Page 81 of Obsession of the Bratva

She swatted my shoulder, but I caught her wrist instead and pulled her closer. For several precious minutes, nothing else existed.

Not Adrian. Not Manny Stavros. Not explosions. Not attacks. Not betrayal. Not revenge. Just us.

The way it should have been all along. Unfortunately, reality had a habit of showing up eventually. Her fingers traced absent patterns across my chest, and I could sense she was deep in thought.

“Nico, will you do something for me?” she asked, immediately grabbing my attention. “I don’t want more people getting hurt. Every time you told me about a warehouse attack, and after what happened yesterday, I am already deeply guilty. It feels as if I have done something wrong, you know? I hate the fact that all these people are dying because of me.”

There it was. The smile faded from my face. I should have known this conversation was coming because I knew Vera too well. Her heart was soft and kind in ways that made it impossible for her to even hurt a fly. The fact that men had died in a war that started over her was naturally impossible for her to digest.

She lifted her head, meeting my gaze. Carefully.

“I mean it, Nico.”

I remained silent, and she called out again.

“Nico. Say something.”

“Don’t, Vera.”

Her expression tightened. “Don’t what?”

“Ask me for something I can’t give you. You can ask me anything at all. Anything in the world. But don’t ask me to make promises I know I won’t be able to keep.”

The room grew quieter even though the warmth from earlier remained. But something harder began settling beneath it. Something inevitable.

“I don’t want a war, Nico. Can we not end this?”

I brushed my thumb across her cheek and sighed deeply. I was neither comforting nor dismissive, just honest.

“We already have a war on our hands, my love. We cannot deny it. We can’t close our eyes in front of it, and we cannot ask it to leave our doorstep. After what happened yesterday, the war is inevitable.”

“No, Nico. It doesn’t have to be.” Her voice sharpened. “This doesn’t have to keep escalating.”

I almost laughed, not because the statement was ridiculous but because it was hopeful. And hope had very little place in my world.

“Adrian attacked my home, Vera.” I kept my voice calm. “One of his men put a bullet in your arm and could have killed you. On top of that, they damaged my property, breached my security, and managed to kill a few of my men.”

The memory immediately darkened my mood.

“He wasn’t trying to kill me.”

The defense irritated me instantly. “He brought armed men into my house, and that is enough to start a war, Vera.”

“Nico—” she began speaking, but I cut her off.

My tone hardened. “What exactly do you think happens when bullets start flying?”

She looked away, but I continued.

“Before that, he attacked our warehouses.”

“Because he thought I was being held hostage.”

“Technically, you were.”

She glared at me, but I ignored it.

“Before that, your father threatened me.”