Page 24 of My Bratva Christmas


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So much for hoping Lily’s safe with Sergey out of the picture. Artem is right, the fucker does have an extensive and loyal network. But our network is bigger, stronger, and undoubtedly more highly skilled.

With the woman distracted, now focusing on Artem, I catch her off guard and knock her arm away from Lily. She stumbles off balance and throws a punch my way. She’s well trained, I’ll give her that, but still no match for me. I catch her arm and pin it between two of mine, applying pressure.

When I hear asnap, I know with confidence that she’s out of commission.

She groans, stifling anything louder, and looks at her arm, now bent at an unnatural angle.

“Sorry, lady. If you go to the ER, they’ll set that for you. Should only take six weeks or so to heal,” Artem says. “’Course, they’ll also ask you a lot of questions.”

I chuckle. Can’t help myself. The woman’s face pales from the pain she’s in, and even more so knowing there isn’t much she can do about it. Sergey might have hired her, but now that she’s failed her mission, he’ll drop her like a hot rock.

She is screwed.

And she knows it.

“Fuck you,” she spits. “And you too, you bitch,” she says to Lily.

Artem takes the woman’s good arm and twists it up behind her back. “I’ll take care of this delightful woman, Val. You take Lily back to the table.”

Artem leads the woman out of the ladies’ room and turns left, which I know will take him through the kitchen and out the back door. I’m pretty sure there’s someone out back waiting for her, and that Artem plans to straighten them both out.

So to speak.

Threat neutralized, I turn back to Lily. Her eyes are wide, kind of comatose actually, and as soon as I put a hand on her arm to comfort her, she turns to the bathroom sink and gets sick.

I’m not surprised. Just unhappy this had to happen, that Lily had to see this, experience this, be part of this.

As much as I want her in my life—all our lives, I should say—she doesn’t deserve this sort of terror. But I can protect her. It’s the most important thing I can do. And, really, theonlything I can do.

After splashing water on her face, Lily crumbles into my arms. “How… how did they find me? Why were they waiting for me?” she cries. “Is this ever going to end?”

She buries her face in my chest, shaking from the confrontation. I don’t blame her. My adrenaline is running fast and furious too. Artem and I got to Lily just in time. If we’d waited much longer, Lily might be gone. Sure, we’d find her, eventually. But she might not be alive.

“Take a deep breath, sweetie. You’re safe now,” I say, pulling her off my chest so I can look at her, my hands on either side of her face.

“H… how can I be?” she asks.

“Hey. What’s going on?”

We whip around to see who’s joining us, and in the process, I draw my gun again.

But it’s just my brother.

“Grish. One of Sergey’s cronies had a gun to Lily’s head and was about to show her out of the restaurant.”

And probably land a bullet right between her eyes.

He runs his hands through his hair. “Well, that would be a waste of an expensive dinner,” he jokes. “Holy fuck.” He reaches for Lily and draws her into his arms just like I did.

She needs to know we all have her back.

“What did Artem do with the shooter?” he asks.

“He escorted her out. Right after breaking her arm.”

Lily gasps, then turns again for the bathroom sink.

Christ almighty.

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