Page 60 of The Bratva's Hunted Bride
“Four! Three!” I duck behind the marble counter, and a deafening thud pops my ears.
Dust and smoke fill the kitchen. I don’t wait for it to settle before I’m through the basement door and running down stone steps into darkness.
She’s alone, tied to a bed, gagged, her eyes wide with fear as I run toward her. She screams against the gag when I reach out to grab her.
I realize what she’s seeing, and I quickly pull the mask from my face. “Talia, it’s me. It’s me.”
A sob shakes her body, and she falls against me. I pull the restraints off her wrist and the gag off her mouth and wrapmy arms around her, fighting an overwhelming tidal wave of emotion.
“You’re ok. You’re ok,” I repeat as she buries her face against my chest and clings onto me, her fingers knotted in my jacket.
“I knew you’d come. I knew you’d find me,” she stammers, and when I pull away slightly to look at her, she’s smiling as tears stream down her face.
Laughter bursts from me. A sound of relief, relief like I’ve never experienced before.
“When you didn’t show up, I thought…”
“Don’t. Don’t even say it,” she blurts out, wrapping her arms around my neck and holding me tight enough to smother me.
I keep her downstairs until the shooting stops in the main house. Then I lift her into my arms and carry her up the stone steps, into the kitchen.
Cocking my head to the side I listen for danger, then set her down and push her behind me.
“My brothers have cleared the way, but stay behind me just in case,” I tell her. She moves quickly, doing as I told her, and I feel her hands knotting onto the back of my jacket. It’s reassuring, because I can keep my eyes forward, and still know she’s safely behind me, close.
The house is too quiet, though.
I lift my gun as we walk through it.
And it’s not until we reach the living room that I realize what’s going on.
My brothers are standing in silence, their guns raised, facing the Popov brothers.
“Where is she?” Marlen demands, his voice low.
“You realize that we just rescued your sister, right?” Oleg snarls.
Talia tries to step out from behind me, but I shove her back to safety.
“Where the fuck is my sister?” Simon shouts.
“She’s safe. Thanks to us,” I growl, lifting my gun toward them.
“For all we know, you were working with them.” Marlen gestures to the dead bodies scattered on the floor.
Oleg snorts. “Really? And we killed our allies for what reason?” he snaps.
“I don’t pretend to understand the mind of a mad man,” Marlen hisses, stepping forward, his eyes dark.
Talia’s hands let go of my jacket, and I reach behind myself to grab her, but she’s not there. Spinning to see where she is, my sudden movement has her brothers and their men shifting their aim onto me. I spin back to face them, and we’re locked in a tense standoff.
“Stop!” Talia shouts, stepping right into the space between us.
Immediately, I drop my gun, not daring to point it at her.
Her brothers aren’t so quick to lower their weapons, and I snarl in anger. “Drop your fucking weapons.”
“Move, Talia,” Marlen growls.
