Page 40 of Claimed By Desire

“I’m your daughter’s husband. I’m the father of her unborn child.”

“I’d rather that child grown up a fuckingbastardthan suffer the indignity of letting you breathe another day.” Dad turns from Alex and stares at me. “And you Natalya. I gave you another chance, and you disgraced yourself. I’d say I expected more, but I really didn’t.”

“Papa,” I say, staring down at the floor. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“You’re right. It wasn’t.” Dad looks exhausted and deeply sad as he pulls his gun from his waistband. “Perhaps this is truly the only way I can salvage this situation. Perhaps I can’t kill Alex, but if I kill you?—“

“No,” Alex roars and lunges forward. He drives himself into Papa like an animal, snarling and snapping like a rabid dog. Lev’s shouting and the soldiers jump in, and the three of them manage to get Alex off Dad before anything bad happens. But Dad’s shaken, and he’s trembling as he gets up and raises his gun, aiming it at me.

“To hell with this. To hell with you traitorous rats. You should have thought about the consequences before you rutted like disgusting wild pigs in shit,” Dad says, eyes wild with sadness, his hand trembling, and I know he’s going to do it. Dad never loved us, not really—we were always his tools to use as he wished. Stepan was his favorite, but Stepan is dead, and me and Lev will never be enough to replace his perfect eldest son.

Maybe it’s better this way. Die having made my own decision. Die having gone my own way. All I regret is that I couldn’t have brought my baby into this world. I glance down at the ring glittering on my finger.

“No!” Alex shouts, struggling against the three men holding him back.

“Dad, don’t,” Lev yells and gets between me and Dad. “Put down the fucking gun.”

“Move,” Dad says, trying to push Lev aside.

“Just stop it.” The two of them struggle for a moment, and I’m sobbing as I watch my family crumble before my eyes.

Then Lev’s phone starts ringing. It’s shrill and cuts through the chaos, and it’s enough to break the spell. The two of them stop struggling over the gun, and Dad’s seething, breathing through his teeth, but he gestures for Lev to answer.

“Take it. That could be the fucking Italians.”

Lev pulls out his phone and puts it on speaker. “What’s going on?” he barks.

Katerina’s voice comes through in a panic. “The shop,” she says, sounding breathless. “Some men showed up, Italians I think, and they started messing it up.”

Lev looks alarmed. “What do you mean, messing it up?”

“They’re breaking everything!” she screams and the sound of shattering glass can be heard in the background. “Oh, shit, they’re taking the watches now. Lev, you gotta get down here! Please, they’re going to burn the place to the ground!”

The line goes dead. Then Lev’s shouting and Dad’s yelling, and they’re rushing out with Dad’s soldiers, and I’m left alone with Alex in the silence that follows.

Chapter 15

Alexander

Fed Jeweler is a burned-out husk. The ground’s still steaming as small fire pockets smolder underneath the wreckage. The building is cordoned off, but a teary Katerina waves me through and throws her arms around me.

“Oh, Alex, it was so bad,” she says, crying against my shoulder.

Fire fighters and members of the Bratva mill around. I spot Lev picking through some of the ashes. He lifts a gold watch with the end of a stick and stares at it before flinging it down onto the ground.

“I’m sorry, Kat, but you did good calling us.”

“It happened so fast. I couldn’t stop them.”

“Nobody expected you to.”

She smiles and sniffles as she pulls away and wipes her face. “Dasha told me what happened.” She glances over at where Lev is kicking through the remains of a filing cabinet. “It must be bad.”

“It’s bad,” I confirm. “But I’m working on it.”

“Just don’t get yourself killed, alright?” She gives me another smile and goes back to talking with one of the fire fighters still hanging around in case something flares up.

I step through the rubble and head toward Lev. He doesn’t glance up as I stand there and watch him combing through the wreckage.

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