Page 30 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride

When we pulled up to the nightclub and went inside, seeing the not-so-busy atmosphere, I couldn’t ignore the sinking feeling in my gut. I felt like we were walking right into a wolf den, and I had very little to defend myself with.

But it was for her. It was all for Lara.

I wanted her trust, and to get it, I had to take that leap of faith. I only hoped she would meet me halfway.

“They’re likely in one of the back rooms,” Lara said, looking much more comfortable with our surroundings than I was. She obviously knew them well. “Come on, this way.”

I followed her easily enough, staying close by as I kept my chin up and did everything in my power to maintain my own sense of authority.

Leaving the main section of the club, we moved into a dark hallway that led to an exit at the far end, and the only other option was to take a left turn.

The moment we did, I felt the familiar sensation of cold metal pressed against my head, and I heard that unmistakable sound of a safety clicking off. My eyes had closed instinctively, but upon opening them again, letting out a held breath, I found myself face-to-face with who I could only imagine was Aristarkh. Several others were waiting behind him, all wearing the same pissed-off expressions.

I wasn’t short by any means, but he was a big guy. Bigger than I cared to admit. And with his pistol pressed against my head, I wasn’t willing to do anything to jeopardize the situation.

Lara tensed at the realization next to me, breath catching in her throat. “Ari…”

At the sound of his name, her eldest brother’s eyes flickered over to her, and his expression softened by the faintestfraction. He looked her over in one sweep before returning his cold gaze to me.

“You have some nerve walking in here like this…with my sister, no less,” he muttered, teeth grinding. “What’s stopping me from killing you right here, right now?”

I concealed my harsh swallow as best as I could, reminding myself to stay calm as I raised my hands in defense. “I’m not stopping you, but I’d prefer if you heard me out first.”

After a beat, with Ari’s gun still pressed against my forehead and his piercing gaze on me, one of the brothers with a head of loose curls moved forward and reached for Lara’s arms, giving her a look of both anticipation and the beginnings of relief. “Thank god, Lara…are you alright?”

I didn’t miss the tears as they brimmed her eyes, along with that smile of hers that almost looked giddy. She nodded, struggling to find the words at first. “Yeah, I’m fine, Lukyan.”

Heaving out another breath, he pulled her in for a tight hug. “I’m surprised you’re not here in bindings.”

Glancing back at Ari, silently pleading for my life while keeping as much as I could of my dignity, I managed a sheepish look. “No cuffs out of good faith?”

His jaw twitched as he pushed the pistol against my head again. “That doesn’t score you any points, Novikov.”

“She’s here, safe and alive, isn’t she? Shouldn’t that count for something?” I asked. While I wasn’t wrong, I knew I was pushing my luck.

“Don’t forget it was you who did this to her in the first place,” he gritted out, eyes flaring with anger. “You made us fear the worst, all while you kidnapped her and stashed her away, right?”

Before I could say anything, Lara answered first, giving a hug to the last brother who looked closer to her in age before sheturned her attention back to Ari. “Alex didn’t abduct me—it was another family.”

Ari’s brows furrowed slightly then, and everyone gathered around us wore the same looks of confusion. But the brother with a visible scar on his shoulder looked down at his sister’s hand and wasted no time reaching for it gently, lifting it to inspect the ring on her finger.

“What’s this?”

Everyone locked in on the wedding band then, and there was no hiding it. There was no room left to stall the inevitable.

I realized then that it was the moment of truth. Unable to move fully, I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, wondering what path she would choose.

She had two options ahead of her. Easily, surrounded by her family and in one of their establishments, Lara could stay with them and leave me for dead—better yet, she could help them exact revenge for everything I had done. Or, she could pick me. Tell them to spare me because she cared and couldn’t stand the thought of seeing me dead.

Either way, Lara would be making a sacrifice, but whichever one felt more worthwhile was completely up to her to decide. As all the oxygen seemed to be sucked out of the room, she finally took a step closer to me and released a breath.

“We’re married. Alexander is my husband.”

Ari’s brows pinched together, and his features twisted with a combination of shock and anger. “What?”

“You heard me,” Lara said, facing him bravely. “So please lower your gun, and we can all talk this over.”

A mutual look of pure confusion and disbelief moved through the group of them, yet I only felt absolute relief.

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