Bratva Redemption

by Coco Miller

  A soft air release emits from the weapon, and one by one, their lifeless bodies collapse onto the ground.

  This is going to be much easier than I expected.

  “We have twenty more Italians heading down the road to get to the house,” the other group says into the earpiece I’m wearing.

  “Good. I was worried this wasn’t going to be fun,” I say, inspecting the home for anything out of the ordinary. I try to figure out where Alegra can be, but I don’t have a good angle of the house.

  My eyes catch a faint glow in a window under the house. There’s a light on in the basement but nowhere else.

  She’s there.

  The cars carrying the Italians my men warned me about pull up to the house. Five cars pull up, and every man that steps out looks dumber than the last. We are outnumbered but the difference is my men are trained killers and these men are hired help. We can take them down in no time. A hundred men couldn’t keep me away from my woman.

  Moya Dusha. My sweet Alegra.

  When I have her back in my arms, I’m going to take care of her, kiss her, and make love to her, over and over again until I feel centered again. Until I feel like she is really in my arms. Never again will I let her out of my sight. I’ll triple my security; I’ll get guard dogs, I’ll install more cameras. She will never have to worry about danger again. I’ll even assign Vlad as her bodyguard. She’ll be safe and they can get to know each other.

  I can’t function knowing this could possibly happen to her again because of me. I have to be better for her, and these fucks are in my way of making sure she is safe.

  I’m ready to kill and bury everyone who is in my way and who tries to stop me from taking what is mine.

  Forever prisoners.

  Chapter Nine

  Alegra

  I’m tired.

  I just want to sleep for days. The rain outside is starting to fall pretty hard and it’s just making me sleepier. I can’t sleep though. I’m afraid I might have a concussion and I’ve read stories about what happens to people who fall asleep with a concussion. Sometimes they wake up with deficits like a stutter or sometimes they don’t wake up at all.

  The smell of Ivan’s dead body might make me pass out though.

  Santini didn’t take the body back up with him when he left me, telling me he was letting me say my goodbye’s to my lover. It only makes me feel sick. I’ve never had a lover before Kazimir, and I never will again. Ivan can rot for all I care, and whatever Kazimir did to him, I know he deserved.

  My vision starts to swim, and the shadows creep along the edges of my eyes, pulling me under. “No,” I mutter to myself, hoping the sound of my raspy voice keeps me awake. Where is Kazimir? Why hasn’t he come for me yet? Does he not care about me at all? Did he lie to me? Maybe he never cared for me. Maybe once he found out that my mother was a whore, he thought I was a whore too. Maybe it was all bullshit from the very beginning.

  He can’t possibly be that cruel.

  Not when I gave myself to him and only him.

  Not when he made love to me like I was something precious.

  But what else could be the explanation? It’s been days and Kazimir has not come for me. Maybe I need to accept he never will. Maybe I need to go to sleep and hope that I never wake up.

  The emotions I’ve been holding back creep up on me. My eyes burn with tears. I’m not sure how much stronger I can be. I’m such a fool to think Kazimir wanted more than just another notch on his belt. A virgin notch. A snitch’s daughter.

  Actually, this is all starting to make sense. Maybe concussions make you clear headed right before they kill you. Kazimir had to have known I was my mother’s daughter after all. His father doesn’t keep secrets from him. Of course.

  I’ve fallen in love with a Bratva boss who has a sick penchant for revenge. Just how naïve can a woman be?

  A tear rolls down my cheek, stinging the deep laceration on my cheek from the hard slap Santini gave me before he went upstairs. I don’t have the energy to move anymore. I’m giving up. It’s easier than living a life being used, or if I get out of here, living a life where Kazimir doesn’t love me.

  Another tear of doubt rolls, and before I know it I’m balling my eyes out, barely able to catch my breath since my ribs are killing me. Everything hurts and I just want the pain to stop.

  I jump when I hear a loud thud upstairs then gunshots. I scream, covering my head with my hands when a board breaks in half and someone falls through, landing hard on their back.

  I back away and press against the bars so hard, the rust on the metal scratches my skin but I barely feel it. My eyes are glued to the man lying dead on the floor and the door to the basement. Screams ring through the air and I cover my ears. My heart is pounding at a dangerous level and my blood is roaring in my ears.

  I can’t panic.

  Not right now.

  A bullet pierces the floor above me and lands right by my feet, sending sawdust into the air and the panic I didn’t permit myself to feel a second ago invades me.

  I need out of this damn cage. I crawl to the front and reach through the bars towards the body. There is a key ring on the man’s hip, and if I can just reach it I can get out, but the body is too far away. My fingers are just a breath away, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t reach it.

  My shoulder is digging into the bars, and my ribs are protesting from being stretched when they shouldn’t be. A hot sweat breaks out over my brows the more I keep trying. Bullets still fly above me, and I hope that I don’t get hit, but at this point I’m super focused.

  I have to get out of here and this may be my last chance to do it.

  The basement door opens and I fall back onto my ass and scramble away. It’s Santini. He has blood spatter on his cheek and his pant leg is torn, revealing a large gunshot wound. He hobbles over to me, limping to put most of his weight on his good leg as the fight continues upstairs.

  “You’re coming with me,” he says, reaching into his pocket to get out another set of keys.

  “She isn’t going anywhere with you,” Kazimir says from the middle of the staircase.

  “Kazimir!” A sob breaks free from my chest. Relief and happiness break me.

  Oh my god, he is here.

  He came for me.

  Just when I doubted him, just when I was about to give up, he came for me. I should have never doubted him.

  “Shut up!” Santini yanks me from the cage and holds the warm barrel of a gun that recently shot a bullet against my temple. It’s almost too hot but I can’t get away. His hold on me is too tight. “It’s over, Kazimir. Put down your weapon. You have lost! I have her! Just like you had my son.”

  “Your son deserved to sink to the bottom of the fucking Hudson River after what he did to one of my men.”

  Back and forth with these two. How long has this gone on for?

  “I think it’s only fair to take someone you love too,” Santini says, licking the shell of my ear.

  “Kazimir,” I whimper, watching as he steps down from the steps. The light illuminates half of his face and I nearly fall to my knees. It’s so good to see his face, but he looks tired, ragged, and like he hasn’t shaved.

  He looks almost... broken.

  Is that my fault?

  Does he care about me that much? Is it wrong for me to want him not to be able to function without me just like I can’t without him?

  “It’s okay, Alegra.” Kazimir consoles me. “Do me a favor and close your eyes.”

  “No, Alegra, keep them open. Watch as I kill him,” Santini taunts.

  I swallow when he moves the gun from my temple to the middle of my chest.

  “Take another step, Kazimir, and watch me blow a hole in her chest.”

  A loud explosion interrupts his threat and it causes half of the floor above me to fall.

  “Alegra!” Kazimir screams as boards fall on top of me and Santini. The gun is gone, but I’m buried in heavily weighted wood.

  Santi
ni’s fingertips brush against mine, trying to get to me. I can’t move.

  Kazimir coughs. “Alegra! Alegra, where are you. Moya Dusha, answer me!” he yells desperately, his voice breaking with anguish.

  I groan, trying to push a piece of wood off me, but my ribs…I can’t.

  “Alegra?” Kazimir lifts the floorboards off me, grunting with every old piece of wood he picks up. They crash somewhere in the distance, and when the dark shadow of the last board lifts from over my head, humid and smoke-filled air is still fresher than being covered and in a musky hole.

  “Moya Dusha,” he says in relief when he sees me alive, carefully tossing the other boards off me in order to lift me up.

  “You came for me,” I cough after ingesting some dust.

  He lifts me up by my arms and cradles me like a bride, bringing my lips to his in a quick, searing kiss.

  “Did you doubt me?” he asks, the words a soft breath against my mouth as he climbs the steps. I hear the other floorboards creaking and groaning, telling me Santini is not down for the count just yet.

  Kazimir shoots off a few rounds behind him, not aiming because he is focused on getting me out of this house. I just hope one of the bullets lands in Santini’s head.

  The screams have died down and a random shot every now and then splits the air telling me the fight is almost over.

  “I did for a moment. I wanted to give up,” I mutter against the warmth of his chest as he carries me outside. “It was too hard to hope.”

  Dead bodies are everywhere and I know it’s only a matter of time before the cops get here. We have to get out before they arrive. He runs through the smoking grass with small bits burning in flames. Heavier footsteps are behind us, and when I look I see Vlad.

  My brother.

  “Vlad,” I shout in horror when I see that his shoulder bleeding. A few other men that I notice from Kazimir’s home are behind him. The corn stalks whip against us, but the sting doesn’t compare to the pleasure and relief I feel in Kazimir’s arms.

  My eyes are heavy and before I can say anything, I finally let my lids shut, giving in to the peace that my soul finally feels.

  I am home.

  Chapter Ten

  Kazimir

  It’s been one day since Alegra’s extraction and she hasn’t stirred. She fell asleep in my arms and hasn’t woken up. Our doctor checked her out and while she has three broken ribs, a fractured cheekbone, a few bumps on the head that can be described as getting her face bashed in, and other minor injuries, the head wounds concern him most. Right now, he thinks she is just exhausted and will wake up when she finally gets her rest but he wants us to keep a close eye on her.

  No problem.

  I’ll never leave her side.

  I’ve been waiting and waiting for those beautiful eyes of hers to open back up and look at me. To stare at me with the awe, relief, and what I think is love that they did when I first found her. I just want to know she is healthy and that our lives can get back to normal. Well, as normal as our lives can truly be after something like this.

  “You need to go shower, Kazimir. I will watch her,” Vlad says, freshly dressed out of his blood−stained clothes. He has a few bruises on him and his shoulder is in a sling from the gunshot wound. Luckily, it’s just a wound. If Vlad had died, I would have been devastated. He is one man I cannot lose.

  “I don’t want to miss her waking up,” I whisper with a shake of my head. She looks so peaceful right now. I hate that I didn’t get to her sooner. Half of her face is swollen, black and blue, her ribs are wrapped, and her lip is busted. She’s filthy, and she needs to bathe, but her rest is more important. She’ll wake up soon.

  “Kazimir—”

  “I said I don’t want to miss her waking up,” I snap, cutting him off from what he’s about to say. “I need to be next to her. I cannot miss anything. One move, one breath, one sigh, I cannot, Vlad. I have to be here. I’ve already fucked this up enough.”

  I hold onto her hand and lightly squeeze it, letting her know that I have her for the rest of our lives. I’ll be here.

  “Kazimir, shower. I’m having food brought up and water. The bathroom is right there. I will come to you if anything changes. She wouldn’t want to see you like this when she wakes up.”

  This is why he is more my brother than a man who works for the family. He’s right. I need to get the blood and grime off me, but the thought of not being near her after so many days of worry…I’m not sure I can.

  “Go,” Vlad says as if he can hear the doubt running through my mind. “I promise I’ll take care of her.”

  I know he will. She’s his sister after all, but it doesn’t make it easier. I get up and bend down to press a kiss to her forehead and she sighs in content. She can feel me; even in her dreams she can feel me.

  There is this insecurity inside of me, a small one, niggling in the back of my head. I’m afraid this is something we can’t get through, something she won’t forgive me for. She almost died. Santini could have killed her. This is why my father always taught me that women were liabilities in this business. They can cross you like Alegra’s mother did or they can be targeted by your enemies, which is a hundred times worse.

  If Alegra has any sense at all, she’ll wake up from this nightmare and run from me as far as she can. Hell, that’s what she was trying to do before the Italians got her. And maybe she should go. I don’t even know if she’s completely safe. I’m unsure if Santini is dead. No one found his body. And that only tells me the fight isn’t over.

  I want him dead.

  I want him buried six feet under with a big ass maple tree planted on top of his body.

  That’s the only way this ends.

  “I’ll be back, Moya Dusha,” I whisper to her. “You have been wanting to know what my pet name for you means. It means ‘my soul,’. You’re my soul, Alegra. I cannot lose you. You bring me light when all I feel is darkness. Please wake up soon. I love you. I need you.”

  I press a kiss to her unmoving lips and speed walk away from the bed to the bathroom. I don’t look at Vlad. I don’t want him to see me with shiny eyes on the verge of tears. The Bratva doesn’t cry.

  I open the door that leads to the closet and get out a pair of grey sweatpants and a plain shirt. It isn’t often I wear them, but the only thing I have planned is taking care of her and my father. I might as well be comfortable doing it.

  The rainforest shower head turns on, falling from the ceiling just like a raincloud pouring, and the steam of the hot water fogs the mirror. I undress, taking the blood-soaked clothes off, making a note to burn them. I step in the stall and groan when the hot water hits my back. The tension releases and my shoulders sag as I lean my palms flat against the tile wall. It feels so good, the heavy pressure of the water plummeting against my back.

  I rub my hand over my face when my eyes start to feel heavy. The last few days are finally catching up with me. I could sleep for a fucking week, but I won’t shut my eyes until Alegra comes back to me.

  My cock stirs between my legs, plumping at the thought of her waking up and being healed enough for me to slide inside her. It’s been so long. I feel like it’s been ages even though it’s only been days. My sack aches to unload my seed into her womb and have her bound to me for life. I want to touch myself, I need the release, but Alegra doesn’t get to feel pleasure right now, so I’m not going to think of her naked and writhing under me, whispering my name in my ear.

  I’m not going to touch myself until I can touch her. My come doesn’t belong down the drain. It only belongs inside of her until she is leaking with it, and then I’m going to gather it up with my fingers and push it back into her folds.

  “Fuck,” I whine when my cock stands up, passing my navel, throbbing with an ache that almost sends me to my knees. I look down, watching the angry bulbous head leak pre-come. It’s red, almost purple.

  I flip the hot water to cold and turn around, letting the water spray against my cock. I think abou
t blood, how I killed Ivan, and my father dying to settle myself down.

  Nothing is working.

  My balls are pulled up tight to my body, and I know with even the gentlest touch, I’ll come. I’m still going to ignore it. I think about Alegra and her injuries. About how she can barely breathe and the bruises on her face and finally the blood stops rushing to my cock.

  I think about her split lip and the floor falling on her.

  I think about her crying, her eyes desperately pleading for me to save her.

  And my cock finally deflates; the cold water making me shiver.

  All it takes is for me to remember she is in pain and my want recedes. Flipping the hot water on again, I wash my hair and body quickly, twice to make sure I have all the grime off me, then scrub underneath my nails to get the blood out.

  When I’m done, I turn off the shower and step out, grabbing the extra−large fluffy towel, I dry myself off, scrub my hair, and then slip on my clothes. I don’t look at myself in the mirror like I usually do. The mirror is fogged, and frankly I don’t give a fuck about what I look like. When I step out, a wave of steam follows me and Vlad stares at me in shock when he sees what I am wearing.

  “Anything?” I say, climbing into bed with her. I lay on my side and prop my head up on my palm, staring at her sleeping form.

  “No, nothing,” he yawns at the same time a knock sounds at the door. “That will be the food.” Vlad gets up to answer the door, and while he deals with the food I lay next to Alegra, debating if I should try to wake her up to give her a bath. She’s a mess.

  A hot, sexy mess, but a mess, nonetheless.

  My eyes are heavy, so heavy. All I want to do is sleep. She wiggles a bit, mumbling and whimpering in pain. I sit up and pet her greasy hair back, crooning sweet nothings into her ear. “It’s okay, Alegra. You’re safe. I have you, Moya Dusha. You’re safe. I love you. Calm. Relax. Come back to me,” I whisper into her ear and then kiss the bruise on her cheek lightly. She stops moving, and the stress lines in her face contort and finally relax. She sinks back into the pillow, and a small half-smile graces her lips. “That’s my girl,” I say, proud that she’s listening to me even in the fits of a nightmare.