Page 66 of The Den of Sin
I exited the vehicle, went around and opened the door for her. I resisted the urge to press her against me. If I pulled her into me, I’d stay with her all night, crowd her. So I remained glued to my spot, watched her walk inside and before she entered the house, she threw a glance over her shoulder, our gazes meeting. I couldn't stop the grin from forming, happy she felt the pull between us. It has been there from the day she called me Mr. Nikolaev, assuming I was Tatiana’s father.
We had three years of foreplay till I lost the battle and took her as mine. I was stupid to think the revenge against her mother would quench this need for her.
Then I learned the truth about what had happened, about my half-brother and the threat the Santos family posed to Isabella. Unintentionally, I had brought them closer to her. I feared seeing her hurt or even worse, losing her forever. Just like I lost my father. So I did one of the hardest things in my life, I sacrificed her again and what we could have had to keep her safe. Months after I had learned that it wasn’t her mother that broke my parents and that Isabella was possibly the woman meant for me, I gave her up again. For her own good.
But now, I was stronger, richer, and more powerful. She was back in my life. I would keep her safe at all costs. From Benito King and his minions, and from Raphael Santos.
I went back into my vehicle and started down the driveway when it occurred to me I hadn’t seen a single guard.What the fuck?
Making a sharp U-turn, another vehicle came down with tires screeching and almost ran into me. He swerved to the right, avoiding hitting me by barely an inch. The door flung open wide and Sasha came out with a gun in his hand. Instantly alarmed, I reached for my secret compartment and pulled out my gun along with extra bullets.
“What is going on?” I questioned him, jumping out of my car.
“Raphael Santos is here, coming after Tatiana.”
At the same moment, I heard a loud bang and a scream coming out of the house. The blood in my veins froze, the fear of losing Isabella multiplying it.
“She’s with Adrian.” I couldn’t believe my voice was calm and unwavering while my heart clenched with fear, pumping blood into my brain at excessive speed. “Isabella is inside”
Both Sasha and I started running, taking shelter behind a large oak tree. The front yard of Tatiana’s home erupted in bullets showering all around us. There was a pounding of footsteps. Sasha and I shared a look while he waited on my order. The moment I nodded, we both turned and fired. The first bullet hit its mark, striking the enemy in the neck, blood splattering over the siding of the house. Sasha hit his friend at the same time and now they were both sprawled onto the ground.
A loud scream, Isabella’s terrified scream, pierced through the air again.
“Take the right side; I’ll take the left,” I hissed, fury boiling inside of me unleashing the beast.
I scanned for additional targets, hiding in the shadows. The full moon highlighted the dark shadows of the enemy just enough to allow me to see them. Thank God! With precision, as if my life and Isabella’s depended on it - because they did - I started shooting. Another man down.
More bullets rained our way, but I couldn’t afford to lose sight of the shadows, not for a fraction of a second although the big brother in me was tempted to check on Sasha. I chased after the target, firing another shot at him. He fell onto his knees and without stopping, I put another bullet in his forehead.
“Ah, suka blyat.”Son of a bitch.I heard my brother curse, and it was my confirmation he was alright.
More bullets. Another shadow behind the tree. Aim. Shoot. Man killed.
Glass shattered and Isabella’s voice reached me. “Vasili, man on your left.”
Instinctively, I followed her warning. A man on my left had his gun pointed at me, and with swift movement, I ducked while reaching for my knife. The blade of my knife bit into his skin, and I sliced his chest wide open. Then I sliced his throat and pushed him off. He fell down onto the ground, gurgling and choking on his own blood. I had no time to waste on him. I grabbed his gun and ran for Isabella.
“Vasili,” she called out, fear coloring her voice. It gutted me to hear it, but I focused on the direction her voice came from. It helped me with estimating her location.Pool area.
I ran and my step faltered, finding Raphael Santos with his hand wrapped around Isabella’s throat and the other pointing a gun at her temple. Her eyes were big on her face, clawing at his hands, trying to gasp for air.
“You fucked up, Nikolaev. Should have left my father alive.” Raphael Santos could be a cruel motherfucker when he wanted to. Sasha fucked up big time by starting this shit.
“Raphael, let her go,” I growled. The horror on Isabella’s face reflected the terror I felt in my heart. I couldn’t lose her. I wouldn’t lose her. I refused to lose her.
Sasha came up from my right, his gun pointed at Santos. The fury at seeing my woman being choked to death and a gun pointed at her head made me want to kill every member of Santos’s crime organization. At this moment, I was tempted to kill my brother too because he fucking started it.
“P-please,” Isabella kept pushing against Raphael. “I c-can’t breathe.”
“That’s the point, sweetheart,” he retorted, looking her over. “Nothing personal. Thank your brothers here for it.”
Her eyes darted to me in surprise, but she didn’t correct him. Shit, I wasn’t sure if I was glad or not.
“She’s not our sister,” Sasha told him. “Use your eyes, fucking moron. Or readPeople. You’d know then this woman is not our sister.”
“Enough,” I growled at my brother. “Show respect.” Sasha’s taunting and blunt disrespect would not help Isabella. I returned my focus to Raphael Santos. “Sasha speaks the truth. This is not Tatiana.”
Although I wouldn’t tell him who she was. I knew from the men I executed that Raphael knew of his sister. He just didn’t know specifics - like how she looked, who she was, her name. I had an inside man within Santos organization confirming that. But they knew I had been hiding his sister’s trail for the past five years.
