Page 72 of Obsession of the Bratva

A sharp burning sensation tore across my upper arm, and for a second, I didn’t even understand what had happened. Then I looked down and noticed blood. My blood.

“Oh.”

The room tilted as nausea slammed into me. The injury wasn’t severe. I knew that logically. But logic didn’t matter. The sight of blood sent my body into immediate revolt.

“Nico.” The word barely escaped my lips, but his head snapped toward me. Everything changed. Even in my current state, I noticed the absolute terror that crossed his face. It was not fear but terror instead. Pure and immediate.

“Vera!”

The room spun, and my knees buckled. I vaguely heard more gunfire. More shouting. But everything sounded distant now. Muted and far away. Nico reached me just before I hit the floor, and his arms caught me in time. He was strong, safe, and familiar. Just what I needed right now.

“Nico.”

“I’m here.”

The words sounded rough and panicked, which was unlike him. I wanted to tell him I was okay. Wanted to tell him I finally understood. Wanted to tell him the rest.

About my father. About the threat. About why I had lied. About why I had never stopped loving him. But darkness was already pulling me under. The last thing I saw was Nico’s face. The last thing I felt was his hand against my cheek. The last thing I heard was his voice.

Terrified and furious. Breaking in a way I had never heard before.

Then everything went black.

Chapter 17 - Nico

“Nico!”

Her name tore out of me before I even realized I was moving. Just a few seconds ago, she was standing there, and the next, a gunshot cracked through the room. Vera jerked violently, and then she hit the floor. Everything inside me stopped. For a fraction of a second, the entire world became silent.

I couldn’t hear anything. No alarms. No shouting. No gunfire. Nothing existed for me in that moment. It was just Vera collapsing. My heart slammed once against my ribs, and then the silence shattered. I drew my weapon and fired. The first man through the breached doorway dropped instantly. The second barely had time to raise his rifle before Viktor put a bullet through his skull.

The safe room erupted into violence as bodies surged through the opening. My men met them head-on, and gunfire exploded around us. Someone screamed. Someone else hit the floor.

I didn’t care. I couldn’t. Because Vera wasn’t moving. I ran towards her immediately and dropped beside her, blood rushing to my ears. I wanted nothing but for her to wake up and tell me she was okay. I wanted her to wake up. I wanted her alive and awake and mine. She should have been safe and away from all this chaos. It was all my fault. One second of neglect had led to this.

I was going to kill Adrian Petrov.

“Vera.”

Blood stained her sleeve. My stomach twisted so hard it felt like someone had shoved a knife between my ribs.

“Vera.”

Her eyes fluttered and then closed. She was losing blood.

“No.”

The word came out rough. Desperate. Nothing like me. Her skin felt cold beneath my hand. Too cold. Far too fucking cold.

“Nico!”

Viktor’s voice came from somewhere behind me, but I ignored him.

“Nico!”

The second shout was sharper. More urgent. And I finally looked up. Three attackers remained. My men were handling two, but the third was running toward the hallway, which connected to the rest of the house. Something dark and vicious unfurled inside me and I stood up. The attacker saw me and immediately understood he’d made a mistake.

A fatal one.