Page 71 of Obsession of the Bratva

His jaw tightened. “Bad. I need to be out there fighting beside my men.”

The honesty surprised me. Then again, maybe there wasn’t time for lies anymore. He looked at me for several seconds as if studying me and thinking. Then something shifted behind his eyes. Something that had been building for weeks. Maybe months. Maybe since the moment he dragged me out of that church.

“There’s something you’re not telling me, Vera.”

The words landed heavily, and I froze. He was right. I hadn’t told him the threat my father had delivered, which had led me to leave him. I had been afraid he wouldn’t believe me, but now was not the time to have that conversation.

“What do you mean?” I asked instead.

His gaze locked onto mine, unrelenting and focused. “You’ve been hiding something.”

My pulse accelerated. “Nothing, Nico.”

“You took everything, Vera. You took the kidnapping, the stalking, the revenge, the humiliation, the anger, and you stayed with me through all of it. You never once tried to run or resist or leave or escape. Even right now, you know your ex-fiancée is here for you, and yet all you care about is my safety rather than running away. Why, Vera?”

My heartbeat settled because this was a question I could answer. A question I wanted to answer. I had no desire to keep him in the dark about my feelings. I looked directly at him, and for once I didn’t think. I simply told the truth.

“I don’t want to leave, Nico. Now or ever.” The words echoed through the room. Nico didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe. I continued before courage abandoned me. “I never wanted to leave or run or escape. You know this as well as I do.”

“Why?” he asked, his question a whisper.

“I know everything is a mess.” My voice shook as I laughed nervously. “I know we’re a disaster. I know you have every reason to hate me. But I don’t want to leave. I cannot leave you. Not this time. Not again.”

The confession settled between us.

Raw and unfiltered.

Something in his expression cracked just slightly, but it was enough to expose the man underneath. The one I loved. The one who still loved me despite desperately trying not to. The realization hurt because we were so close. So incredibly close. And still separated by secrets. A loud crash exploded somewhere outside , and both of us flinched.

Reality slammed back into place.

Nico cursed, and a second later, shouting echoed beyond the reinforced door.

Much closer this time. Too close. The hair on the back of my neck rose, and Nico immediately stepped between me and the entrance, his weapon raised. His focus returned while the moment we had just shared disappeared.

“Nico—”

“Stay behind me.”

The shouting grew louder, and the door in front of us trembled. Once. Twice. Then again. My stomach dropped. Someone was trying to force their way inside, which only meant that the attackers had somehow reached us. The safe room wasn’t safe anymore.

Outside, gunfire erupted, and screams followed. The sound of bodies hitting the floor. There was more shouting , and then silence.

Brief, terrible silence.

Nico’s grip tightened on the rifle. Every muscle in his body became steel. The door shook again, much harder this time. Metal groaned, and a warning alarm activated. I felt cold all over.

“Nico.”

He didn’t look away from the door. “It’s okay.”

The lie was immediate. Instinctive. As if he was trying to protect me from the truth. It almost made me smile, and then the door exploded inward. Chaos flooded the room. Gunfire erupted as men shouted all around us. Everything happened at once. Nico moved fast. Faster than I thought possible, and the room filled with deafening noise.

Muzzle flashes. Smoke. Screams.

I stumbled backward, trying to stay out of the way and not panic. Someone crashed into a wall as another body hit the floor. The world became fragments. There was movement, violence, and noise.

Then pain.