Page 53 of The Bratva's Prisoner Bride

Despite their surprise advantage, the group of men dressed in all black went down one by one until there were so few of them left that the last car in the lineup pulled away and sped off, leaving the bodies behind whether they were already dead or not.

Eventually, as the dust settled, we pulled ourselves out of our cover and took stock after the fact.

"You good?" Dima asked as he grabbed my shoulder again, turning me around to look me over. "No grazes?"

Shaking my head, I forced myself to snap out of my faint daze, reeling from how quickly it all went down. "I'm fine."

He nodded, and when it was clear the four of us were all right, we turned our attention to the downed men. Most were the assailants, while one or two of ours were among them, and more of our suppliers padded those numbers.

"Who the hell was that?" He demanded, dusting himself off with a furious shade to his eyes.

"No idea," Lev muttered, going over to one of the dead men to nudge at his limp body. "They didn't manage to take anything, at least."

"Obviously, they somehow caught wind of this going down...it seems targeted, but why?" I asked, looking between my brothers.

Dima shrugged. "Don't know...all they did was charge in and get themselves killed. Maybe they overestimated their firepower."

"Or they had no idea what they were doing," Lev murmured, looking vaguely irritated. "Either way, we've been seeing an uptick in activity like this recently...we'll need to keep an eye on this."

Nodding, I knew he was right. There had been a suspicious amount of targeted interferences lately, and if we allowed it to get out of hand, that would only mean bad news for us.

"Whoever's behind this won't continue for long...we'll get to the bottom of it."

Our supplier scoffed and looked disinterested in standing around. He waved at his right-hand. "Get the shit moving so we can leave...I've had enough."

With the shootout behind us, our guys worked with him to move the substances into our own vehicles, hoping to get the exchange done as soon as possible. All the while, I couldn't help but wonder what was really going on.

Between us being shorted on shipments, trades being intercepted, and a higher rate of chaos in general, I knew something was going on behind the scenes...I just didn't know what.

Chapter 22 - Daria

I thought I was out of the woods thanks to how well everything had been going over the last few weeks, but after getting up and heading to the kitchen for breakfast that morning, a new text completely reversed that idea for me.

A part of me didn't even want to read it when I saw that unknown number again, but I couldn't stop my gaze from shifting down.

It's either family or the Fokins...you pick.

The message made my stomach clench, and I hated everything about it. That worry and dread ate away at me the longer I looked at it, forgetting all about my breakfast.

That familiar feeling I used to get while being around Rurik came back in full swing, settling in my skin to leave me feeling unbearably uncomfortable.

He had a pull on me for so long, and while I had been against marrying Ivan initially, I knew the latter was the better situation. While it had initially been a punishment, being with Ivan granted me the freedom of not dealing with my brother.

Despite our tumultuous start together, we were both changing, and so was our connection.

Rather than feeling his icy, domineering presence while he searched for every angle he could provoke me from, he was starting to let me in, and we were both doing better thanks to his change of heart.

Ivan was showing me that same attentive care he had before when he thought I was Zoey, and regardless of how much I once hated him for treating me like a prisoner, I found myself caring for him.

The thought of Rurik somehow ruining that made my heart ache.

Being contacted by him or one of his associates reminded me too much of those painful memories, and I didn't want anything to do with it. I was his puppet before, and if Ivan's reaction had been any indication, I hurt people because of it.

I hated it then and I still hated it...while my brother used me to get whatever he wanted, I had to live with the reminders of my actions, aware that I had no choice in taking them. I had to stomach it, not him. And since Ivan showed me another way, I was done with it.

Looking down at the message made me feel sick, and I couldn't even stand to finish my food. Instead, I deleted the message and forced any thoughts of Rurik out of my head.

I was with Ivan. Regardless of whatever my brother was planning or doing behind the scenes, he couldn't reach me.

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