Page 55 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride

Surely, he knew that. Even in the stillness of the room with all our guns fixed on him, the sound of his forces being taken down throughout the other buildings and outside filtered in through the steel walls. There was no mistaking that massacre.

Between the combined Novikov and Levov forces, as well as the group of us holding him hostage, there was no way he could escape the warehouse unscathed. Even if he had Lara in his grasp, he wouldn’t make it far.

I would ensure that never happened.

But Matvey butted the barrel of his pistol against the back of Lara’s head, causing her to flinch. “It might look that way, but it isn’t over until I say it is.”

It seemed even while completely surrounded, he was still just as arrogant.

“Let her go and we’ll see if that’s true.”

He only laughed bitterly at that. “You truly think I’m that much of an idiot? Give me some more credit than that, kid.”

Kid.

He still saw me as a newcomer on the scene. As if there weren’t years in between then and now.

Ignoring his attempt at belittling me, I adjusted my grip on the rifle and kept my hard gaze on him.

“What’s idiotic is you assuming you’ll ever make it out of here,” I returned sharply, patience wearing thin. “Let her go.”

Matvey sighed as if considering a tiring concept. “I don’t think I will. I’m quite interested in trying this one myself…and you wouldn’t risk accidentally killing her. Better yet, you wouldn’t risk me accidentally shooting her, right?”

My teeth ground at that thought, wishing I could shut him up right then and there. But he was right.

As surrounded as he was, I couldn’t do anything with Lara in his grasp.

After a moment, Gromov hummed, grinning as if he had already won. “And here we find ourselves. Face-to-face, yet neither of us will make a move. How long can you resist that rage of yours, Novikov? Either way, I’ll be taking something from you, and that’s all that matters.”

Matvey had no regard for his brother’s life, nor even his own. He was hell-bent on ruining me, even if it meant dying for it.

Chapter 28 - Lara

I hated being caught in the middle of that confrontation.

As relieved as I felt to be surrounded by both Levov and Novikov men, able to see my brothers and Alex with my own eyes, it was difficult to see the bright side with a gun pressed against the back of my head.

Despite trying as hard as I could to not show my overwhelming fear, it was getting harder and harder to not shake. To not give away how terrifying it was to be cornered like that with no choice, once again.

I hated feeling helpless. I hated being pushed and pulled at the whims of others, all against my will. I hated being wrapped up in this world I never asked to be brought into, and beyond that, I hated how much I loved Alex and just wanted to be with him.

To be safe. To be home and reach a sense of normalcy between us. To continue exploring what we were and what we could be, all without having to worry about another crime family shadowing us and always plotting ways to ruin it all.

I wanted my brothers to make amends with Alex and his family and bury that tension once and for all.

I just wanted everything to be normal. I wanted to feel like myself again.

As my anxious thoughts banged around inside my head, feeling wave after wave of panic due to the presence of the gun against my head, I couldn’t shake that debilitating worry.

Not once did I ever imagine I’d get caught up in a situation like this—a hostage needing to be saved.

Since I tried to distance myself from the business around me as much as possible, I assumed the darker, grittier side of things wouldn’t catch up to me in that way. I thought I was perfectly safe, but as things came to pass, I knew that was never true.

Feeling that cold, hard metal against my head, my heart squeezed with fear at the thought of never getting to be with Alex again, assuming that one way or another, a bullet would end up inside me, and I would die in that warehouse.

It was the last thing I wanted, especially ever since things started to look up between me and Alex. Ever since we committed ourselves to one another and were determined to be more than a couple hastily married for the benefits that came with it.

Even if I was terrified and desperate for the chance to escape Matvey’s grasp, there was one comforting thought that stayed with me as I looked nervously at Alex.

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