Page 33 of Bound to the Bratva
I look around the room, trying to see if there's a way out.
The door leads down a hallway and I start walking, motioning with my hand for them to follow me.
"What the fuck was that?" Aria asks, her voice panicked and full of fear.
I suck in a deep breath through my nose and speak with patience and understanding, "That's what happens when the successor for the Bratva is secured. There will always be people who will try to kill us, Aria, but they will never succeed."
Eleven
Aria
The gunshots continue to ring out like thunder, echoing through the church.
Even though we're safe and in a different room, I can't help but freeze.
Screams echo and chaos ensues around us.
I close my eyes for a moment, unable to believe this has actually happened.
Sucking in a shaky breath, I try to steady myself, to remind myself I'm okay and I haven't been hurt.
Still, this is the kind of stuff that should be happening in the movies, not in my everyday life, and certainly not at my wedding.
My expensive wedding dress suddenly feels suffocating, like a corset that is continuously being tightened until I end up finally combusting.
I take in slow, deep breaths, still struggling to breathe.
How could this be happening?
How could someone want to harm us on our wedding day?
"Aria!" Maxim grabs my arm, his face tense with emotion. "We can't stay here. I know this is shocking, but we have to keep moving."
Maxim pauses, looking around at the rest of the group. "We all need to keep moving. The longer we stay in one spot, the more we're sitting ducks."
My brother clears his throat and looks right at my now husband, "Where the fuck are we going?"
Maxim clenches his jaw, "My main concern is getting the group of you out of here, and then I'll deal with the clusterfuck happening back there."
Sasha grits his teeth and looks at me before saying anything. "Then we'd best get going then, hmm?"
My mind is reeling with everything that's transpired in the last five minutes.
I want to keep asking myself all of these questions, about how, why, or who would want to do this, but there isn't any time.
Maxim is right. We have to keep moving.
Maxim tugs me along with him and the rest of our group follows suit, continuing to go down this vast hallway.
It's hard to believe not too long ago I was walking down the aisle, accepting the fact I was about to seal my fate with this stranger.
Now, look at us, running hand-in-hand down a hallway like we're two lovers.
Shots continue to ring out and Maxim heads for the first doorway, pushing the door open.
We're in a smaller room that looks more like an office, and there's a window showing us the courtyard behind the building.
"I'll see if we can open the windows," Sasha says as he walks over to them.
