Page 69 of Bratva's Vow
My bladder felt like it was about to explode. “Shit.”
I stumbled out of bed, swaying slightly, my body stiff and heavy. The bathroom was tiny, lit with flickering fluorescent light. I relieved myself, groaning quietly in sheer relief as I leaned against the chipped tile.
The water pressure in the shower was laughable, but I turned it on anyway and stood under the lukewarm spray. It wasn’t luxury, but the water washed off the leftover sweat and the faint smell of sex still clinging to my skin from last night.
Maxim.
I braced my hands on the wall, the water sluicing down my back.
God, what have I done?
He would be furious.
Was he searching for me?
No, I refused to feel guilty.
Maxim was the reason my father was dead. He lied. He locked me away.
And yet I couldn’t stop thinking about his mouth on my skin or the way his arms felt wrapped around me in the shower, how he’d murmured apologies into my ear like they meant something.
I scrubbed my face roughly. No. Enough.
I dried off with a towel that felt like sandpaper and tugged on the same clothes from yesterday minus the underwear.They stuck slightly to my damp skin, making me feel gross and unsettled, but I didn’t have anything else to wear.
I needed clothes.
Jess.
Jess would come. Jess would help. She always did.
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand but hesitated to power it on. When I arrived, I’d turned it off. Just in case. Part of me had thought it was smart. Part of me didn’t want to hear his voice or see his name lighting up my screen.
But the moment the phone flickered to life, my phone buzzed with notification after notification.
Dozens of missed calls.
Text messages.
Voicemails.
My stomach clenched painfully.
Maxim.
Nik.
Jess.
Darius.
Sergei.
Even Dezi had called.
I swallowed and opened the messages, my thumb hovering as my heart rate kicked up a notch.
Maxim:
