Page 57 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride

I felt the slight flinch of Matvey’s hand against my shoulder, but he otherwise didn’t move. I heard his scoff. “You think his value measures up to hers?”

Alex lifted a brow. “You’re willing to sacrifice your kin just to ruin me?”

From above me, I just managed to catch the furious look on Matvey’s face. “What does it look like?”

Despite him claiming so, I couldn’t help but notice the strain in his voice and his body, as if the lie was too difficult for him to get out properly.

He was certainly desperate to be triumphant over Alex, but even he had to care for his family to some capacity.

“Brother. Don’t do this,” Rurik pleaded from behind us. While I couldn’t see him, the pain in his tone was enough to convey what his face surely looked like. It sounded like he was breaking. “Please…just let her go and we’ll figure something else out. We don’t have to do this.”

Matvey’s rage began to unfold through his trembling hand on my shoulder, and he snapped as he turned to face Rurik, gesturing to him with his pistol, “Shut up! Stop your whining and—”

A single compressed pop sounded through the room, startling me. I jumped, eyes wide, as I couldn’t help but wonder if I was the one wearing that bullet.

But as I heard it sink into Matvey’s chest, a sharp inhale came from him, and another bang resonated behind me. His grip tightened in time with the reflexive squeeze of his trigger, and then, after a hesitant moment, he released his grip on me.

A strangled sound gurgled in the kingpin’s chest as he remained eerily still for a moment, then without warning, his body went limp, and he crashed against the floor as blood seeped from his wound.

Still wide-eyed, I glanced over my shoulder to watch as Rurik stood there surrounded by men, somehow still standing as his hand tentatively pressed against his abdomen. When he pulled it back, his brows furrowed as a deep, dark wine colorflooded the front of his gray shirt, stemming from where the bullet was lodged in his stomach.

That questioning expression lingered on his face before his skin went pale, and a thin stream of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Then he too collapsed as he succumbed to the wound, hitting the ground just like Matvey did.

Everything went deafeningly still then as realization set in.

Matvey was dead, and his gun killed his own brother, too.

I was stunned and unable to look away as the guards moved in, surrounding both brothers while they took their final breaths.

“Lara,” Alex’s voice rasped from ahead of me.

I turned my head as he reached out, cupping my cheeks with both hands as he looked me over quickly. Meeting his gaze, I watched as the concern and relief moved through them at once.

“Are you alright?” he asked me, gently stroking his thumbs over my cheeks.

Despite still being somewhat stunned and flustered by everything, I managed to nod within his grasp. “I’m alright…”

Alex let out a relieved breath and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead as Damien and my brothers approached.

I blinked through my stupor as Ari bent down and fished through Matvey’s pockets, managing to find a small set of keys. With a stoic expression, vaguely laced with his relief, he stepped behind me and popped the key into the cuffs before unlocking them with a click.

“I’ll admit, Novikov,” my brother began, glancing at Alex as he gently pulled my wrists out of the cuffs, putting a hand against my shoulder. “You impressed me. Don’t get me wrong,I’m still furious it ever came to this, but it seems you have what it takes to do right by my sister.”

The moment he could, Alex kneeled and reached for my wrists, gently smoothing his thumbs over the tender skin where the metal had dug in. Even if he was responding to Ari, his eyes remained on mine. “Even if I had to kill him with my bare hands, I never would’ve let Gromov get away with this.”

Being able to look at him then, realizing that it was over, and we were both safe, a swell of emotions moved through me. I couldn’t help as the tears gathered in my eyes, and I managed a small, tired smile for him.

Alex’s expression softened, and then he stood to his full height again and gently pulled me to my feet. His next words felt like a soothing balm that immediately calmed any worries I previously had.

“Come on. I’m getting you out of here.”

Chapter 29 - Alexander

The drive back home had been almost completely silent as the two of us needed time to process everything that happened.

It was almost difficult to accept that it was over, despite how relieved I was to have Lara back and know she was safe in the passenger seat.

It seemed we were both somewhat dazed by it, but by the time I pulled into the garage, killed the engine, and walked around the vehicle, I knew I needed to be close to her.

---