Page 44 of Claimed By Shadows

“Yep, I’ll grab a black taxicab. Gimme…say, twenty, and I’ll meet you there?” she replies, and I can hear the rustle of bags in the background.

“Alone?”I question, my tone guarded. I know the answer. She needs a break from everything. The Knights may kill us, but I know a cry of help when I hear one, and I’ll message them straight away, letting them know where she is.

“I’ll see you there, Roman,” she answers, and then the line goes dead.

“What’s going on?” Hunt asks as I rub my palm down my face, throwing my phone on the bed in front of me.

“Lilly is struggling, needs to run, so we’re going to meet her at Depravity,” I tell him, throwing back the covers and swinging my legs over the side of the bed. “She’s coming alone, so I’ll message the Knights and let them know where she is and that we’re watching her.”

“Fuck,” Hunt hisses, getting out of bed on the other side and grabbing his jeans from the chair where he left them last night.

“She’s been through a lot, Hunt. We all know that sometimes an escape for a little while is what you need,” I tell him, and he sighs, walking over to me in just his jeans and looking like a fucking wet dream.

He pulls me into a hug and I wrap my arms around him, our bare chests pressing together, helping to calm some of the roiling emotions inside of me. “I love you for your bleeding heart, Roman Kent.”

I freeze, his words making my pulse thud along my veins.

“You love me?” I ask, my voice quiet and a little scared. He’s never said those words to me, and I didn’t realise how much I’d longed to hear them until now. He pulls back, his large palm cupping my cheek and forcing me to look at him.

“I’ve always loved you, baby. I’m sorry I never told you, I should have told you,” he says, leaning down and pressing our foreheads together.

I have to swallow past the emotion that is clogging up my throat. “You’re telling me now, and I love you back. So fucking much.”

His lips meet mine in a soft kiss, moving so tenderly against mine that my eyes fill and threaten to spill over.

“I’d love nothing more than to show you how I feel, Baby Boy, but it seems we have a damsel to rescue. Again.” I chuckle, giving him a final peck on those plush lips of his.

“Who said Shadows can’t be white knights too?” I tease, and he laughs, pressing a light kiss to my forehead and stepping away to grab his T-shirt as I get dressed.

My heart is lighter than it was moments ago. There is still worry for Lilly, for Iris, and all the fucked up shit that is sure to come our way, but it all feels manageable now, like knowing that Hunt loves me has made me feel invincible.

I grab my phone off the bed, texting the Knights as we head out of Hunt’s room, finding my brother watching Iris sleeping on the screen in the office. He tears his gaze away to look up at us, one brow arched.

“We’re going to Depravity. Lilly needs some freedom from her demons for a while,” I tell him, and he nods, looking backat the screen. “She’s safe, brother. Joe is literally outside her door,” I assure him. He keeps watch over her every night, barely sleeping. I can’t really blame him if I’m being honest. We all want to make sure she’s safe with our own eyes. Even if we’re too far away to make any difference if something were to happen, which is unlikely as we also have men patrolling the grounds of Serene Haven, not leaving anything to chance.

“Okay, but I don’t want to be too long,” he replies, getting up from the seat but leaving the screen on. He glances at it one more time before huffing out a breath and we head out the flat into the summer night with Hunt and my brother by my side.

“FEARLESS” BY TOMMEE PROFITT, SAM TINNESZ, BEACON LIGHT

NIKOLAI

There’s an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach as I walk through Depravity, the bass of the song “Fearless” by Tommee Profitt thumping through me. It’s an appropriate song for what is happening, for this step I’m taking in the silent war against my father.

I’m tingling all over, anticipation lighting me up even as nervousness makes me feel nauseous, bile making my jaw ache. I’ve already made sure the Russian diplomatic plates are on my car, in full view of a CCTV camera that also captured my exit from the vehicle, my face hidden of course. I have paid a witness who will testify to seeing men speaking Russian fleeing the scene, and the explosives I’m using are Russian military-grade.The remnants of the detonator with Cyrillic markings also will be left at the scene.

The detectives will be paid to ‘find’ the evidence, and the press will be given anonymous tips from an unknown source, which not only documents Russian involvement in the bombing but also the relationship between my father and the Russian Ambassador, hinting at the ties between the Russian State and Bratva.

Then there’s the paper trail that suggests our longtime rivals, the Volkovs, are finally making a play for London and southeast England, something they’ve coveted for years. The Bratva is unusual in that there are many branches run by multiple families, and titles aren’t always inherited but fought over and earned. We Russians will not stay in our place. We rise and fight for every scrap we have.

The paper trail, both digital and evidential, will point to the Volkovs trying to undermine my father with the Russian State, to convince them that the Petrovs are unreliable and need replacing with their family. And the State will choose the best men for the job, the ones that do not overtly cause them issues with the West but are far more subtle in their workings. It’s a risk. I don’t want the Volkovs in power any more than my father does, not least of all because it would spell the death of me and those loyal to me, but I need to undermine Sergi so that the only outcome is for him to be taken out and for me to be the best option. Only then can I slide into his place, ensuring that a new dawn emerges with Iris safe as I will hold all the power.

Sure, she will still be at risk from my enemies, though I have plans to take the Bratva into the new age by working with the other families and eradicating this old-school rivalry between the families. I’ve already been working on my connections with the younger generation, men and women my age, who are also fed up with the old ways and crave a more modern Bratva. Manyof us share the desire to enjoy life without having to watch our backs constantly and those of our loved ones.

My head throbs in time to the music, all these parts are like a game of chess where I have to be ten steps ahead all the time. I’m fucking exhausted, and may have quit if it hadn’t been for my beautifulMalyshka. Iris is the one who keeps me going, keeps me moving to create that future where we can finally be together.

Of course, I didn’t expect to have to share that future with three others, but I’m nothing if not adaptable. My time in the Russian prison system saw to that.

“It’s done.” Andrei’s voice comes through my comms, letting me know that he’s planted the explosives.

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