The Bratva’s Auctioned Bride (Levov Bratva #10)

Chapter 28 - Lara

I hated being caught in the middle of that confrontation.

As relieved as I felt to be surrounded by both Levov and Novikov men, able to see my brothers and Alex with my own eyes, it was difficult to see the bright side with a gun pressed against the back of my head.

Despite trying as hard as I could to not show my overwhelming fear, it was getting harder and harder to not shake. To not give away how terrifying it was to be cornered like that with no choice, once again.

I hated feeling helpless. I hated being pushed and pulled at the whims of others, all against my will. I hated being wrapped up in this world I never asked to be brought into, and beyond that, I hated how much I loved Alex and just wanted to be with him.

To be safe. To be home and reach a sense of normalcy between us. To continue exploring what we were and what we could be, all without having to worry about another crime family shadowing us and always plotting ways to ruin it all.

I wanted my brothers to make amends with Alex and his family and bury that tension once and for all.

I just wanted everything to be normal. I wanted to feel like myself again.

As my anxious thoughts banged around inside my head, feeling wave after wave of panic due to the presence of the gun against my head, I couldn’t shake that debilitating worry.

Not once did I ever imagine I’d get caught up in a situation like this—a hostage needing to be saved.

Since I tried to distance myself from the business around me as much as possible, I assumed the darker, grittier side of things wouldn’t catch up to me in that way. I thought I was perfectly safe, but as things came to pass, I knew that was never true.

Feeling that cold, hard metal against my head, my heart squeezed with fear at the thought of never getting to be with Alex again, assuming that one way or another, a bullet would end up inside me, and I would die in that warehouse.

It was the last thing I wanted, especially ever since things started to look up between me and Alex. Ever since we committed ourselves to one another and were determined to be more than a couple hastily married for the benefits that came with it.

Even if I was terrified and desperate for the chance to escape Matvey’s grasp, there was one comforting thought that stayed with me as I looked nervously at Alex.

He found me. Regardless of what it took, he tracked me down and found me.

He didn’t choose the easier option by giving up on me. On us.

From the urgency in his dark eyes and the way he kept his gun trained on Matvey, I could tell that he wanted me back more than anything.

Even if it didn’t solve everything, it was enough to keep that hope alive within my heart.

“Put the gun down,” Alex warned, voice stern and unwavering.

Matvey sighed from behind me. “This is tiring. We both know it won’t be that easy.”

My husband’s expression didn’t shift at all. Instead, he focused his quiet fury on Matvey. “What do you want?”

Through his grip on my shoulder, I felt the slightest shift in his grasp—as if a flicker of interest settled within him. “I want many things, Novikov. But most of all, I want you to know how it feels…how it feels to constantly be overshadowed regardless of what you do for yourself and your family. I want you to take the back seat for once.”

Even if he concealed his expression as much as possible, I could practically feel Alex’s increasing anger from where he stood.

“Imitation will never get you the results you want,” he muttered in return, gaze cold. “You can try and take everything I have, but you will never really take my place.”

Matvey's hand clenched tighter against my shoulder. He was rigid with anger then. “You’ve always been an arrogant, egotistical prick…but you might be surprised, Novikov. You simply haven’t tapped into the benefits of your position properly. Starting with this one…”

Alex’s gaze barely, quickly, flickered down to me. For a moment, as our eyes met, I could feel every ounce of remorse he had within his system. I could feel his silent apology and the desire he had to save me. To make things right.

More than anything, I wanted to tell him I forgave him, and that I had faith. I wanted him to know that even if I hated him before, that couldn’t be farther from the truth now. I loved him, and I just wanted the chance to try again.

His gaze settled back on Matvey again, and his jaw clenched. “She has nothing to do with this feud of yours. Your problem is with me, not Lara. Let her go and we can end this.”

He laughed bitterly in return. “You think that would do anything to help me? The goal is to take things away, not give them back. Regardless of her associations, she became a part of this the moment you flaunted her around as your little wife. She became your perfect weakness, which is why I don’t plan on letting her go, Alexander.”

A vein appeared beneath Alex's skin as the tension lingered in his system, and I could tell he was barely restraining himself.

“Every last thing you’ve ever cared about will be mine, regardless of how hard you try to keep it all,” Matvey taunted, sounding far too satisfied with himself.

It was unmistakable how he let everything go straight to his head. Clearly, his envy surrounding Alex and his success ran deeper than anyone could address here and now, and in whatever way he could, Matvey wanted to mirror that success as his own.

He seemed perfectly convinced that taking everything from Alex would solve everything and win him the favor of every notorious crime family in the city. Even if it sounded counterproductive to focus so completely on destroying Alex, the kingpin was hell-bent on it, and the very idea seemed to blind him.

His need to take everything meant him planning on hijacking me and tearing me away from Alex. He meant to break us apart completely, and the thought alone was enough to make me feel like I was moments away from breaking.

After coming to terms with being Alex’s wife, the idea of not being together made me feel sick.

“I have a better idea, that will keep her alive, at least,” Matvey began, using a tone that sounded all too sure. “Instead of me letting her go, you can let us both go. You keep your guns to yourselves and let us leave this place without shooting. That way, she won’t end up riddled with bullets.”

I hated even the mention of it, and I could tell that Alex did, too.

Not giving in, he maintained his aim on Matvey and kept his voice even with confidence. “You’re not taking her anywhere. I won’t allow it.”

My heart squeezed at his words, beyond grateful that he wouldn’t let him follow through with it. But I couldn’t ignore the pistol still pressed against the back of my head.

Matvey sighed. “Now what, Novikov? Would you rather I make this easier on everyone and blow her head off myself?”

I flinched at the implication, trying to mask my fear as best as I could despite how I was slowly beginning to crack from the overwhelming fear. But as I returned my eyes to Alex, he gave me a reassuring look that almost told me to not worry. That he had a plan.

Then his gaze lifted somewhere beyond me and Matvey. With that silent signal, a safety clicked off somewhere behind us, and I caught the alarmed breath that came from Rurik behind us.

“Matvey…please,” he mumbled, voice sounding shaky.

The slightest bit of sharpness returned to Alex’s eyes, and in that moment, hope swelled within my chest. “You might have my wife, but we have your brothers. The other one’s around here somewhere, isn’t he?”

I felt the slight flinch of Matvey’s hand against my shoulder, but he otherwise didn’t move. I heard his scoff. “You think his value measures up to hers?”

Alex lifted a brow. “You’re willing to sacrifice your kin just to ruin me?”

From above me, I just managed to catch the furious look on Matvey’s face. “What does it look like?”

Despite him claiming so, I couldn’t help but notice the strain in his voice and his body, as if the lie was too difficult for him to get out properly.

He was certainly desperate to be triumphant over Alex, but even he had to care for his family to some capacity.

“Brother. Don’t do this,” Rurik pleaded from behind us. While I couldn’t see him, the pain in his tone was enough to convey what his face surely looked like. It sounded like he was breaking. “Please…just let her go and we’ll figure something else out. We don’t have to do this.”

Matvey’s rage began to unfold through his trembling hand on my shoulder, and he snapped as he turned to face Rurik, gesturing to him with his pistol, “Shut up! Stop your whining and—”

A single compressed pop sounded through the room, startling me. I jumped, eyes wide, as I couldn’t help but wonder if I was the one wearing that bullet.

But as I heard it sink into Matvey’s chest, a sharp inhale came from him, and another bang resonated behind me. His grip tightened in time with the reflexive squeeze of his trigger, and then, after a hesitant moment, he released his grip on me.

A strangled sound gurgled in the kingpin’s chest as he remained eerily still for a moment, then without warning, his body went limp, and he crashed against the floor as blood seeped from his wound.

Still wide-eyed, I glanced over my shoulder to watch as Rurik stood there surrounded by men, somehow still standing as his hand tentatively pressed against his abdomen. When he pulled it back, his brows furrowed as a deep, dark wine color flooded the front of his gray shirt, stemming from where the bullet was lodged in his stomach.

That questioning expression lingered on his face before his skin went pale, and a thin stream of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Then he too collapsed as he succumbed to the wound, hitting the ground just like Matvey did.

Everything went deafeningly still then as realization set in.

Matvey was dead, and his gun killed his own brother, too.

I was stunned and unable to look away as the guards moved in, surrounding both brothers while they took their final breaths.

“Lara,” Alex’s voice rasped from ahead of me.

I turned my head as he reached out, cupping my cheeks with both hands as he looked me over quickly. Meeting his gaze, I watched as the concern and relief moved through them at once.

“Are you alright?” he asked me, gently stroking his thumbs over my cheeks.

Despite still being somewhat stunned and flustered by everything, I managed to nod within his grasp. “I’m alright…”

Alex let out a relieved breath and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead as Damien and my brothers approached.

I blinked through my stupor as Ari bent down and fished through Matvey’s pockets, managing to find a small set of keys. With a stoic expression, vaguely laced with his relief, he stepped behind me and popped the key into the cuffs before unlocking them with a click.

“I’ll admit, Novikov,” my brother began, glancing at Alex as he gently pulled my wrists out of the cuffs, putting a hand against my shoulder. “You impressed me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still furious it ever came to this, but it seems you have what it takes to do right by my sister.”

The moment he could, Alex kneeled and reached for my wrists, gently smoothing his thumbs over the tender skin where the metal had dug in. Even if he was responding to Ari, his eyes remained on mine. “Even if I had to kill him with my bare hands, I never would’ve let Gromov get away with this.”

Being able to look at him then, realizing that it was over, and we were both safe, a swell of emotions moved through me. I couldn’t help as the tears gathered in my eyes, and I managed a small, tired smile for him.

Alex’s expression softened, and then he stood to his full height again and gently pulled me to my feet. His next words felt like a soothing balm that immediately calmed any worries I previously had.

“Come on. I’m getting you out of here.”