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The world around me stops. No one dares to move. There are no more slaps or taunts while I rein my anger in.
But I can’t. I can’t control it.
I’m on Seryozha before anyone can react, lifting him off the ground by his collar. His tie presses into his throat as he gasps for air.
“She is mine and not to be touched,” I snarl as my father’s voice pours out from my lips.Still think I’m a faint copy of the original?“Fake or not, she is my wife. Your pakhan’s wife. You disrespected me when you touched her.”
I toss him onto the ground. And he lies coughing, his face hard against the dirt.
“It won’t happen again.” His words are forced out between coughs as drool escapes his lips. “It won’t ever happen again, my pakhan.”
I’m tired of his begging and hold out my hand. “Dima, your gun, please.”
Seryozha’s eyes widen.
“Untie him,” I say as I take Dmitri’s gun into my hand.
The women grab at the knots, pulling them open. And he rubs his wrists with his other hand.
“Today is your lucky day, Seryozha. Today, you will learn a very important lesson. I won’t shoot you between the eyes unless you look at my wife again.” I laugh darkly. “And to help you remember, we will play a party game. Do you care to know what it is?”
His head dips unwillingly in a nod.
“We will see who among us is the best marksman.” I smile. “And you will be a target. We will allow you a head start. If you make it to the road, you live. One … Two …”
Seryozha scrambles to his feet, and his face twists in pain as he hurries for cover in the trees.
I take aim and shoot. He yelps in pain, clutching his shoulder.
We laugh, and I hand Dmitri back his gun.
“Whoever kills him has to clean up the mess.” I leave them to carry out my lesson. “He lives, but not without pain.”
Dmitri nods and takes aim. A bullet ricochets off a tree trunk, narrowly missing Seryozha’s head. Smirking, he hands his gun to Natasha.
She accepts the gun and rolls her eyes at his smirk.
“You’re a shit shot, Dima.” She raises the gun and squeezes the trigger. Somewhere in the dark, Seryozha screams in pain. “And you’re an even shittier flirt.”
***
“I thought she was nothing and a nobody!”
Seryozha was right. I thought the same thing until someone pointed a gun at her. And now, I have pushed her into the spotlight for all to see. People want to hurt her, including my own.
Her father is a guilty man. He has to be. Otherwise, why would anyone be interested in killing her? And in the Bratva world, the sins of a father pass to his children.
But if Gerald Reyes is guilty, then why am I treating Paige as if she really is my wife?
I can hear Dmitri and Natasha laughing as another shot rings out in the dark as I make my way back.
When I arrive back at the venue, Inessa steps aside as I enter the hallway to the bridal suite. I nod to her. “I’ll be with my wife. No one at the door, but someone at the end of the hall. Call a guard and have them watch the stairs.”
Inessa nods and then glances at her phone when it chimes.
“What does it say?” I ask her.
“He made it to the road.”
