Page 55 of Frozen Heart

He looked right into my eyes. “If I need to, Iwillgive my life to protect you. But not tonight...because there isn’t just one of me.”

The man furthest from us suddenly disappeared, snatched away into the shadows. Then a figure in a long black coat emerged from the darkness.Valentin!He started creeping towards the next man, who was still oblivious. Valentin slipped an arm around his neck, gentle as a lover, and then there was a sudden, violent motion, andthatman was dead, too. My stomach flipped.But he was doing it to save us, and when I thought about what the Armenians had been going to do to me…

As Valentin dealt with the third man, the last man suddenly realized what was happening behind him and spunaround...only to get Radimir’s knife in his back. Radimir and Valentin embraced, then led us down the stairs. But as we stepped into the main bar, there were loudcracks from the far end of the room, like fireworks going off, and the glass bar shattered. People started screaming and running and Radimir pushed me to the floor.Oh fuck: that was gunfire!

All I could see were feet as everyone ran for the exits. Then, as the crowd thinned, I glimpsed men with guns, moving towards us. And we were right out in the open...

There was a grunt and a crash. I looked around to see Gennadiy: he’d upended one of the big metal tables and he waved us all behind it. We scrambled into its shelter and my heart jumped into my throat when I heard a bullet ricochet off the metal surface, only a few inches from my head.

“Stay with them,” Radimir ordered. “We’ll clear an exit.”

Gennadiy nodded grimly. Radimir and Valentin hurried away and Gennadiy pulled out a gun and started firing over the top of the table, holding the Armenians back. The shots were deafening, so close, and I threw my arms around Jen, Sadie and Luna as hot bullet casings fell around us. I was shaking.Jesus Christ, people are shooting at us!All I wanted was to go back to my safe little bookstore.

Then I saw blood running down Gennadiy’s calf. He’d taken a hit, either from a bullet or flying glass, running in here to save us, and he was bleeding alot.I let go of my friends, ripped one of the dangling straps from my dress and tied it tight around the wound. “Weren’t you ready to kill me, just a few weeks ago?” I muttered.

He glanced down at me and I thought I saw a flash of guilt. “I do what I have to, to protect my family. You’re part of it, now.”

I felt an unfamiliar warmth spread through my chest.

Radimir waved to us from a fire exit across the room. We ran, scuttling across the open space while Gennadiy fired againand again. As we burst into the cold night air, we saw a big, black Mercedes holding up traffic in the middle of the street with Mikhail at the wheel. We all piled in and the car roared off before we’d even got the doors closed.

I’d wound up sitting on Radimir’s knee, in the passenger seat. I craned around. “Everyone okay?”

With five people in the back, it was a cramped tangle of limbs, but they all nodded. I let out a long breath.We’re okay.

“Bronwyn?” Jen’s voice was so small and shaky, I barely recognized it. “What’s going on?”

37

BRONWYN

Back at the penthouse,the men went into Radimir's office and dressed Gennadiy’s wound while passing around a bottle of vodka. And I sat down with my friends and laid it all out for them. I told them about being a witness, without saying who Radimir had killed. I explained why I had to marry him and why it was the least worst option. Straightaway, they wanted to call the FBI and I had to talk them out of it, explaining just how powerful the Bratva were.

“Look, it’s okay,” I said. “They’re not what you think.”

My friends stared at me in amazement.

“They do a lot of good, too,” I said. “They protect people.”

More stares. Jen put her hand on mine, shaking her head slowly. They thought I’d been brainwashed, and I understood why. If you’d toldmea few weeks ago that I’d be defending a mafia boss, I’d have thought I was crazy, too.

“It’s okay,” I said again, more softly. I looked around at each of them. “I swear it is. Okay?”

Jen stared at me. “Oh God. You’re in love with him.Reallyin love with him.”

I glanced towards Radimir’s office. The door was closed: the men couldn’t hear. “Yes,” I said quietly.

Everyone leaned in. “Does he love you?” whispered Jen.

That was exactly what I’d been asking myself. I knew he cared for me. He felt responsible for me, protective of me. But did heloveme? “I don’t know,” I whispered helplessly. I sighed and closed my eyes. “Look...you don’t have to come to the wedding.”

“Are you kidding?” asked Jen. I opened my eyes and she was staring at me, horrified. “We’re not going to let you go through this on your own!” The other girls were nodding.

I felt tears burning my eyes and I leaned forward, pressing our foreheads together and then pulling them all into a hug.I should have told them from the start.

Radimir and I drove them all home. Jen was the last one to be dropped off and as I moved in to hug her goodbye, she poked me hard in the ribs.

“Ow!Jesus!” I yelped.

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