Arranged Bratva Love

Andrei

They didn’t know if Adelaide was going to make it. The bullet missed her heart, but there was too much blood.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

She had also lost our baby. I had no idea she was pregnant and I guessed she didn’t either. The doctor told me there was no way to save the baby. That shouldn’t hurt. I was not like this. I had no bastard feelings, but I was struggling to hold it together. Ivan, my Pakhan, my boss, the one I served, handled everything, donating a large sum of money, and apologizing on my behalf as he made sure my wife was given the utmost care.

I was standing at the foot of my wife’s hospital bed, looking at her attached to tubes and wires as machines monitor her.

They told me to have hope. Seeing my wife fighting for her life, I had no choice but to feel hope.

****

Adelaide. My precious, sweet Adelaide, who didn’t even remember we had met before. It was some time ago, she had only been about eighteen, and for some reason, she ended up volunteering along with a few nurses. I think she must have been doing some basic medical training, but again, I’m not sure.

A deal had gone bad, I’d managed to get Ivan out of the place without a single scratch on him, but I’d ended up cut up really bad. You should have seen the other guy, he was unrecognizable. He’d been one of my men, and he’d turned on me, and that was what had caused the fuck-up in the first place.

Which is why I don’t trust anyone.

Anyway, Adelaide had been in the alleyway where I’d taken a moment to rest. A bunch of nurses and do-gooders were helping the homeless, trying to make a difference and all that crap, when Adelaide stumbled upon me.

I’d been cut bad. A slash right across the stomach. It wouldn’t kill me, but it sure did sting like a son of a bitch. The Volkov Bratva had been in full power at the time, and after killing the men who’d turned on me, I’d been alone and stumbled through my city, which is why I’d ended up in the alleyway.

Adelaide hadn’t questioned me about the cut. She’d tended to my wounds. Even when I yelled at her. Even when nurses recognized my brand and were terrified to come near me, Adelaide had treated me herself. What my precious wife didn’t know at that time was that she did something to me. I’m not exactly sure what it was, but I kept a close eye on her ever since.

It wasn’t like she’d done anything special. I figured she didn’t understand the ink decorating my knuckles, but then I realized, even if she did know what it all meant, she would have still cared for me. My wife has a kind heart. She is a kind soul, and in comparison, I’m a monster.

She doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone.

****

The door to Adelaide’s room opens, and I turn to see Ivan, carrying a cup of coffee. “I figured you needed something to drink.”

“Ivan, you shouldn’t be here,” I said. There was not enough protection for him, and I’m not going to lie, I’m not exactly in a state of mind right now to protect him. My focus is my wife.

“I’m where I need to be.” Ivan held out the coffee and I took it, taking a sip, thinking, oddly, about cinnamon rolls.

The coffee was rank, some of the worst I’d ever tasted, but I wished Adelaide was awake. She’d wrinkle her nose in that cute way she did and still drink it, because she was nice.

“I shouldn’t have married her,” I said.

“Don’t start,” Ivan said.

I turned toward the man who I once thought I would give my life to, the only person I’d die for, but Adelaide had proven that wasn’t the case. I would give anything to be in that bed rather than her.

“Bethany was the one cut out for this life.”

“And you think I was going to allow that little whore to be wife to one of my men?” Ivan asked. He tutted. “You should know me better than that.”

“Adelaide is too good for this world.”

“Adelaide can handle this. She’s not some delicate flower, Andrei. You’re just too stubborn to see it.”

“She doesn’t deserve to be in that bed. Fighting for her life. She should have a husband who is not going to get her killed.”

Ivan looked away from Adelaide. His gaze focused on me. “And you think you’d have been able to handle that? You think I don’t know the hours you spent, keeping an eye on her. Giving yourself little rewards just to make sure she was safe, happy?”

No one should have known about that. No one. I’d been so fucking careful. Always lurking in the shadows when it came to Adelaide’s life, and I shouldn’t have been surprised that Ivan knew. The man knew everything.

Sipping at the coffee, I grimace. It really is bad.

I take a seat beside Adelaide. The tubes are hideous and distracting.

“She is going to wake up,” Ivan said.

I stay quiet.

“The man responsible is waiting for you to deal with him.”

I nod. I have every intention of dealing with that fucker.

“I can stay here,” Ivan said.

This made me turn my head to look at him. “Don’t you want to deal with him first?”

“This is for you, and I imagine with Adelaide like this, there’s no one else you could trust with her safety.” Ivan released a yawn. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.”

I highly doubted it, but I got to my feet.

“I’ve also given permission for Nathan to be taken care of as well, and no, I don’t mean killed. The nurses are fixing him up. Did you have to break the face of one of the best hitmen?” Ivan asked.

“He lied.”

“For good reason. You don’t want everyone to find out you’re a hit man. It would be bad for your reputation.”

I wasn’t in the mood for jokes. I stepped toward the bed and stared down at my wife’s current unconscious body, and I begged for her to live. She couldn’t die. Life was unfair and cruel, but it didn’t have to be-not with her.

“I’ll be right back,” I said.

I don’t know if she can hear me. I hope so. Touching her cheek, I feel a slight warmth, but there’s no animation there. Just stillness, and it’s breaking my fucking heart.

I vowed to protect her, to keep her safe. What did I do? I all but killed her.

Gritting my teeth, I stand up, turn to Ivan, nod in his direction, and then leave the room. With Ivan offering to take care of my wife, I don’t have a choice. This means he wants me to handle business first, and I’m a good soldier.

Terrance and Leo are waiting for me.

I’m angry at Leo, but I also knew what happened. Adelaide drugged him with some sleeping pills she found in our penthouse. I don’t recall ever having them, and I know for a fact Adelaide never had, but they were there. She’d used them to spike Leo’s drink so she could leave without being questioned.

He looked down. I saw the shame on his face, and this was why I couldn’t punish him. Neither of us expected my wife to do something like that. She’d been desperate. All her life, she’d been alone. There had been a guard from time to time, but she’d been able to wander freely.

I want to kill Leo. I do. He shouldn’t have drunk the coffee, but then, I’d have asked him to do anything to make my wife happy. Those were my instructions today. She’d been miserable for some odd reason.

“Let’s go,” I said.

Leo looked up.

“Sir?”

I held my hand up. “I get what happened and I understand why, but don’t try to test my patience. Take me to the shooter, now.”

My voice is firm as I say that final word.

Terrance had gotten him into a secure place, organized my soldiers to keep guard, and then come to the hospital. Leo had done the same. The two men are my constant. I still don’t trust them, but they were the best of the best. They had so far proven their loyalty to me and to Volkov.

Leaving the hospital was fucking hard. One look up at the building, and I want to go back to see Adelaide. To kiss her lips, touch her face, beg her not to leave me.

I can’t stand the stillness.

“How is Adelaide?” Leo asked.

That was too much.

Slamming my fist into his stomach, he immediately bent forward. I grab a fistful of his hair and lift him up. “Let’s be clear right now, you are only alive right now because I know she will be upset if she thought for a second her actions got you killed. You should have known better, and my patience has already been tested today. Do not test it again. I’m not in the mood.” This is an understatement.

I let Leo go, and he has no choice but to pull himself together.

Terrance and Leo get in the car, knowing not to question me as I climb behind the wheel.

My hands are no longer covered in Adelaide’s blood, but as I put them on the ignition, I remember the sight of it. I’d stood in the bathroom while Ivan supervised as I scrubbed at my hands. The pristine white sink, soaking red as I cleaned the mess off my hands.

“I … I’m so cold.” The fear on her face. She’d gripped my shirt, as if she was begging me to warm her up.

Pulling out of the hospital, I get on the road, navigating the traffic. Nothing distracts me. All I see is Adelaide jerking. The scene plays over and over in my head, on replay. The red dot. The indication that she’s a marked target. The speed with which everything happened. Feeling her in my arms, shaking, in pain, so cold.

When I arrive at the abandoned warehouse where the shooter is kept, my anger has reached a whole other level. I want one thing, and that is for my hands to be soaked in his blood. Without waiting for Leo or Terrance, I ignore the men waiting at the door, keeping guard.

The moment I step inside, I see him. The weapon he used is laying on a table, along with several other implements of torture. Rage consumes me. I don’t think straight.

The moment he looks at me, I see Adelaide, her smiling face flashing through my mind, mixing with the stillness of her body. The doctor’s voice telling me the baby we’d made together didn’t make it.

I step toward him, and the smug look on his face is too much. I slammed my fist against his face, hit him five times, and I think I took him by surprise.

At one point, he gasps as I step away. My knuckles have cracked, but I don’t care. I force myself to step away.

“Who do you work for?” I asked.

“I … I…”

He’s taking too long, so I do no more than grab the nearest weapon, which happens to be a screwdriver, and slam it into his leg. His screams fill the warehouse. I’m not done. Pulling it out, I plunge it into the second leg.

My patience is not the best, especially as I have Adelaide’s voice going around my head like a constant record on repeat.

“I … I’m so cold.”

“I … I’m so cold.”

I can’t stand it. Those cannot be the last words I hear from her.

I pull the screwdriver out, even as he’s cursing and screaming. This is not my first torture. I’d perfected the art many years ago. I had taken training from a corrupt doctor, in order to find the best way to keep men and woman alive, while I brought them as much pain as humanly possible.

My years on this earth had taught me many things, but the most important was to never be shocked by the utter cruelty of humankind. I should know. I’m taking great pleasure in his screams as I plunge the screwdriver in his shoulder.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” I asked.

“I … I’m so cold.”

Pulling the screwdriver out of his chest, I drop it to the floor and reach for his gun. “Who sent you?” I asked, seeing the safety off and the gun loaded for more rounds.

I press for the red dot to appear, and it’s there, right on his chest.

Adelaide’s chest flitters through my mind. Her smile. I see her naked beneath me, taking my cock, and then the fear in her eyes, along with the pain. So much fucking pain.

Dropping the red dot to his crotch, I fire, and take out his dick. One shot, and he’s screaming in pain. It’s not like he’s ever going to use it again. He won’t be leaving this warehouse alive. All I want is a name.

I’m expecting Demon, or Oleg. That fucker might know we’re onto him. The mafia has been quiet. Could it be them? Who would go after my wife?

The hit man is good, I’ll give him that, but he’s not as good as me, and I’m just getting started. Pliers are next, and Leo, being the suck-up he currently is, holds my hit man in place while I manage to remove three teeth, pretty solid as well, but that must be the final straw for this man, because he gives me a name I wasn’t expecting.

“Bethany. My contact is Bethany.” He pants. “My target is Adelaide Belov. The wife of Andrei Belov. I was to kill her today.”

I drop the pliers.

Pulling out the knife I always have on my person, I slide it across his neck, watching as the life slowly leaves his eyes, and I step back.

I’d made a mess. If Adelaide hadn’t come when she had, I had every intention of doing that to Nathan, killing him.

Bethany had sent a man to kill my wife, and it wasn’t Nathan.

Anger consumed me.

I stepped back.

The warehouse was silent.

I’m covered in blood.

I reach for the cleanest part of the man’s clothing and wipe my blade before moving away.

“Sir?” Terrance asked.

“Get his body disposed of. I’m going to the hospital.”

“You need to change,” Leo said.

I look down at my shirt, covered in more blood, and I’m ashamed of it mingling with my wife’s. This piece of shit didn’t even deserve to be in the same room as her, but now his blood was mixed with hers, and I hated it. I removed my shirt and threw it on top of him, to be disposed of. Leo, like so many times before, removed his shirt.

My hands were covered with blood, and there was a small bucket on the floor, as there always is because my men know what is required. I wash the blood off my hands, and even as it turns the bucket red, it doesn’t bother me. Not compared to Adelaide’s blood on my hands. With clean hands, I take Leo’s shirt and slide it on over my body. Without another word, I turn away and head back to the car.

Leo follows me, shirtless. Neither of us talk as I climb behind the wheel. Words are completely unnecessary.

All I want to do is kill. Bethany is responsible for the hit taken out on my wife. I’m a little disappointed in the hit man. He’d cut my fun early. When it came to Bethany, though, I had no choice but to go to Ivan.

Gripping the steering wheel tightly, I drive through the streets heading straight back to the hospital. Leo remains silent, which is exactly how he should fucking be. My thirst isn’t quenched yet.

Arriving at the hospital, I leave the parking to Leo, then I head inside and go straight to Adelaide’s room.

I’m aware of the nurses and doctors, all stepping out of my way, clearly afraid to do something that would make them a target. I couldn’t give a fuck what they’re afraid of. To survive, they better stay away from my wife, and to keep this hospital running smoothly, my wife better not die.

Ivan’s sitting in the chair I had been in when I arrive back at the room. There was no change in Adelaide. I step toward the bed, hoping to see some sign of life. Anything. There’s nothing.

The machines are making their sterile noises and it pisses me off. All of this pisses me off. Adelaide is hooked up to a machine, and Bethany is…

“It’s Bethany,” I said, cutting through the silence that was starting to make me angry.

Ivan’s brows go up. “You’re sure?”

“It’s her. I’m clear. After what I put him through, I believe it’s her.”

“You were gone for an hour and a half.”

“I didn’t waste any time.”

I touch Adelaide’s hand. There’s no response.

“Interesting,” Ivan said.

“There is nothing interesting about it.”

“Not to you, but I’ve been keeping an eye on her. She doesn’t have the means to hire a hit man, or even know how to contact one.” Ivan runs a finger over his lips.

“Do you think someone is playing her?” I asked. I didn’t care either way. I was going to kill her.

“We could pretend Adelaide is dead,” Ivan said.

“No. You did the whole dead thing and rising up, and look what shit that gave us. Not happening.”

I wasn’t going to allow Adelaide to die. She would wake up soon, and I wasn’t going to live with her being somewhere else. Not happening. I would fight Ivan on this.

He chuckled. “And you were pissed at me for making her marry you. Please, you should be thanking me.”

“She could have died,” I said, losing myself. “Fuck, shit, I’m sorry.”

Ivan held his hand up. “It’s fine. I always find it refreshing being spoken back to. Kind of a turn-on.”

I roll my eyes, knowing he’s doing it to get yet another rise out of me. This is what Ivan did. He was a master at manipulation.

“I expected him to name Demon or Oleg,” I said. “It was Bethany.”

“She has the jealousy, Andrei, just not the means, and certainly not the funds to pay for someone.”

“I can find out.”

I tense and look toward the door to see Nathan. One of his eyes is swollen shut, and his mouth looks too big for his face, but he’s standing there as if I’d not put him through the fucking ringer.

Reaching for my gun, I keep my hand wrapped around it, ready to kill him. I want to kill him. This man had gotten way too many smiles and laughs from my wife. He’d gotten to see her happy and relaxed.

“Ah, our true hit man,” Ivan said. “You do intrigue me.”

This isn’t good. I want to kill Nathan. If Ivan likes him and sees a use for him, then his death wasn’t going to happen.

“You’re right. Bethany has no means or power to gain access to a hit man. Someone had to have helped her, and I can find out who that is for you,” he said.

“I don’t trust you,” I said.

“You have every reason not to trust me. I’m friends with your wife and you’re jealous of that. I care about Adelaide. She’s a special person. Sweet, kind, it’s why I’ve been keeping an eye on her all these years. A sister like Bethany brings nothing but death to those around her.”

I want to kill him.

“Word on the street is there’s a potential hit out on you,” Nathan said, looking at Ivan.

“This isn’t news to me. I’ve always got a hit on my head. It’s the fun part of being the boss.”

“From one of your own men,” Nathan said. “The biggest problem right now is finding anyone stupid enough to take you on.”

Ivan winked and I didn’t have time for jokes.

“It’s him,” I said.

I’m not sure how much Nathan had heard, but I wasn’t going to say the fucker’s name. I wanted to launch a full-scale attack on Oleg. To bring him in and strip him of his title. That piece of shit wasn’t going to last, not when I got my hands on him.

“You’re going to need to get the information out of Bethany,” Nathan said.

“Consider it done,” I said, happy to end the little slut’s life.

Nathan sighed. “You won’t be able to kill her. You have an MC issue, correct?”

I don’t like how much this son of a bitch knows.

“What are you suggesting?” Ivan asked.

“Diversion. If they believe you’re onto them, they’ll cover their tracks. You want to know without a shadow of a doubt what’s going on, right? Well, use me. Send me into Oleg’s territory. I can win his trust, bring him down from within.”

“You lied to my wife. I don’t trust you.”

“I lied to protect her. Do you think she’d have remained friends with me if I told her I killed people for a living? I did it for her.”

Regardless of his reasoning. I still didn’t trust him.

“Are you gay?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Ivan looked from me to Nathan. “Now I’m curious. Your biggest concern is him finding your wife attractive?”

“She is attractive,” Nathan said. “Just not my type.”

“Enough!” I turn to Ivan, and from the look on his face, I just knew he was considering this. “Please tell me you’re not thinking about this?” I asked.

“It makes complete sense. Oleg would expect an attack by now. We go to Bethany, she names them, and he will run. If we don’t act, they can assume we killed the hit man without finding out who sent him. Nathan can gather the information we need, and eventually we can exact justice. It’s long and futile. Do you think you can garner his trust? Get close?”

“I can, but even if I can’t, I have the means to make sure I get the answers.”

I don’t believe this. It sounded so fucking logical.

I’m pissed off.

I look to Adelaide, stare at her, and then I see it-her hand moved. It was subtle, just the tips of her fingers, but they fucking moved. Looking at Ivan and Nathan, I don’t want Nathan here when Adelaide finally opens her eyes.

“You can’t be serious. You don’t know if you can trust him.”

“He’s been in your territory for months and hasn’t killed you or Adelaide. If we couldn’t trust him, then your wife would already be dead, and you wouldn’t have been able to find him. His identity was secure long enough for him to get in and out. This is a good plan, and I suggest you get onboard, Andrei. Your wife is waking up.”

I had no choice. There was more to consider than just killing Bethany. We had to find out the truth about Oleg, but we also needed to find out how deep his betrayal went. I didn’t like it, but I had no choice.

Killing Bethany wouldn’t help matters right now, but when the time came, I was going to make sure she longed for death, and I wasn’t going to show her any fucking mercy.