“Get down!” Dimitri roars, and I see a smile lift Bjorn’s lips as I’m knocked to the floor before there is a shattering of glass. Looking up from the ground, I see Bjorn stand and aim his gun at me. Lifting my hand, I shoot at the same time he does. I see him go down on his knees as he places his hand over his stomach. I shoot again before he can recover, and this time, he is thrown back with the impact of the bullet as it hits him square in the chest.
“Motherfucker.” I only now feel the burning sensation in my shoulder. “Get off me,” I grunt to Dimitri, who is still holding me down with his weight after he threw himself at me. “Dimitri,” I call again, getting worried when he doesn’t move. I start shuffling. “Vlad, you okay?”
“Yeah, just waiting for our men to give us the go-ahead that the sharpshooter is gone.”
“Dimitri,” I call again as I finally manage to slide out from under him. Still lying down, I turn him over and grunt in anger when I see his white shirt under his suit jacket tinged with his blood. “Don’t you fucking die.” I feel for a pulse and find a weak one.
“Get the fucking doctor here, pronto,” I roar to Vlad as I tear open Dimitri’s shirt, forgetting about my own blood loss and pain. I press down on the wound to his chest, trying to stop the loss of blood. I hear Vlad talking, but I don’t pay attention, trying to maintain the pressure, because I can feel myself getting weaker too. I feel a hand on my back. Looking back, I see Vlad kneeling next to me, his face a mask of fury.
“Let me do that. They caught the sharpshooter,” he grunts as he places his hands over mine. “You are looking just as fucking bad as him. Lie down. The doctor is on the way. Fuck.”
I lie down and close my eyes. I must have passed out, because the next thing I know, I am being lifted onto a bed in the infirmary.
“He needs blood. Give me O Negative,” I hear the doctor snap before I close my eyes and feel the darkness take me down again. My last thought is that if I die, at least Raven and Luke are safe.
RAVEN 18
I hate the not knowing. It has been a few hours, and I haven’t heard anything from Nik. Luke has been asleep for an hour at least, but I can’t fall asleep when I worry that Nik might be hurt or worse. How does Jade do it—going through this day in and day out not knowing if her man is in danger or if she will get that one phone call telling her he’s dead?
I sit up in bed and look down at Luke next to me to make sure I didn’t wake him. When he doesn’t move, I go stand by the window. Alexey has a beautiful home in the middle of a huge property of trees. When we first arrived, I took Luke for a walk and was amazed at how beautiful it was here. I’m surprised they don’t live here instead of in the city. The house is only about an hour out of the city. I’m sure Alexey could easily commute if he had to.
I see the men patrolling the grounds in the distance, and the reality of the moment comes back to me. Will I be able to live this life, always worried about something happening to one of us? Will Luke be safe in this environment? I see movement below my window and Alexey on his phone, standing by the pool. By his movements, I can tell he isn’t pleased. His free hand strokes back his hair in agitation.
Alexey is a formidable figure who I must confess overwhelms me, but I see how caring he is with Jade, and I realize that these violent men hide their softer sides because of the world they live in. I can see it with Nik, how the men look up to him, how they respect him, and how different he is with the men from how he is with me and Luke.
I see Alexey lower his phone. His shoulders droop. Whatever it was has affected him somehow. I can feel my heart hammering in my chest with worry. Alexey turns and walks out of sight into the house. I’m sure if there is any problem, they will come and call me. I walk to the single seater near the window and sit facing the window. My mind wanders, and the next thing I realize, the sky is lighting. I have been sitting here the whole night.
Standing, I make my way to the shower. I may as well start getting ready, because I doubt I will sleep until I know how Nik is doing. When I come back out of the bathroom, I look at my phone, expecting a text, but there is nothing. Surely he knows that I’m worried. I can’t go through this again. I feel the tears behind my eyes as I dress. Will I be able to stay away from Nik again? It nearly killed me before. Will I be stronger this time?
An hour later, I’m descending the stairs with Luke, when I see Jade entering the dining room. “Jade,” I call as I reach the bottom. She turns, and I can see the concern on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Alexey left last night in a hurry and still hasn’t said anything.” I tried Nik’s phone before coming downstairs, and he didn’t answer, which worries me, because no matter what he’s doing, he will always answer my call.
“Do you think they caught Bjorn?” I ask.
“I hope so, because from what I’ve heard he’s a bad one. Apparently he’s involved in trafficking women,” Jade reveals as she shakes her head sadly.
“I tried Nik earlier, but he didn’t answer.”
“They might have their hands full at the moment. Bjorn is a mafia boss after all,” Jade says as she sits at the table.
“Powidge,” Luke says, and starts to wiggle to get to the floor.
“I will give you porridge, but only if you behave, so stop wiggling or you’re going to hurt yourself.” I pull out a chair and sit down with him on my lap. “Prepare yourself. This is what you have to look forward to,” I say with a smile to Jade as I see her stroking her stomach.
“I don’t mind. I’m looking forward to having my baby in my arms, and I think Alexey and Vlad are even more excited than I am,” she says as she pours herself orange juice.
One of the serving ladies walks in with a plate of croissants. “Good morning. Would you be needing anything else?” she asks as she places the croissants on the table.
“Have you by any chance got any porridge?” I ask. “This one decided he wants porridge this morning,” I say as I look down at Luke and stroke back his soft black hair.
“Do you want porridge, little man?” she asks with a smile.
“Powidge,” Luke says with a nod as he claps his hands.
“Well, then, porridge coming up,” she says as she laughs and walks out again.
“How many staff do you have here?” I have seen at least three different women, and yesterday when we arrived, there were two gardeners as we were driving up the driveway.
Jade looks up from the croissant she’s opening and frowns. “I’m not sure in exact numbers, but there are a few. Alexey employs most of his men’s families. He says he would rather help his men than people he doesn’t know. Also, he believes that like that, he also knows they are loyal.”
I never thought about that, but now that Jade mentioned it, I can believe that they would want to make sure everyone is safe and close. I’m sure that being part of the mafia has everyone under police scrutiny, and if they don’t have the loyalty of their people, they might be in trouble.
A few minutes later, Luke is happily eating his porridge, when Vlad walks in. The minute I see his face, I know something is wrong.
“What’s wrong? Is Alexey okay?” Jade asks as she stands from her chair, one of her hands fisted at her chest.
“Alexey is fine, don’t worry,” he says as he walks up to her and hugs her. I see her shoulders sag in relief. When I look up, I see his eyes on me, and I know that I’m not going to like the news. My stomach knots, and I feel like my feet are filled with lead.
“Vlad?” I don’t even realize that I call his name until I hear it.
“Nik and Dimitri have been shot”—I feel my head start to spin—“but they are hanging in there. I came to bring you to Nik.” At first, I don’t react and just sit there looking at him until Jade pulls away from Vlad and walks to me.
She comfortingly places her hand on my shoulder. “I will stay with Luke. You go and let me know how they are doing,” she says, which has me jumping out of my chair. Luke dro
ps his spoon, the porridge scattering on the table, but I ignore it and his complaints as I hand him over into Jade’s arms.
“Thank you,” I say as I hurry towards Vlad. “Let’s go. I don’t need anything.” He nods and places his hand on my upper arm as he guides me outside and helps me into the passenger seat of his Mustang.
“Put your seatbelt on,” he states as he closes the door and walks around to the driver’s seat. A few minutes later, we are speeding towards the city.
“How is he?” I ask, but I’m scared to hear the answer.
Vlad looks over at me, his features softening, but I can see how tense his hands are on the steering wheel, his knuckles white from the force he is exerting. “Nik was shot in the shoulder; the wound isn’t that bad, but he needed a transfusion from all the blood loss. The doctor says he should be fine. Dimitri is the one in critical condition.” At his revelation of Nik’s condition, I take in a deep breath to calm myself. I know that it’s wrong of me to feel relief when Dimitri might not pull through, but I can’t help it. The thought of Nik being shot, of his bigger-than-life energy being extinguished, has me forgetting all my doubts of last night.
The feeling of emptiness that filled me when Vlad informed us that Nik was shot made me realize that no matter what, I would go through what I went through last night repeatedly and have Nik with me than not ever see him again. There is no way I can keep away from him. Yes, there is violence. Yes, our future will always be an unknown cycle of violence, but I would rather have that future with him than one without him.
Looking over at Vlad, I can see the pain in his face, the pain of having two of his men injured. If my son grows up and has the good fortune of having men like Vlad, Alexey, and Dimitri by his side, he will know that he has men he can depend on besides his family.
“What happened, Vlad?” I ask, and he glances at me. I can see the indecision on his face of relating the facts of what happened. “I need to know.” If I know how it all happened, I won’t imagine the worst and will know the truth.
He nods, a frown on his face. “Bjorn wasn’t where we expected. Then, we found out that he managed to get into our building and was hiding in your apartment.” He stops talking and glances at me when I gasp.
“He was inside the apartment?”
“Da,” he confirms. “There was a sharpshooter like yesterday. We never thought they would try the same trick so soon. As the windows haven’t been fixed yet, he managed to get a shot through and injured Dimitri as he pushed Nik out of the way. Bjorn was waiting for that and took that opportunity to take a shot at Nik, but your man still managed to get him.”
“Will anyone come after Nik because of killing Bjorn?” I have come to realize that the mafia take things like this to heart.
“Niet, Bjorn’s execution was approved by all the families.”
“What does that mean?” I ask suspiciously. Does it mean that the other families can just decide to kill anyone when they want and there will be no reckoning?
“Bjorn had this coming for a long time. We have rules that we all adhere to, and he didn’t like to comply with them.” He glances at me again. “We are all violent men, Raven, but Bjorn was evil.”
I know what he says is true. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You are Nik’s woman; therefore, you are part of the family. He trusts you. That is all I need to know,” Vlad says with a kind smile.
“And you’ve had me checked out,” I quip.
“That too.” This time, he glances at me and winks.
We continue in silence for the rest of the way until we’re walking into the infirmary. Before opening the door, he stops me. “Remember, he looks worse than he is.” And then he opens the door and guides me inside. The first thing I see is Alexey sitting on a chair between the two beds. Looking at the first bed, I see that it’s Dimitri, and my stomach tenses into knots when I see the tubes and the heart machine beeping.
My head snaps towards the other bed, and I gasp as I hurry towards Nik. His eyes are closed, but I can see his bandaged chest rising and falling with each of his breaths. I can feel the tears behind my eyes as I look at him. He usually has a presence larger than life, and in one moment, he could have been gone.
“The doctor says he will be fine.” Alexey places his hand over mine. Looking up from Nik, I see that he has stood and is now looking at me from the other side of the bed. “He woke up a while ago and asked for you,” he reveals with a sad smile. “The doctor says he will sleep for a while.” I nod, too choked up to talk. He squeezes my hand before letting go and sitting again. I look at Nik and stroke his cheek, and then bend down and kiss his lips gently.
“I’m here,” I whisper against his lips.
Time passes excruciatingly slow. A couple hours later, I’m sitting on a chair that Vlad pulled up against the bed, when I feel Nik squeeze my hand. Looking up at his face, I see his eyes on me.
“Nikolai, we need to have a talk about you getting hurt,” I say as I stand. I see his lips twitch as he nods.
“Where’s Luke?” he asks.
“I left him with Jade. I don’t want him to see you like this.”
He nods and closes his eyes for a second before he opens them again. “Marry me.”
“What?” I’m sure I didn’t hear right. Either that, or he’s delirious from the medication the doctor is giving him.
“Marry me, Raven,” he says again.
My stomach flutters as my heart races. “You don’t know what you are saying, Nik. You’re under the influence of the medication.”
His hand tightens on mine, and he pulls me closer. “Raven, I’m not under any influence, woman. You are already mine, so stop fighting me.”
“Yes, yes, Nik.” I lower my head and kiss him on the lips, but as I’m about to pull back, the hand that was holding mine holds my head still, and he kisses me with a passion that tells me that he’s going to be fine.
“Well, it looks like he can leave,” I hear Vlad say teasingly. “Not even the wound keeps him down,” I can feel my cheeks flaming in embarrassment when Nik finally lets me go.
Nik turns his head, and I see his lips lift in a smile, until his eyes fall on Dimitri. “How is he?”
Vlad shrugs and shakes his head.
“The doctor had to operate to extract the bullet. It was very close to his heart,” Alexey explains, his voice an angry rasp. “The next twenty-four hours are critical, but he’s a fighter. He will be fine.” Nik’s hand returns to mine, and this time, I’m the one squeezing his hand in comfort. I know that Nik has a connection with the three men in this room, and that Dimitri being like this affects him deeply.
Looking at the men, I notice how they all cover their grief, their faces expressionless, but I know that they are all hurting. I don’t know what the future holds for any of us, but I do know one thing—these men will do everything in their power to protect everyone in the Bratva Fury.
NIK 19
“You shouldn’t be doing this. You’re still not completely healed,” Raven murmurs as I pick her up and carry her to our bed. Luke is sleeping in his room, and I have been waiting for this moment the whole evening.
“I’m fine.” It has been nearly two weeks, but Raven still worries. A little wound like I had won’t stop me from having my woman. I lift her arms over her head as I kiss her neck. I know this drives her crazy. Holding her wrists with one hand, I bring the other one to her shirt and pull. The buttons pop and the shirt falls open.
“Nik.” She gasps, but I can see how turned on she is by her rapid breathing and her pebbled nipples. My lips cover one of her nipples over her bra, and she lifts her torso in passion. I can feel my cock straining against my slacks, but I won’t give in until my woman is taken care of. “Oh, that’s good,” she murmurs. My free hand moves to the hem of her skirt, pulling it up her thighs. When I’m at her core, I stop with my hand over her mound.
“Open your eyes, Raven,” I grunt as I look up at her beautiful face. When she slits open h
er passion-filled eyes, I feel my cock twitch, wanting to be let free of its confinement. “Keep your eyes on me.” I kiss down her stomach until my mouth is over her core. Placing my hand on the seam of her panties, I yank, hearing them tear.
“Open your eyes,” I order again as she closes them and raises her hips, “or I will stop.” That is an empty threat, because there is no way I can stop now. Her eyes snap open, and she stares at me, her lips slightly parted as she breaths.
Lowering my head, I keep my eyes on hers as my tongue touches her clit. “Ohhh.” She gasps, raising her hips in pleasure. I let go of her wrists and bring my hand down to her hips. My hands move under her ass, holding her up to my probing tongue. “Nik, please.” I slide my index finger into her heat.
“What do you want, Raven?”
“You, please, Nikolai.” She gasps as I stroke her with my tongue and plunder her depths with my finger. When I feel her walls start to tighten, I sit back and quickly divest myself of my clothes. I see her eyes move over my body, her tongue stroking her lips. Placing my hands on her hips, I turn her around until she’s lying on her stomach.
“On your knees,” I growl as I take my cock in my hand and squeeze. Her luscious ass lifts up until I’m looking at her essence dripping down her legs. Approaching her, I place my hands on each side of her ass. “You ready for me?”
“Yes.” And then I plunge deep into her heat. Gasping, I stop to give us both time to adjust. After a few breaths, I start to move, first slowly and then with more vigour, our grunts getting louder as we find our pleasure.
When I feel her walls start to convulse in readiness, I place my thumb over her clit and press slightly.
“Nik!” she screams as she explodes. I can’t hold back, letting her squeeze every drop out of me. My arm hugs her waist as I lower both of us to the bed, placing her on her side with her back to my front. When our breathing and heartbeats finally start to calm, I kiss her shoulder.
“You have one month, and then we get married. Do whatever you need to do, but then you’re mine,” I state, and feel her tense.
TURMOIL: Bratva Fury (book 2) Page 14