot to work from. Like he wanted to manipulate that part of me to weasel out of the inevitable as he leaned into it. “Boss told us to get our hands on Lara Levov regardless of what it takes. Even if we have to start small.”

“Her name’s Lara Novikov now,” I uttered, unimpressed by his scramble to make himself seem useful. Steeling myself against it all, I raised my arm a bit higher until the barrel of my pistol lined up with his head. “And I already paid my dues. Your boss isn’t getting shit from me.”

The man’s eyes widened at the realization as he tried to scramble away, but I squeezed the trigger, and as the shot rang through the building, his body went limp in an instant. Another disposable life wasted.

Looking away, scoffing at the very idea of anyone taking my wife from me, I tucked the pistol into my waistband and began towards my office again.

On the way, my system still vibrating with rage and adrenaline, I called back to no one in particular. “Clean this up!”

Wordlessly, I heard as our guys moved in and got started sorting out the aftermath of the pointless hit, dragging the bodies away and getting rid of as much evidence as possible.

My previous headache, while forgotten during the chaos, slipped its way back in as I climbed the stairs again, and it only worsened that anger of mine.

There was no mistaking how the tensions between families were getting worse, and I knew it would only continue if I didn’t stop the Gromovs before they caused any real damage.

Chapter 18 - Lara

I knew what it looked like for someone to be weighed down by the pressures of the crime world, even if they refused to speak about it. It was something I constantly saw in my brothers, and I could pick up on it from a mile away.

It looked no different in Alex when he came home that night with his shoulders slightly pinched, his expression reflecting a numbness from within, and the way he moved through the house almost wordlessly.

Sitting on the couch with a magazine in my lap, I watched as he entered the room. There was the faintest flicker of relief in his expression the moment he spotted me before approaching. He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss against my forehead before he dropped himself onto the cushion next to mine, head tipped back and eyes closed.

“Hi,” I said quietly, lifting a curious brow at him as I took in his clear exhaustion.

He let go of a deep breath, murmuring in return, “Hi.”

I did not doubt that everything at work was bothering him, and I couldn’t help the softening in my features at the idea.

Regardless of my associations because of my family, that world seemed so distant from my own still, and while I didn’t know much about the ins and outs, I knew enough to be aware of how draining it could be. I didn’t like the idea of him taking it all on alone due to my disconnection with everything crime related.

As used to seeing it as I was, it didn’t make it any easier, and I didn’t want Alex to get stuck in that same cycle. Ari had dealt with his fair share of stress, and I knew how that brought him down over time.

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