Page 30 of Virgin Bratva Prisoner

“Look, we are family now. We should be discussing a better way forward for both sides. We shouldn’t be fighting each other.”

“You have no idea who you are dealing with,” he snarls.

On either side of him two other men appear. Raisa interrupts Rodion’s outburst by introducing me to another two of her brothers. I can see she is trying to defuse the situation, but it doesn’t seem to be working.

“This is Rad and this is Roman. Guys, this is my husband, Oleg Dubrov.”

Both of the new comers have shocked looks on their faces. They stare at their sister in disbelief, waiting for her to tell them that this is some kind of joke. Raisa senses the tension increasing and wraps her arm around my side, leaning her head against me. She is trying her best to appear happy and relay that message to her brothers. I appreciate her efforts. It seems to be failing though.

She smiles. “I’m sorry to spring this on you guys like this—it’s just—“

“We met and it was an instant connection,” I say.

Rad ignores my comment and shakes his head at his sister.

“It’s just that you canneverdo what you’re told—you went out alone and made your own choices. You know full well that we would never have allowed this. How could you pull a stunt like this—were you even thinking about the effect your choices would have on your family? How selfish are you, Raisa?” He is speaking directly to her, as though I am not even here. His tone is cold and nasty. His harsh words are cutting into her like a blade. I can see the way her eyes begin to glitter. He is upsetting my wife.

I take a slight step forward, moving myself in front of his gaze and pushing Raisa a little behind me in a protective gesture.

“Watch your tone, Rad. That is mywifeyou are speaking to. I don’t give a fuck who you are—when you talk to her you will do so with respect. Nothing else.” I glare at him with darkness and threat in my eyes. He better watch his fucking back or I will be the one starting the violence that I am so desperate to try and avoid.

His lips lift into a snarl of anger.

“That is mysisterand if you think you can just walk into my family and start demanding respect based on what—yourname?—you have another thing coming.”

Roman steps closer to me, making his presence known. A clear threat in the way he moves. Raisa steps out from behind me and stares at everyone in horror. “Please,stop this, this isn’t how I wanted this to go,” she says sounding worried.

She knows that Leon could react at any moment if he doesn’t like what he sees.

“Raisa, keep your mouth shut. We will deal with you later,” Rad snarls at his sister again.

I grab him around the collar of his shirt and pull him right up against me. I keep my voice low when I spell the situation out to him.

“Look around you, Kuznetsov. Perhaps you are ignorant, perhaps it is just your ego acting up, but the Dubrovs own this city and you shouldn’t forget that. It is not just my name that demands respect for the sake of the way it sounds. My name demands respect because of the power behind it. Even now, you are outnumbered to the point where you wouldn’t even have time to blink if I signaled for them to take you down. All I want is for you to show your sister some respect. Is that so hard?”

I push him back and he staggers against his brother who catches him with hatred in his eyes—directed at me with ferocity.

Rad pulls his shirt straight, his pride is hurt, but nothing more. He forces his shoulders to relax and I see his posture changing as his eyes roam the crowd around him. He knows I’m right. He knows he and his brothers would drop like fliesif it came down to a fight. They are surrounded and are not on territory that they are familiar with. They basically don’t stand a chance and all that is holding them together at this point is arrogance.

The fact that any of them walked in here and even tried to challenge me is something I will never understand. I’ll put it down to shock at the news of their sister's marriage. They need time to process and come to terms with the information. The next meeting better fucking be calmer than this.

Rad pushes his shoulders back, standing taller and Rodion’s lips curl into a smug smile as the other brothers arrive. They feel stronger now. I can see it in the way they stand. The way they hold themselves. They expect me to back down just because there are more of them.

I look at each of them in turn. Making eye contact and letting them know I won’t back down.

I know each of them because I have studied their photographs, made sure I did my homework. Rigor, Renat and Ruvim stand with Rodion, Rad and Roman.

The tension becomes thicker, but none of them makes a move. None of them has anything else to say. They all seem to be glancing towards Rodion—willing to do whatever he says—waiting for his move.

Finally, Rodion clears his throat loudly.

“This isn’t over, Oleg Dubrov,” he says sternly.

“You’re right. This is far from over. I will be in contact so that we can arrange another meeting. Preferably one where you remember who you are dealing with next time. In the meantime, I suggest you all watch your backs and the choices you make.”

When I look around, I realize that everyone at the party is watching us. The tension has spilled over and captured everyone’s attention. This is not how I wanted this to go. It’s time to leave. Our marriage announcement has been made and Raisa has played her part perfectly—but before I do punch one of her brothers in the face—we need to leave.

Besides, they pissed me off even more with how they spoke to her. I don’t understand it. Who the fuck do they think they are?

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