Page 79 of Bratva Queen

“It’s me,” I said gently as I looked at her, my whole face and body softening from relief. Finally, after so many years of trying and failing, I’d made my way back to her.

“O bozhe moy!” She cried out and threw herself at me. I wrapped my arms around her body and pushed my face into her neck, breathing in her scent; I felt her soft skin against my nose, and sighed with absolute contentment. I held her tightly for what felt like an eternity, and I never wanted to let go. I was overwhelmed with joy, and for a moment, all my worries and fears melted away. I knew in that moment that I was finally home.

She lifted her face to mine and kissed me, holding my cheeks tightly. I couldn’t believe how happy I felt at that moment. Her lips were soft as ever, and her eagerness toward me hadn’t dwindled. I kissed her back, squeezing her body against mine, perhaps a little too tightly.

I felt my heart skip a beat as I felt her warmth against me, and that same electricity from years ago, surged through my body. I could feel the love radiating from her as our lips softly parted, and she looked into my eyes, her gaze filled with an emotion that was so powerful and beautiful. I felt my soul reconnect with hers in that moment.

She pulled back and looked between my eyes, studying my face and the changes it had gone through over the years. I studied her too, appreciating the way her eyes and mouth hadn’t changed a bit, even though she, too, had a few extra lines. I felt a mixture of emotions as I gazed at her, nostalgia for the past, admiration for her timeless beauty, and a deep appreciation for the memories we shared. I smiled at her fondly, and she smiled back, a smile that said more than words ever could.

Suddenly, she looked at my cheek and said, “Oh,blyad’!” She pulled a cloth from her pocket and swiped my cheek. I quickly realized what was wrong: there was blood on her hands.

“What?” I said as I took her hands and quickly noticed her shirt and tight jeans were smeared with blood too. “What the hell is going on? Are you hurt?”

“No!” She laughed, her eyes seeming a little unsure as she shook her head. “I’ve been trying to find you.”

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. “I don’t understand?”

“Come.”

She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. We turned a corner to a hidden door. It opened to a staircase, leading down to the basement. When we arrived at the bottom, Isabel guided me ahead and soon… I saw Gregori.

He was strapped to a chair, bloodied and bruised. He was slightly conscious, but with a gag tied tightly between his lips. His eyes widened when he saw me, and his panicked breath bubbled out through his nose. His fingers on one hand were visibly broken, and he had a knife stuck in his thigh.

I took it all in silently. Isabel moved around me, watching my face. “I know this looks bad… I just, I had to find you. He only told me a few weeks ago that you were even alive and I—”

I stopped her by turning to her and placing my finger over her lips. Her eyes darted between mine as I pulled her body closer with one hand and held her against me. It felt good to have access to her body like this again. To just touch her and have her come to me so willingly.

“Gun?” I asked. Her worry dissipated and she looked to the side, toward a wall of metal cabinet doors. I walked over and opened them to find an assortment of guns, knives, ammo, everything. I turned to her with a smile. “Lev help you with this?”

“Oh, no,” she said, grinning with her hands behind her back innocently. “These are mine.”

I chuckled, chose myself a custom-looking all-black Glock, and loaded it. Then I turned to Gregori and just as he began to cry, making begging noises through his gag, I shot him right between the eyes. The room went silent.

I looked down at the gun and nodded. “Nice Glock, baby. I’m glad to see my aim’s still good after all these years.”

When I looked at her, her eyebrows were high in surprise. “You, ah, didn’t want to talk to him first?”

I chuckled and put the gun down before approaching her and touching her cheek. “He’s wasted enough of our time already.” I dropped my lips to hers and kissed her slowly and softly, reveling in the taste and the sensations I’d only been able to imagine for the past 15 years.

When she pulled away her smile was wide. “I completely agree… Lev!” She shouted, and I heard footsteps jog down the stairs. She turned to him, sliding her hand down into mine.

“Would you mind—”

“Of course, Isabel.” He quickly answered, smiling with pride as he looked from me to Gregori’s dead body. “You two catch up. I’ll take the trash out.”

Chapter32

Isabel

“I’ve been in a maximum-security prison in the north,” Aleksei told Lev and me over dinner. “Gregori took me there after I found out that it was him supplying Stepan with drugs and trying to infiltrate the Koslov bratva. He was paying the prison ward and the guards to hold me, beat me, and torture me.”

I trembled with anger and pain at just the thought of him going through that. It was no wonder he’d hardened the way he did. He looked stronger, though not in a healthy way but rather a way that showed he’d been fighting for his life for years. He wore scars like they were tattoos, and I hadn’t yet seen the rest of his body.

“I tried to escape many times but… it took failed attempts and tons of planning and deal-making to figure out the right way to do it. Each failed attempt earned me six months in solitary, so it took a while. I finally found a guard willing to help me—to help us—my cellmate and I. Over time he set it up and when the time came, drove us right out the gates. Of course, he wasn’t going back either.”

“So, what do you owe him?” I asked, knowing it must have been one hell of a deal.

He looked at me carefully before answering, “A new life, far away. Basically, a portion of Gregori’s wealth.”

---