Page 52 of The Bratva's Prisoner Bride

"Yeah, and being reamed out by Aleks would earn you something worse than a hangover," Dima added with a shake of his head.

Even if my head ached faintly and I felt more tired than I would've liked, I found myself chuckling along with them.

It turned out that having a steady personal life tended to make all aspects a little brighter. At least, it took some of the usual edge off and made me more receptive.

"All I know is, she must've been pretty good to have you so tired," Lev murmured, holding back the full extent of his grin.

"Oh, shut up," I muttered, lacking any real bite as Dima clapped my shoulder.

After a moment of us going back and forth, waiting for our associates to show up while we alternated between standing in the shade of an abandoned utility building and leaning against one of our vehicles, Lev gave me an absent nudge.

"Look alive...they're here."

"It's about time," I sighed, standing up from my relaxed position against the car behind me.

Sure enough, a Range Rover pulled up on the gritty path, rolling towards us with a few others in tow.

Our guys kept their attention on the surrounding area as well as our associates, hands on their rifles. The group of us waited, putting on our usual indifferent demeanors.

Before long, our substance supplier stepped out with his small crew surrounding him, wearing his purple shades and usual suit ensemble. His right-hand carried a small bag while he approached, too.

"Fokins," he said with that usual seedy grin. Even if he was a bit of a sleaze, he was at least reliable. And he kept his prices fair, which meant better profits for us. "I'll cut to the chase before we get this deal going."

"Please do," I murmured, arms crossed while watching him closely.

He gestured to his right-hand, who unzipped the small black bag and pulled out a vial of clear yet viscous liquid, holding it up for us to get a good look at it.

"This is the new stuff...this batch is real good—very clean," he said with a hint of pride in his eyes. "It's potent shit. A few drops and you're floating...a few more, and you're on a different planet. Double that, and you're meeting the man upstairs."

The details didn't matter much to us, not when we were just interested in distributing and profiting off it. I gave him a calculating look.

"And you said before reception has been good?"

He nodded with a smug grin. "Oh-ho, you bet. It's selling like hot cakes—real in demand. Distribute this stuff at half a vial and you're laughing."

The four of us glanced between each other, on the same page and aware of the details of the trade thanks to Aleks having worked it out beforehand.

"I'm assuming you have more on you?" Lev asked, gesturing vaguely to the vehicles.

He chuckled. "What, did you think I'd show up to one of these things empty-handed?" He nodded in the direction of one of his other goons. "Grab the other bags. Let's get this thing moving."

His guy nodded and began for one of the SUVs, just about to reach the trunk when the familiar zip of a bullet rang out and sank right into his chest. With a choked sound of surprise, he clutched the wound before slumping back against the vehicle.

"Oh, shit—"

At once, a volley of gunfire rang out from ahead of us as three vehicles sped up and stopped just shy of where the man was bleeding out to death. Multiple men rolled out with their rifles aimed at us.

Our men swarmed us, taking aim at the assailants without asking any questions, returning the heat just as hard.

A hand on my shoulder yanked me back while I reached for my pistol, and Lev was pulling me behind the cover of our vehicle.

"Get down!"

It was immediate chaos with our supplier hiding behind his men while they tried to keep him safe, also opening fire on the unknown men. With alarm scribbled across his features with his back against the Range Rover, he shouted at us, "Is this some kind of setup?"

"Not by us," I returned, looking around the side of the vehicle before I raised my weapon and fired at one of the assailants, clipping his shoulder before he could take any of our guards down.

With all of us on edge and aware we couldn't let anyone get the better of us, we all sent shot after shot through the maelstrom of chaos.

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