Bratva Dark Allegiance: The Complete Collection

by Raven Scott

  Apparently, any money Kyle made at his fryer job was purely spending money, judging by the number of shoes he had. His collection probably equaled Delilah’s, and she had half a closet dedicated to them.

  They were all ruined, cut up and stained, with shoelaces and insignias torn off as they bounced around the grass.

  “Let’s—let’s go back inside. I’m sure Ron will come down for dinner when it’s ready.”

  Everything Kyle owned was being destroyed but for the clothes he’d ran out in, and this seemed like a neighborhood where the cops would get called eventually. Once the neighbors got over being nosy, someone would call to complain about a domestic dispute.

  Thanks, American TV, for giving me an idea of what living in the States was like, even if it’s less than accurate.

  I didn’t know what I expected. Yes, America wasn’t as oppressed or restrictive as other places I’d lived and being a first-world country had its perks, but...the more I saw and experienced, the more I realized that the people were the same. Most were good, some were bad, and everyone was just trying to survive another day. Everyone was trying to find peace and balance.

  When I blinked, we were back in the kitchen, and I resumed my seat stiffly as Jamie continued digging in the spice cabinet. The sounds of her husband just terrorizing the furniture and items of his son upstairs became white noise in the background.

  Clearly, both women were trying to ignore it.

  “Do you want me to get some fries going, Mom?”

  My phone gave a shrill bing from my pocket, and I fished out the device as I stretched my legs under the table.

  Carlyle Santino: You can grab your key at the front desk under my name.

  This evening hadn’t gone at all the way I suspected it would. There was more drama with Delilah’s brother, and none of the tears I expected of a reunion after 5 years. I slid my phone back in my pocket, but suddenly, my hands had nothing to do but tap together.

  And there’s going to be a few more hours of this, at least. I bit back a groan at the thought of enduring this awkward reunion. Delilah’s father was on a rampage, her mother was trying to ignore it, and Delilah was just going through the motions.

  I didn’t want to be here, anyway, but this was important to Delilah. Even if she went on with her life afterwards, she had to get closure. We were here, in her hometown, and who knew when we’d be back?

  “Darren, what do you want on your burger?” Every time

  Jamie asked me a question, I cringed, and I ground my teeth absently

  . Familiar, green eyes met mine, and Jamie arched a brow quizzically.

  I don’t want to eat. I want to leave. “Just cheese is fine, thank you.”

  She nodded, turning on the stovetop before reaching into a lower cabinet for a cast iron skillet.

  The silence was only broken by thumping and stomping, even the sound of things breaking.

  This sucks.

  17

  Delilah

  “Are you ready to leave?”

  Darren nodded mutely, instantly, and a guilty smile faltered on my lips.

  Glancing over at the entryway to the kitchen from the dining room, I shuffled a little closer to him and licked my lips nervously. “I’m sorry. I expected something from Kyle, but not that.”

  “It’s no one’s fault, baby. This kind of thing is stressful. I get it. It’s just...very taxing. Even just being an observer. This kind of tension sucks the life out of everyone involved.”

  His gentle way of saying ‘fuck this’ resonated against my skull, and I rested my head against his shoulder. This evening had been exhausting, more than walking around all day. I wanted to sleep, curled up in Darren’s arms, and have a better tomorrow. “Thank you for doing this with me, Darren.” He kissed my crown with a soft hum, and I closed my eyes to take a deep, stabilizing breath. “Thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome, baby...but we’re not going to stay for dessert.”

  My lips twitched up at that, and I nodded before lifting my head. I stood up, shuffling my way out of the dining room to find my mom rinsing the dishes. “Hey, Mom. I think we’re gonna head out, now. It’s been a long day, and we’re walking back to the hotel.”

  My mom jumped a little, whirling around, and disappointment crested her features.

  “Are you going to any of the fairs?” I asked her.

  “Oh—no. I don’t think so. I just brought up the burgers to your dad, and he barely noticed me. It’s probably best to just let him be for now.” I almost winced at that, but my mom huffed loudly and set her shoulders. “We’ll be fine. You don’t have to spend all your time with us. I just—you know, would like a call every once and a while.”

  “Yeah…yeah. I have your number in my phone. Tell Dad I said ‘bye’ for me?”

  Nodding, my mom walked over to hug me tight, and I wrapped my arms around her waist. She smelled wonderful, and we hugged for a few seconds too long. Reluctance slowed our movements when we pulled away, and I smiled at my mom when she smiled at me.

  Ours was a bittersweet moment that I squeezed every ounce out of. “...Okay. So, I’ll call you.” My tongue dried at my own words, and I left the kitchen with my mom’s eyes boring holes into my back. Poking my head into the dining room, I gestured to Darren.

  He was quick to stand up and come to my side.

  The sky was dark, but the streetlights lit up the smashed, ruined items that once belonged to Kyle. He wouldn’t get out of work for a while, if he were even there. Gazing at the sharp edges that caught the yellow glow, I rolled my lips between my teeth and sighed through flared nostrils.

  “I hope your brother doesn’t do something stupid.” Growling under his breath, Darren wrapped an arm around my waist as disdain darkened his expression. “I don’t want to do anything ghastly right now. I’m on vacation, damnit.”

  “Right now...I don’t even care. I’m so tired.” I was tired in my soul, and I pulled my phone out of my purse to navigate to my Lyft app. “I’m just going to get a Lyft. I’ll die if I have to walk back to the hotel.”

  “Hop on my back. I’ll carry you. I want to stretch my legs anyway.”

  My heart fluttered when Darren held his arms back and bent down. Climbing onto his back, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he held my calves in firm hands. The smell of him slithered up my abused nose, his muscles playing against my chest when he straightened.

  “That was so uncomfortable. Your father didn’t even say ‘hello’ to you.”

  “My dad always hoped that eventually Kyle would grow up. I guess, knowing his worst was worse than they thought...” Trailing off, I nuzzled Darren’s shoulder as he picked his way through the wreckage of my brother’s stuff. I was looking at a boneyard of a relationship, and all I felt was apathy. Today’s events flowed through my mind’s eye like I was watching a movie reel, as if it was happening to someone else.

  My only saving grace was that things didn’t just dissolve completely after Kyle stormed out. At the very least, my mom and I made dinner together, and the bridge we’d both had a hand in burning, we were now tentatively rebuilding. “It wasn’t too bad,” Mumbling softly, I inhaled deeply, and the dampness holding down all the tree pollen eased my breaths. Circling Darren’s chest under his shirt, my hands tingled up my arms. “I did what I set out to do, and it was relatively painless.”

  “It wasn’t, no. I think you did a wonderful job, baby. I’m proud of how you handled it.” Darren’s tone distorted as his accent came through.

  I smiled against his back. Even though he hadn’t lived in America before, when he got rid of his accent, it was hard to think of him as foreign. His accent ebbed and flowed—sometimes, it was really thick, and other times, it wasn’t in evidence at all.

  “I’m excited about tomorrow.” Darren hummed softly as he walked leisurely down the sidewalk.

  “I am, too. There’s games and the food… ” My mouth watered at the very mention of the fair food, and I sniffled a little. I
was wiped out. “I love fair food. It’s one of those things where you just stop caring because it happens so rarely. There’s nothing better than fair food.”

  “I guess, the closest thing I’ve ever eaten to fair food is street vendor food in Pakistan. It was an awful experience. The food was pretty good...nothing special...it’s just so unsanitary. I spent the day in the bathroom.”

  “There’s videos all over Facebook...I always thought it was kinda dangerous and unappealing looking.” The conversation was lazy and listlessly, and I took a deep whiff of Darren’s scent. He walked slowly, leisurely, his gait gradually dulling my overworked mind. This peace that settled heavily on me, seeping into the deepest crevices of my brain, was wonderful. If I could freeze this moment and never leave it, I would be happy for eternity.

  “Do you want to start looking into moving in together, Delilah?” Darren tilted his head to hide the worry hallowing his cheeks.

  My eyes popped open at that as warmth suffused every cell in my body, and I tightened my arms around him with a satisfied sigh. “We can talk about it. Yeah.” I was beyond relieved that Darren hadn’t just said ‘let’s move in together’.

  His cheeks puffed out when he glanced back at me.

  “You want me to get a Lyft now back to the hotel?”

  “I’ll keep walking for a while, I think. Nighttime here is...not the same as I’m used to. I lived in a beautiful compound on the coast of the Mediterranean, and it was peaceful...but it was just me, my security and a bunch of my staff. Rarely, did I go for walks, let alone at night. If I did, it was never alone.” Thoughtfulness tinged his voice, and Darren rubbed up and down my calves as his hair tickled my forehead. Shaking his head, he heaved a huge sigh, and the muscles in his back relaxed a little. “It’s nice to walk around and not worry about being shot or ganged up on. I don’t have this anxiety, feeling like I have to look over my shoulder or constantly make sure my bodyguard is attentive.”

  “Everything gets better when you do it together.” Smiling when Darren huffed a laugh at my rhyme, I closed my eyes again. This was a window into the life we could have, even though the drama wasn’t over, yet. Tomorrow, we’d be going to watch the fair set up with Carlyle, his wife, Reece and Riley, and Vanessa and someone named Mandy. It was a different kind of looming stress that I wasn’t looking forward to.

  But everything would work out in the end. Darren wasn’t being hunted by the Russians, and I made up with my mom. We were together, and even though Carlyle still wanted him around, Darren wasn’t leaving anymore.

  Things were looking up.

  18

  Delilah

  Cracking my eyes open groggily, I inhaled sharply through my nose. The hotel room was a blur of shadows, and I turned my bleary gaze upwards before a yawn stole my breath. Against my cheek, Darren’s chest expanded and collapsed slowly, his heart beating steadily.

  Running my fingers through his thick chest hair and up his sternum, goosebumps blanketed my arms and down my back when he unconsciously tightened his grip on me. Darren half-rolled towards me, muttering something I couldn’t catch, and a small smile tilted my lips.

  How ironic. Of all the times I’d woken up next to him in a hotel bed, for some reason, this time was my favorite. Maybe, it was the residue of last night, or the knowledge that today was going to be a good day.

  Staring across the silvery outlines of his muscles, I smoothed the hairs on his pectoral as my vision gradually cleared. Memories from last night slithered around behind my eyes—of my mom, my argument with Kyle, Darren suffering through it all for me. When we left, he literally just wandered around the suburbs for an hour or so, quiet and contemplative, and only let me get a Lyft because I was damned near asleep on his back.

  This was what I had waited for—this was worth waiting for. This wonderful, beautiful feeling that blossomed in my chest and flooded my whole body. This tingly sensation whenever I looked at Darren. When I glanced up, a smile automatically stretched my lips, as my eyes ached and watered slightly at how perfect this moment was.

  After the past five years, I was being rewarded for all my suffering.

  Sneaking my hand south, my fingers danced against Darren’s sharp, defined abs. If there was any light, I knew his numerous tattoos would be making my mouth water. When I blinked, I could picture his lips thinning, a crease wrinkling between his brows. I could feel his skin tighten under my palm, and I tensed when his hand flew to grab my wrist.

  “...Don’t...”

  Holding my breath as Darren tangled his fingers in mine, my eyes widened when he trailed off into unintelligible mumbles. He’s still asleep. “Wait until we go...”

  Blinking hard, my gaze flew to his face as it drew lazily in a smirk, but it was painfully obvious that Darren was knocked out. He drew my hand up with a jerk, and my heart stuttered when he hiccupped lightly in what could’ve been a laugh.

  “We can’t be late...bad way to start the honeymoon...miss the plane.”

  Before I could stop myself, I jerked up in alarm, and my sharp, sputtering inhale echoed around the room.

  Darren’s eyes popped open, narrowing and alert as he instantly jumped up to wrap an arm around my shoulders. “What—what happened? Are you okay?”

  Roughness and confusion scraped my ears when Darren spoke, but I couldn’t answer him as I stared, slack-jawed in shock.

  The clouds in his eyes fled and he glanced at me only to do a double take. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” He ran his hand through his hair with a huff. “Delilah?”

  Those six words that Darren had unwittingly uttered ran ruts deep into my brain. “D-did...? Do you know you talk in your sleep?”

  his brows rose in surprise and he was confused if the shadows playing on his face was any indication. Leaning back to turn on a small lamp on the nightstand, Darren was frowning. If he remembered what he was dreaming about, or that he already knew about his sleep talking, it didn’t show anywhere. “If I did, no one ever told me. Why? What did I say?”

  Rolling my lower lip between my teeth, I thought on what I’d heard as Darren’s gaze searched mine. Uncertainty warred in my chest, and I inhaled shallowly through flared nostrils before opening my mouth. “You said we couldn’t miss a plane and be late?”

  His brows knit together tightly until he shook his head slightly.

  Exhaling a hot breath, I reached to palm his chest as I rested my head on his shoulder. “You’re not planning on surprising me with a trip around the world or something, right?”

  “No, of course not, Delilah. I know you’d kill me and hide my body if I tried to do that.” Darren rubbed my side as he pressed his nose against my crown.

  I closed my eyes as relief sucked the energy from my body. So, he doesn’t remember his dream. That was great, because I didn’t want to deal with the stress of more than what we’d agreed on. We could talk about moving in together, but the fact of the matter was that I was extremely hesitant to move too fast. Darren might be dreaming far into the future about a honeymoon and marriage...but he was still dreaming of it, and that was a lot of pressure.

  “I guess there’s still a lot of stuff we don’t know about each other.” The situation was so crazy, being so in love with someone but knowing almost nothing about him. All that superficial stuff, like Darren’s favorite food, and his favorite movie genre ‒ all the things that filled those small pockets in a relationship ‒ I didn’t know. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

  “I’m glad you can say that, Delilah.” Cupping my jaw, Darren caressed my cheek with his thumb. “I never thought getting to this day would feel as amazing as it does.”

  I sighed at the pure bliss of this moment. Picking up my head, I caught Darren’s eyes, their dark glow intensified by the yellow light spilling from the lampshade. The vision of him struck me, his sharp features sagging slightly from sleep. His jaw was slack, his face relaxed as his thick eyelashes fluttered lightly. Butterflies fluttered in my belly, and my heart throbbed painfully
at the notion that this man...

  This man who had hurt me so much—he was all mine. Even through the worst, Darren would stand by me. If I made a mistake, Darren would help me. If I did something right, Darren would praise me and make me feel like whatever I had done was worth celebrating. If I wanted something, Darren would give it to me just because I wanted it.

  His eyes widened in alarm, his expression softening as he reached to touch my cheek.

  I blinked hard. A single, brave tear dripped off my eyelashes onto his thumb, but he was quick to hide it between chapped lips. My chest tightened and suddenly, breathing became a chore of fire and lack of space. “Oh… ” Throwing my arms around his neck, I crashed my lips on his.

  Darren jerked back a little in surprise.

  The taste of him coated my mouth before I’d even opened it. Strong, sure hands held my sides under my too-big-for-me shirt and I straddled his waist as flames licked up my thighs.

  Darren slowly laid down as his hands caressed down my back. The thick callouses on his skin rose goosebumps on my skin, the cold air from the room slipping under my shirt. His tongue slipped between my lips and I whimpered pathetically as emotions watered my eyes. Long fingers crept under my panties, and his tongue danced with mine sweetly even when he squeezed my ass cheeks hard.

  Tearing my mouth away to pant harshly, I kissed down his neck and shivered when Darren groaned huskily. He turned his head, giving me all the free reign I wanted, and I reached between us to rub the hard bulge in his pajama pants. His little gasp was music, his fingernails digging into my ass cheeks, sending delicious shivers up my spine.

  Darren’s chest hairs tickled my nose and chin while a ravenous sort of hunger gnawed at my gut. Need sloshed up my throat as I threw the sheet off us roughly and pulled his cock from his pants. Licking my lips, my taste buds went wild as I practically drooled from the need that engulfed me. He spread his legs, his hands gliding up my back and into my hair to pull the strands taut. The tugging sensation sent shivers lodging between my shoulder blades, and I panted furiously as need crowded my lungs.