The Bratva’s Bounty (Volkov Bratva #3)

37. Lev

Chapter 37

Lev

I was wary of our trip to The Catacombs when Nicole demanded to go out of the blue. Yes, demanded, not asked, demanded. I tried to talk her out of it, afraid that she was being a little too rash or impulsive or that she was losing it just a tad. Even if she had been making great strides over the past month since she started therapy, I still worried about her quite a bit.

But when she was rather adamant about going to see Igor to settle the score, I was somewhat inclined to let her have it her way. Well, I still fought her about it a little bit because I didn't want her to get triggered. Even if she never really showed any signs of it before, trauma was something I didn't like to play around with. Besides, the last thing I wanted to do was end up in a situation like Nikolai's when he decided to present Angel's ex to her and almost sent her into a crisis.

Thankfully, Nicole kept her head on straight the whole time, which made my admiration for her rise to a new level. If it were me, or if I hadn't promised Nicole that Igor was hers, then I would have ripped into him the moment I stepped into the room. Don't get me wrong, I was furious under my calm demeanor, but this closure was Nicole's to take. Besides, it wasn't as if she didn't let me participate.

When she told me to pluck Igor's nails off and break his bones, I was more than happy to oblige. The bastard deserved far worse, in my opinion, but I guess having his dick rot off and then dying from a bloodstream infection was worth it in the end.

Thinking about that happening made me shudder and clench protectively. I don't know how or where she came up with the idea, but as long as it wasn't me on the receiving end, then I didn't care. If Igor wasn't such a bad person, then I might have felt a little bad for him about his impending death.

No matter, he dug his grave himself. I was merely helping him along to it.

Much to my surprise, he was no fun to torture. Unfortunately, he didn't fight back as much as I had anticipated. Yeah, he spat out nasty words and begged a little, but he didn't struggle or plead genuinely—it wasn't from his soul. He did do a good job of pissing me off, though.

Sure, therapy has been as beneficial for me as it has been for Nicole, but I knew for a fact that my anger toward the whole situation wasn't something I'd fully accepted yet. It was less often now, but I still beat myself down for being a helpless sack of shit during that time. Yes, I know the situation was out of my control; I didn't ask to be tied up or wanted to be bound to the chair, and my strength and skills could only do so much in the situation. Still, it was a constant knife to the heart that would occasionally twist.

It also felt like no matter how much I adored Nicole and tried to prove myself to her, it was never enough. Okay, I know I didn't have to do that, but I felt compelled to. Which apparently wasn't a healthy thing. I was trying to overcompensate for my failure to protect her, even though it was out of my hands.

The whole thing was more confusing than it sounded, and I hated how I couldn't fully accept everything. Everything the therapist pointed out made absolute sense, but I couldn't accept it for some stupid reason. Well, the damn shrink got deep with me, explaining how it was my inability to accept failure.

Like, she may be right, but I didn't want to admit it.

Yes, maybe I was reluctant to accept my failure because I didn't want to admit to myself that I failed Nicole. It was my job to protect her, save her from shitty situations, yet that horrible ordeal happened right in front of me.

And I did nothing.

And yes, I know, it wasn't my fault.

Nicole has told me so many times, but I was a stubborn asshole.

I didn't plan on having sex with Nicole in front of Igor like this, but I really wanted to shove it in his face. He may have taken her, but she didn't enjoy one millisecond of it. So, I wanted him to see what he failed to achieve from his deplorable act.

A tight squeeze from Nicole's cunt drew me out of my head to her smirking face. "Better not be thinking about another woman in that noggin of yours," she teased with a snicker that cut short when I gave her a firm thrust.

Wrapping my arms tightly around her, I kissed her temple. "Oh, please. You and your crazy side are more than enough for me," I joked back with a grin. "Now brace yourself."

The items on the table's surface jostled and clattered around with my thrusts that pushed Nicole's body more and more into the table. Soon, the whole table itself inched along the floor with my hard thrusts. But neither of us cared much about the shifting; we were too caught up in each other.

"Lev, right there," Nicole moaned happily into my ear. "Your piercings are rubbing me just right, and it feels so fucking amazing."

"You're so tight, and you keep squeezing me so well," I groaned lowly into her neck as I buried my face into it. "I'm so sorry," I whispered in a cracked voice. "I'm so sorry for not being the man I promised to be, but I swear, I will always do my best to be the man you deserve from here on out." I could feel her top becoming a little damp from my tears, but I couldn't stop them from coming out.

"Oh, Lev," she cooed lovingly and stroked the back of my hair. "You are more than enough, and I couldn't have asked for anyone more perfect. You have been there for me when anyone else would have dipped. You still hold and love me every day despite all that has happened, and you don't ever blame any of it on me. That is more than what I could ever ask for." Her soft lips pressed against the side of my head, and her giggles soothed my tension. "You have nothing to apologize for, and even if you did, I have already forgiven you. So, it's okay to let go, Lev."

A soft tug at the back of my collar made me pull away a little and look at her. "We will both let go." Her eyes were full of promise and life.

She was finally ready, and if she was ready, then so would I.

"I love you, Nicole." Something within me snapped the moment I gave her a genuine smile full of nothing but hope and happiness.

That knife in my chest dug itself deep one last time, causing a wave of doubt to cascade over me, but I turned my head to it.

I am not a failure.

Nicole didn't see me as one. She doesn't hold anything against me. The only thing that held me back was my own stupid ass.

"I love you too, Lev," she moaned breathlessly against my lips before capturing them to muffle her scream of pleasure.

Letting my own groan be taken by her, I let my thrusts become sloppy with the height of my release until I stilled myself within her tight walls. "That's it, empress, squeeze me just like that," I encouraged her with a soft roll of my hips. "Get all of me into you."

Once her heavy, jagged breathing evened out, I slowly pulled out of her and fixed her clothes before turning my body a bit to smugly smirk at a rather red-faced Igor. "What? Smaller than you thought?" I mocked him with a laugh as I tucked my still-hard cock back into my pants.

Looking at the messy table, I danced my fingers over the various objects for a minute before picking up a wooden mallet. "Wonder how many bones I can break today before you pass out on me," I wondered out loud as I approached a sweating Igor.

"Maybe we'll take mercy on you and actually let you die." I dragged out my words as I lightly tapped the weapon along random parts of his body as if I were trying to decide what to break first. "We could always let the sepsis run for a bit but load you up with antibiotics at the last minute and save you, only to do it all over again." I sounded rather nonchalant as I spoke, "Or we can heal you, then stuff you with bombs as Nicole initially wanted."

Pulling my hand back, I brought the mallet down onto his already crushed hand, making him scream bloody murder. "Or just load you up with a paralytic and let rats eat you alive." I tossed out another idea before whacking him across the face with the wooden weapon, knocking out a few teeth.

Standing before him, I leaned down and glared at him menacingly. "There are so many options. It's just a matter of how creative we get and how long we want to drag this out." Discarding the mallet, I balled my hand up into a fist and punched him square in the face, breaking his nose.

After winding him with a blow to the gut, I grabbed his head and forced it back. "Welcome to the wolves' den."