Page 77 of The Bratva's Arranged Bride

Francesco scoffed. “I will take what was promised.”

Dad closed his eyes tightly as if struggling beneath the pressure of what was being declared. He was trying, but his wishes were being completely ignored.

“In fact, you are not the only one who needs to make amends,” Francesco said, physically turning both of us to face Val. “The Novikovs can pay their debt by relinquishing this one. My son will have his wife, and I don’t care what it takes.”

Fear shot through my system at once, making me lock up further.

No…there was no way.

The thought of going anywhere with them made me feel sick. Of not only being taken but also forced to marry Tommaso.

I couldn’t let that happen—not after everything I’d been through with Val. Not with the child growing inside me.

It would be a complete nightmare.

“You’re out of your damn mind if you think I’m going to allow that,” Val rasped, tightening his grip on the gun while he took a step forward. “You’ll have to kill me before I ever let that happen.”

“A tempting demand,” Francesco uttered before tightening his grip on my hair. “Then I’ll add your body to the pile, Novikov.”

At my pained yelp, Dad’s expression hardened before a look of resolve settled on his features. He turned to me, eyes set solely on my face.

“I’m so sorry, my dear…I haven’t been the father you needed, but I hope one day you might forgive me, even if I don’t deserve it,” he said just for me to hear. That remorse lingered in his face. “While I didn’t let you hear it enough, you’re my pride and joy. I’m sorry.”

Tears filled my eyes while I took in his words, able to feel every ounce of his regret. I could see the acknowledgment through his eyes while they set with a kind of accountability I had never seen from him before.

I wanted to say something, anything, but my throat closed around my words.

Then, he did the unthinkable.

“You’ll never have my daughter,” Dad mumbled before forcing himself to his feet and throwing his body into Tommaso.

At once, the flurry of movement happened so quickly that I could hardly process it.

Tommaso stumbled back, caught off-guard while he tried to reorient himself.

In his panic, Francesco shifted his gun, surely hoping to shield his son from any sort of damage. He aimed, then fired.

My head rattled from the loud crack of his gun, but through the brief haze, I watched as my dad fell back with a trail of blood leaving his chest and soaking the front of his shirt.

I froze up completely, and the breath was pulled from my lungs.

Dad…

In the heat of the moment, with their focus set on what just happened, neither Tommaso nor Francesco anticipated being left open. Not until the next two rounds of gunfire reached them both.

Through the overwhelming shock and noise of it all, I braced myself with my arms covering my head while labored breaths left me, unable to process what was happening or what I had just witnessed.

I could only see that mental image over and over again.

He sacrificed himself…he willingly distracted them, even at the cost of his own life.

The two bodies hit the ground around me with sickening thumps while I trembled and tried to block it all out.

It was all a blur…a painful, horrible blur.

“Tia…”

But that voice was the only light through it all.

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