Arranged Bratva Love

Slavik

“We ran some blood tests,” the doctor said.

I didn’t look away from my wife. She was still out of it. I would never forget that cry. It had to be when the bullet hit her that she screamed for help. I heard the fear in her voice, the need.

When I got to the restaurant, Gus and Aurora had been on the ground. Gus had a stomach wound. Aurora had passed out from the bullet lodged inside her arm. They’d taken her to surgery, removed the bullet, and now she was bandaged up, recovering.

“What about them?” I asked.

“Congratulations, Mr. Ivanov, your wife is pregnant.”

I turned to the doctor. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. Blood work doesn’t lie, and I know you like to be thorough. I double-checked it myself. Your wife is pregnant.”

I looked at Aurora. This was good news.

“I would like to start making appointments for your wife’s care-”

“No,” I said. “You make that disappear.”

“You want me to perform an abortion on your wife?”

“No. Those documents, change them. You didn’t discover my wife was pregnant.” I got up from my chair and walked toward him. “That information is between you and me.”

The doctor looked at Aurora then at me. “Sir, with all due respect, pregnancies can be … difficult. We need to make sure she is healthy.”

“I will personally keep an eye on her. When I believe the time is right, I’ll let her know she is pregnant. Until then, you will be quiet about this, or do I have to make you realize who is the one with the power here?”

He bowed his head, submitting to me. Within seconds, he was gone.

I closed the door to the private room and stared at my wife. The men who’d been shooting at her were gone. All but one, who waited for me back at the warehouse. I should be there rather than here. I had men waiting to guard her. Gus was supposed to protect her. Not that I blamed him. He’d done his best.

I sat down. This wasn’t what I was supposed to do. My wife would be taken care of.

So, the first lunch date my wife went on, she was attacked.

I ran fingers through my hair as I watched her.

Pregnant. Aurora was pregnant with my child.

I didn’t know if she was ready to accept that news or if she’d scream at the unfairness of it. Now wasn’t the time to be bringing a child into the world.

I tapped my fingers on my thigh, waiting. The doctor had said she’d wake up soon and she’d be a bit groggy. I shouldn’t care about how she woke up, but I did.

Her hand lay by her side.

Flat.

Lifeless.

I never felt anything but anger in all my life. My rage had helped me to fuel my need to win, to fight. To be the best I could be. To be the monster who took lives and made others afraid.

Arriving at the restaurant and seeing Aurora passed out cold on the ground, I’d known real fear. My wife was becoming a problem because I refused to have feelings. They were a weakness, but my wife, she made me feel so many fucking things, and it wasn’t good.

She was only a piece of property. My wife to cement Ivan’s place. He wanted the treaty in the hope of one day taking over the Italian mafia. Their hold on their turf was sliding. We knew it, they knew it. Binding to us gave them the added power to scare off attacks, but it also meant in time, we’d own them. They would work for us.

This was always a careful balancing act of power, and Ivan was the master of it.

My wife wasn’t supposed to mean anything to me. There was no way I should care if she was out cold or hurt, or injured, or even if someone had fucking upset her. Yet, here I was.

Andrei had changed the woman he was going to marry. Bethany was no longer by his side. The wedding was happening, but with her sister, Adelaide. No one was going to hurt my wife again.

She released a moan, and I leaned forward, taking her hand. “Aurora,” I said.

Her eyes opened then closed. Opened again. I waited for her to get accustomed to the light, and she gasped, sitting up and wincing.

The doctor had given her enough painkillers to help manage whatever pain she experienced. I couldn’t stand the thought of her hurting.

Sitting on the bed, she squeezed my hand. “Slavik,” she said. “You came.”

Even though she was hooked up to wires, she wrapped her arms around me only to gasp as pain likely shot through her system from the bullet wound.

“You were shot,” I said.

“Ouch.” She pouted. “How bad is it?”

“Not bad. They were able to remove the bullet and it didn’t do any lasting damage. You’ve had a few stitches, and you’ll hurt for a short time. Not too long.”

She looked at her arm. “I remember.”

“Do you have any idea who would have shot at you?”

She shook her head. “No. Cara had to leave. She went first. Gus paid the bill and was escorting me out. We waited for the car.”

“Why wasn’t the car there?” I asked.

“You’d have to ask Gus. Is he okay?”

“He’s asleep. The doctors wanted to assess him for the damage.” Gus had been shot in the abdomen, arm, and hand. Severe blood loss had him fighting for his life, but I wasn’t about to tell Aurora.

“Why would anyone shoot at us? It makes no sense.”

“A message.” I stroked her hair back from her cheek. These feelings coursing through my body, I had no idea what they meant. They were coming thick and fast. She looked so beautiful. I knew she’d been pretty, regardless of what other people said. They always called her the ugly Fredo, but they clearly didn’t see her, not really. Even I hadn’t at the start.

Staring at her now, I was … enthralled. Even with the threat of death, she cared more about my men than her own welfare.

It was stupid of her, but after being around so many selfish people, this was refreshing.

“I’m so sorry for being a pain. It was only supposed to be a lunch, and now you’ve got all this to deal with.”

“You have no reason to be sorry.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I doubt that.”

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It hurts, but it’s manageable.” She held up her hand. “Is that because of this?”

“Yes. You’ll feel it tomorrow when I take you home.” Now that she was awake, I didn’t want to leave her.

“You’ve got to go and take care of business?”

“Duty calls,” I said.

She nodded, and I hated seeing her physically withdraw. I had no idea what was happening. I wasn’t used to having feelings.

“I’ve got my men right outside the door. They’re going to be here for you. Nothing will happen to you.”

Nothing was meant to happen to her while she’d been eating lunch and yet, it still had.

I cupped her cheek, wishing to say more, but nothing would come to me. I wasn’t a good man. I didn’t do nice things. I’d never intended to take a wife. This was supposed to be all about duty and yet, I couldn’t seem to turn it off.

I stood up and left the room without saying another word. My men knew what would happen to them if they allowed her to be hurt.

Within seconds, I was out of the hospital, in the back of my car, being driven to the warehouse where the only shooter I’d allowed to live waited.

Aurora could have died today. I didn’t care about the treaty. Let the streets run red with blood. What I did care about was Aurora. The very thought of anything happening to her filled me with something I wasn’t used to: despair.

The wrong bullet today, and she could have died. I shouldn’t care. I wasn’t the kind of man to fall for a woman. I used them. Aurora was different, though. I knew from the start she would be. I just didn’t realize how much.

At the warehouse, my driver put the car into park, and I was out of the vehicle before he got a chance to open the door for me.

Buttoning up my jacket, I entered the warehouse to see the man hung upside down. His personal effects had been displayed on the table for me to see.

Six of my finest soldiers stood there, keeping guard. I also spotted the spy Ivan used to keep an eye on his brigadiers. He’d been on my land for several months, and so far, he hadn’t caused me trouble, so I was more than happy for him to stay.

The wallet had been placed open and I saw his name was Ewan Smith. “Hello, Ewan,” I said.

“Fuck you.”

“You’re very vocal for a dead man,” I said.

I left the torture devices on the table. When it came to getting information out of people, I didn’t go for elaborate or dramatic. Plain old kitchen and garden tools worked just fine for me. A hammer or sledgehammer to crush bones. Knives for obvious work. Pliers for the fiddlier work. Plain old twine used to repair fences were great and cut through flesh with enough pressure. I even enjoyed shears.

I dragged the chair over to stare at the man.

Spit was an issue for me, so I kept a distance.

“Fuck you, man. I’m not going to talk. You can’t fucking make me. You’re a piece of shit.”

I’d turned the chair so I straddled the back. My chin rested on my hands as I watched him.

Patience.

When I didn’t talk, he went a little crazy, trying to pull himself away from the binds. The bastard was hung upside down.

“Let me go! You’re all going to be dead men. All of you.”

“Do you know Aurora Ivanov?” I asked.

He looked like he wanted to argue but finally answered. “She’s your wife.”

“Do you know the woman you shot at today?”

“Yes.”

“Who was she?”

“A problem,” he said.

“So you were aiming for the woman today.”

“I’m not the boss, mate. I was given orders. Today, after a redhead strolls out, the next person waiting for a car, we were to shoot. No questions asked. There was no other target. Aim to kill. That was all.”

This was odd. I tapped a finger on my thigh. “You’re a bounty hunter?”

“More like an assassin for hire. I was part of a team of men. You killed them all today.”

“Any relation to the Fredo family?” I asked.

“Never heard of them.”

I found this hard to believe. “You are part of a bunch of assassins for hire and yet you don’t even know who the Fredo family are. They are my wife’s family. The woman you were asked to kill today, she is my wife.”

“Fuck, man, I know who you are, but I’m just a fucking minion. Okay? You killed the guy with all the details. I got nothing. Let me go. I will find out what you need me to find out.”

His entire outfit was unprofessional.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

I stood up and moved to the toys.

I should be getting a medal for all the restraint I’d shown today. I picked up the knife first. A plain old kitchen knife.

This man nearly took my wife from me. A woman I was convinced I didn’t care about, but deep in the back of my mind, I knew that to be false.

Aurora … did something to me. I didn’t have any answers, but my anger flooded my body and I reacted, plunging the knife into his stomach. I pulled it out and repeated the action five more times all around his body.

The blood dripped onto the cement floor. In my mind, all I saw was Aurora, heavily pregnant with my child, but with blood coming from a bullet wound in her chest. She could have died.

Dead.

The end.

Lifeless.

A corpse.

Ewan was dead long before I finished with him. His body nothing more than a mangled mess.

I stepped back, and the cleaning crew were already on standby to deal with it.

I was covered in blood. I stripped off my clothes and left the scene, going to the single shower which was last on the cleanup list.

Beneath the cold spray of water, I knew this wasn’t Fredo’s doing. Whoever hired these men to kill Aurora were novices. I needed to find out if they were related to the banquet attack, and also, who had hired them to take out my woman.

Aurora meant nothing in the Bratva world. She was under my protection as my wife. Her power came from me. Why take her out unless they were trying to get to me through my wife? And that only served to piss me off even more.