Page 52 of Captivated By the Bratva

Alek would give me more assignments.

Ivan was right. Ihadproven my worth, even if until now, it was behind the scenes, at a computer and not out on the streets. So what? I wasn’t worthless. I contributed to the success of the Bratva, and I always would.

I couldn’t have anticipated this job turning out like this, but I had softened up to realize that maybe this was meant to be. That Nadia and I were fated to meet and clash, then merge into something that seemed a lot like love.

But I had to do this right. What I was stuck on, as I lay with Nadia, was the desire to make it so Lev couldn’t get her.

Proposing to kill the old man was out of the question. That would cause too many problems, and Alek did not need an internationally strong Bratva to come at us.

However, I racked my mind to think of a way that Lev wouldn’t need to take her. It sounded like he was focused on having only Nadia. Which perplexed me. If he hadn’t seen her throughout her life, except perhaps in pictures if Gregory provided them, why would he need to get so hung up on making her, specifically, his bride?

Maybe it’s because he was thwarted once by Gregory, when he married Sabrina, so it was something like an eye for an eye?

I didn’t know. I didn’t want to know. It seemed unlikely that I could offer Lev another bride in her place.

A promise was a promise, and I hated that for the principle of it. According to Alek, we would cause too many issues if this promised engagement didn’t happen.

I wasn’t in the mood to accept that. There had to be a way. So, with great reluctance to give up a moment of this sweet peace with her sleeping next to me, I eased out of bed and waited to make sure she was still asleep.

I trusted her. I felt like I had to after the connection we forged last night. It seemed like we’d taken a huge step forward, and I was confident she wouldn’t leave again.

However, as I sat in the chair and stared at her, I knew she would ask me what would happen next.

And that was where my brother came into play.

I dressed and left Nadia sleeping as I went into the other room and paced. Keeping the door open left me a view of her in the bigger bed in the main room of the suite, but the distance between us offered some modicum of privacy, and she didn’t stir as I called Alek.

“What’s going on?” he asked as a greeting. “It’s been days. I need your help with finding Dmitri.”

It felt good to be wanted, to be needed and depended upon to help find our brother. Yet, the news I would give him would complicate my ability to rush to help.

“I found her in the hospital. She was hit by a car and lied that she had amnesia so no one could find her.”

He sighed.

“I called asking about women with her description, and I have her with me again.”

“Good. So you’ll fly home today?”

I didn’t hesitate. “I don’t want to, Alek.”

He cursed, but I was expecting it. I was telling him something he didn’t want to hear, so I wasn’t surprised by his reaction. Alek wasn’t a hotheaded asshole, though. Since he’d married Mila and become a father, he’d mellowed.

“How bad would it be if I kept her?” I asked. I held my breath, waiting for his reply.

“Maxim…” he said on a long, aggravated exhale.

“It’s what you did with Mila,” I rushed to say. It wasn’t the strongest argument, but it was true. Nik pointed out the slight differences. Alek had taken Mila to stop the Kastavas from setting us up in a sting so they could take us over. Nik had rescued Amy from a human trafficking ring. And I was… just failing to get Nadia to the groom she never wanted.

“It’s not what I did with Mila,” he argued.

“It is. She was standing at the altar, arranged to marry our cousin, and you literally snatched her from him. I was there. I helped. Remember? I set up the priest for you to take her for yourself.”

He cleared his throat. “I do recall that, yeah.”

“You can’t fault me for doing the same thing.”

“You’re right. I would be a hypocrite to judge you for wanting to do something… similar. But, Maxim. Have you honestly, truly, and fully considered whether Nadia is worth it?”

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