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And they show me exactly what the wife of the Suvorov Bratva’s Pakhan can expect.
“Liya,” he says, his voice sounding a million miles away. “Come on. We have to go.”
“Let me go.”
He sighs while nudging me toward the rear of the club. Brigadiers trot around us, gathering weapons and injured men. Stepan ushers us quickly through the club. Everything is moving fast now, and I can’t keep up.
“If I let you go, you’ll fall,” Pavel insists. “Here, hold my shoulders. That’s it.”
I shake my head as he slides his arm under my shoulders. “No, I mean let me go from this stupidmarriage, Pavel.”
He stiffens, but he doesn’t stop jogging. “I’m going to protect you.”
“You’re full of shit.”
“Did you die back there? Were you even injured?”
The syllables are tainted with irritation. How can he blame me? We just got attacked out of nowhere. There are bodies all over the ground. I think I just tripped over someone’s spleen. It’s a wreck in here, and I can’t stand the mixture of smells—the gunpowder, the vodka, the body fluids soaking the tile floor.
“That’s not the point,” I snap. “I didn’t sign up for this. I don’t want to do it anymore.”
“Well, tough luck,rodnaya. You’re in. And I’m not letting you out.”
I shove him, knocking him off balance for a second. He grabs my upper arm and hauls me toward a hallway. I dig my nails into his bicep, but I don’t exactly fight. Exhaustion is taking the helm, and I don’t think I can handle any more stress on my system.
A sob rattles me. It’s more out of frustration now than fear. This isn’t what I wanted and I can’t find a loophole, a damn life raft to carry me away from the wreckage caused by Pavel and his stupid plan with my brother.
I’m stuck, I think helplessly as we dart through a series of hallways. An exit sign buzzes erratically at the end of the dim tunnel. An inkling of relief taps my chest. But it doesn’t last very long.I have to get away. I have to try.
“Please,” I beg. “Just let me go, Pavel.”
He stops on the sidewalk outside the exit door and whirls around to face me. It’s then I see the alarm on his face, the way his pupils have blown to such wide proportions that the green of his irises doesn’t even exist anymore.
A vein in his forehead pulses. “What do you think will happen to you if I let you go?”
My lips twitch as I struggle to respond.
“You’ll getkilled, Liya,” he continues while tightening his grip on my arm. “You’ll get gunned down in the street. Do you know why?”
I can take a dozen guesses, but I shake my head. I’m too stunned to speak. I don’t think I can even breathe. My heart feels like it’s about to give out.
“Because you’re mywife. If you leave, you’ll still be my wife. Cardona isn’t going to forget the stunt you pulled to get into this family.”
I frown with indignation. “You mean the stuntyoupulled with my brother.”
He ignores my point. “Your safety is at risk. I’m doing everything I can to keep your fucking brains in your head instead of on the ground.” He releases my arm. “Do you understand now, Liya? Do you get why I can’t just let you go?”
His words strike an old chord. Shame rises from the depths of my soul accompanied by a tattered memory, a piece of history that feels so similar that I get lost in it.
Pavel may be speaking, but it’s my brother’s words falling from his lips.
Don’t bite the hand that feeds, Liya, Jonas would say.You’re in my care now. That means I have to protect you. If I let you go, then you’ll die.
And then Jonas would hit me.
Again. And again. Andagain.
A car alarm rips through the night, yanking me out of the past. A black limo halts at the curb with a resonant screech, and then Stepan hops up on the sidewalk, urging us to get into the back. I didn’t even realize he ever left our side. Brigadiers surround us, holding their weapons up, keeping a tight perimeter that will follow our every move.
