Page 33 of Impregnated By the Bratva

“Shit,” I uttered, stomping my foot. Pavel stood like a statue to one side. This day wasn’t going as planned. “Get me a bucket with ice and water,” I asked, trying to keep my tone calm.

He nodded and headed upstairs. I watched the man as I waited. His chest was still moving, so I knew he wasn’t dead yet. Pavel returned with the bucket in hand. “Here,” he said, sounding solemn.

“Don’t you start,” I huffed, taking the bucket from him.

I walked back to the man in the chair and poured it over him. He shook and glanced at me. He cried out, startled, blinking rapidly as the pain flooded his nerves again. Bending down on one knee, I pulled the pliers from the table.

Taking hold of his pinky, I spoke calmly. “We can do this all day. It’s up to you, my friend.”

He shook his head and closed his eyes. Holding his finger tightly, I pulled out the nail. He screamed with each one but wouldn’t talk. When I got to his fourth nail, he could barely scream. He was only making strange gurgling noises.

Taking a short break, I went to collect more ice water. Pavel just stood there next to the table. I was angry and frustrated. I had to get to the bottom of this.

Returning with the bucket, I soaked the man again. “Ready to talk?” I questioned him. He remained silent. “Well, then we will just have to continue,” I added, grabbing the hammer again.

“He’s not going to talk, Makari,” Pavel said.

“You want me to give up?” I enquired.

Pavel shook his head and walked out without another word. These men were shooting at us. I felt sure it was them who came after Grace as well. I had to get to the truth. Turning my attention back to the man in the chair, I took the hammer to his knees first.

He still wouldn’t talk, and I wasn’t sure how much more he would be able to take. Picking up the knife again, I gave him another chance to talk. “Come on, man, who are you protecting?”

He looked at me through one eye and shook his head. “Okay, but you brought this on yourself,” I said as I made the first cut across his chest. He bit down on his lower lip, and by the fourth cut, his lip was bleeding.

“You leave me with no options,” I breathed, pulling the generator closer. “If you don’t still the beans now, you won’t even be able to get it up once I’m done,” I added as I bent down before him, pushing his legs apart.

His eyes flew open. I could see the fear in them. “Okay,” he spat between breaths. “We don’t know who he is. But this guy came to us and told us to be there. He showed us your picture and said he would reward us handsomely if we took you out.”

“Me?” I asked, feeling confused and slightly conflicted. “You weren’t looking for the girl?”

“No, man. We were told to take you out, that’s it, I swear,” he added before passing out again.

Standing up, I dropped the connectors to the floor. This was a mess. Heading upstairs, I decided I would take care of them in a bit. I had something else to do.

It had been a long day and night. When they finally broke, I was surprised. Sitting down on my bed, I felt hollow. We had been so wrong. Grace was right. I fell back and closed my eyes. Pavel and I could figure out what to do next in the morning.

Pavel had already gotten rid of the men by the time I got up. He was whistling a happy tune while making breakfast. “What happened?” I asked as I sat down at the table.

I called in a favor,” he replied, grinning. “They are gone, so we will just clean the basement today.”

He surprised me with his initiative, but I was proud of him. After breakfast, we headed down and cleaned up. It took us most of the day. But by the time we were done, you wouldn’t say anything had ever happened down there.

I took a quick shower and headed to my office. The days of labor had drained my energy, but I had to check in with Vadik. Plus, I wanted to find out how Grace was doing.

Picking up the phone, I stared at it for a bit before making the call. I had to scrape together all my courage. I didn’t want Grace to think of me as the monster she saw.

After dialing his number, I leaned back in my chair while waiting for him to pick up. “Makari,” his deep voice eventually rang through the receiver. “How did it go?”

Swallowing hard, I quickly informed him of our results. “But that’s not why I’m calling,” I added.

“Yes, I know. But business first,” he reminded me. “You know you messed up. But I also understand you wanted to protect her. Yet, you will have to consider your approach.”

“I understand, Vadik. It was a mistake. I will do whatever it takes to fix it.” I replied.

“I’m not done,” Vadik huffed. “Grace grew up in a shielded world. She isn’t like Tasha or even Nadia. They grew up in our world. Grace didn’t.”

He was right, and I had many things to consider going forward. Taking a deep breath, I wondered if Grace could handle the truth about our world. How would she react if she found out more of our secrets?

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