Bratva Bride (Bratva Series Book 1)

The entire way home, no one spoke a word. Nope. Not a single. Bloody. Word. From the car ride to the helicopter, from the helicopter to Las Vegas, and from the drive to our home, it was complete and utter silence.

Talk about awkward.

My father was fuming. That much I could easily tell. His big, muscular body was seated next to mine on the drive home to the mansion. He didn’t say a word to me, didn’t even look in my direction, but by the way his jaw kept clenching I knew this quiet wouldn’t last forever.

I pulled out my phone, dying for some sort of distraction right now. I opened the Instagram app and decided to do a little bit of cyber stalking. There’s no harm in checking out my future husband, right?

I typed ‘Arturo De Luca’ in the search engine and wasn’t at all surprised to find hundreds of fan accounts made about him. After sifting through all the junk, I finally came across his personal page. I clicked his profile.

Oh my lord.

The most recent upload was a photo of him shirtless, standing in front of a beautiful prestigious yacht. His entire upper body was covered in tattoos. As I zoomed in, I couldn’t help the blush rising to my cheeks. Fuck he was hot. So, so hot. I wanted to lick him all over like a bloody ice cream cone.

His tattoos ran from his wrists all the way up his arms snaking out over his chest, down his torso and around his back, entwining together to form a beautiful piece of artwork, a complex design of patterns and swirls. I was dying to run my hands along that body, to trace his intricate tattoos with my hands. Or my tongue.

Definitely my tongue.

He had a sly smile on his face and his gorgeous blue-green eyes were covered with sunglasses. His face was sharp with sculpted lines and dark eyebrows. He looked dangerous. Sexy. Deadly.

After taking a quick screenshot (because come on, who wouldn’t), I sifted through his other photos. Nothing too crazy. Him in expensive tailor-made suits at functions or business meetings. Some shots of him next to fancy cars. In a few photos he was with a woman, but I skipped past those. No need to get myself even more pissed off than I already was.

The sound of a large gate being opened pulled me from my stalking and I realised we were finally home. My father still hadn’t moved. His fists remained clenched on his knees the entire time and the scowl never left his face.

My eyes flicked to Aleksandr looking for support. He gave me a small smile and then shook his head ever so slightly, as if to say don’t fight him, just take the punishment.

Uh, yeah fucking right.

Before the car had even come to a stop, I flung the door open and bolted. I barely acknowledged our head housekeeper, Flora, as I ran up the porch steps and inside to the house. If I could just make it to my bedroom, maybe I’d be safe.

Fat fucking chance of that, Illayana.

I barely made it halfway up the stairs before I heard the front door slamming open. My foot stopped mid-air above the next step as my father’s deep voice boomed throughout the house. ‘Illayanaaaaaa!’

Fuck he sounded mad. Really mad.

I took a deep breath and slowly turned around to face my father. He stood in the foyer with Aleksandr at his side. His bright blue eyes locked with mine as he stared me down. ‘Get back here. Now,’ he ordered, pointing to the ground in front of him.

I slumped my shoulders and lowered my head. I hated being told off by my father. The look of disappointment and anger on his face was almost too much to bear.

A look of sympathy flashed across Aleksandr’s face as I made my way back downstairs and stopped in front of them.

‘My office. Go.’

The second the words left his mouth my feet moved, almost of their own accord. I walked down the long corridor heading towards his office. I felt his presence behind me, looming over me like a dark shadow. I felt the anger rolling off his body as he followed me. At this point, I was fucking petrified.

I stopped in front of his office door and he leaned over me to open it. I stepped in and moved to sit in front of his large mahogany desk while he moved behind it. He shrugged off his suit jacket and placed it neatly over the back of his leather chair. He placed his palms on the desk and slowly lowered himself into the chair, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

I stayed frozen in my spot, sweat rolling down my neck, my nerves so bad I felt like I was gonna throw up. My leg twitched uncontrollably and I cracked my neck.

‘How long?’ my father asked, his jaw clenched.

Fuck. . . Fuck. . . FUCK! What do I do? What do I say?! Do I admit to what I did? Or play dumb?

I was 99% sure he was talking about Maxim. After the way he behaved at the meet, it couldn’t have been more obvious that we were involved. But there was the small chance he wasn’t talking about Maxim and if I go blabbing, I not only give him another reason to be pissed at me, but I blow my cover.

In the end, I decided to play dumb.

‘How long what, father?’ I whispered.

He narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth like a fucking animal. ‘Do not play dumb with me Illayana Rae Volkov. You know exactly what I’m talking about. How. Long?’

Oh shit, he full-named me. I’m definitely in trouble.

‘Father, I don’t—

He was up and out of his chair before I could even finish my sentence. He jumped over the desk like he was some parkour king and wrapped his hand around my throat, lifting me from my chair.

I froze, fear overtaking my body completely.

There were only two other times I could remember where my father had ever laid a hand on me outside of the ring. The first was when I was eleven. It was my birthday and my mother had gotten me my favourite dark chocolate mud cake. I remember seeing it in the fridge and the feeling of pure glee came over me as I realised the whole thing was going to be for me. That was, until Lukyan decided he would eat it instead. The entire fucking thing.

I still remember the anger I had at seeing that little shit covered from head to toe in my chocolate cake. I was fuming! I was also a tad bit hormonal at the time because I had gotten my period for the first time a few days prior. That was the excuse my mother used anyway to explain my actions next.

I reached under the kitchen table and grabbed the gun I knew was stashed there. I lifted it in the air, pointed it at my brother, cocked it and fired. Thankfully, I was a terrible fucking shot at that age and I missed him entirely.

I had never seen my father so mad before, and at the time I didn’t understand why. I had seen him shoot tons of people before for disrespecting him, how was this any different? He ripped the gun from my hands and backhanded me so hard my tiny body flew across the kitchen.

The second time, I was sixteen and my boyfriend at the time had somehow managed to convince me to steal my father’s $200,000 Lamborghini. After getting drunk and high, we took it for a spin and accidentally totaled it. The car was completely fucked beyond repair and I knew my father was gonna kill me. He did kill the boy I was with in the car and whacked me around a few times to teach me a lesson.

The sound of his voice pulled me from the past and my eyes refocused on him.

‘How fucking long, Illayana?’ he growled, his hand still wrapped around my throat. He wasn’t squeezing hard enough to obstruct my breathing, but it was still uncomfortable as fuck.

‘A few years,’ I croaked out.

Father cursed in Russian and let me go. My body slumped back down into the chair as he moved to the office door. My hands instinctively went to my throat, massaging it even though he didn’t apply much pressure.

‘Aleksandr!’ he barked.

A few seconds later, Aleksandr and Nikolai came in. Each had a hand wrapped around Maxim’s arm as they escorted him inside. Lukyan followed close behind, a look of pure menace on his face.

I kept my eyes to the floor as they brought Maxim to stand in front of us. Aleksandr gave a swift kick to his legs and he fell to his knees with a grunt.

My father circled Maxim slowly. He was the predator and Maxim was the prey, there was no way around that. He came to a stop directly in front of him. ‘Talk,’ he demanded.

Maxim said nothing and I silently cursed. Keeping quiet was only going to piss him off more. Father stuck out his hand and Nikolai placed a gun in his palm. With unbelievable speed, he pistol whipped him straight in the face.

Maxim’s head flung back, the sound of his nose breaking filled the room and blood spurted onto the floor.

‘Talk Maximoff, or what we did to The Triad will seem like fucking child’s play,’ my father growled.

Even though blood was dripping down his face, Maxim smiled. ‘We both know you’re going to do that anyway.’

‘Maybe,’ my father shrugged. ‘But I’ll make it hurt a hell of a lot more if you don’t talk.’

Maxim laughed but otherwise stayed silent.

Father studied him, his eyes moving from Maxim to me and then back to Maxim, his mind working overtime. ‘The only reason why you wouldn’t talk would be if the truth was worse than your silence.’ Father moved and began circling him again, that evil smile of his getting bigger and bigger. ‘Lucky for me, I don’t need you to talk.’

Father pinned me with his icy glare and I knew he was referring to me. I looked over to Maxim, still kneeling on the floor, his deep, chocolate brown eyes begging me to keep quiet, but he should have known that I would always do what my father asked.

“Talk, Illayana. Start from the beginning,” my father ordered, his voice demanding obedience.

Aleksandr and Nikolai stayed beside Maxim, watching his every move while Lukyan moved to my side. He lowered down to his hunches and took my hands in his, offering me his support. His long, brown hair was tied up in a bun on top of his head, a few pieces cascading over his rough, masculine face.

I took a deep breath and started.

‘It was the night of my eighteenth birthday party. You and Aleksandr were out of town on business,’ I said, pointing at my father. ‘Maxim was left in charge to watch over the party. I don’t remember much. I drank a lot, got high with a few friends. You know, the usual,’ I shrugged.

Father’s jaw clenched but he stayed silent and allowed me to continue.

‘As the night went on, I got more and more drunk. I remember Maxim coming over and offering me another drink and even though I knew I shouldn’t, I was pretty fucking wasted already. I took it. I always thought he was kinda hot and I didn’t want to seem like a wimp who couldn’t hold her liquor.’

‘Where were your brothers during all of this? Where were Nikolai and Lukyan?’ Father narrowed his eyes accusingly at my two older brothers.

Lukyan tensed at my side and muttered, ‘Fuck.’

There was no way I was going to let either of them get in trouble, so I covered for them.

‘They were with me most of the night but when the party started to die down, I told them they could go.’

Father looked at me for a few seconds before deciding to believe me. He gave a swift nod for me to continue.

‘Like I said, I was having a drink with Maxim when I started to get really tired. It was like all those drinks finally caught up with me at once. He offered to carry me to bed, and I said yes. I don’t really remember what happened after that, but I woke up with him in my bed with me. We were both naked. I asked him if we had sex and he said yes.’

‘Wait,’ Nikolai interjected. ‘You don’t remember? Having sex with him?’ His brown eyes narrowed on Maxim.

‘No. Like I told you, I was drunk. Everything is fuzzy.’

‘What about now? Can you still not remember anything?’ Aleksandr asked.

I frowned and tried my hardest to pull any memory with Maxim from that night to the forefront of my mind, but it kept coming up blank. ‘No,’ I replied, confusion laced in my voice. ‘It’s like every time I try to reach a memory, it slips from my grasp. Everything is like a haze I can’t see through.’

A deep roar came from Aleksandr as he pounced on Maxim and started hammering into him, his fists connecting with his face over and over again. Blood dripped down Maxim’s face, making a pool of blood on the floor beside him.

Lukyan looked at me and mouthed what the fuck?

I just shrugged my shoulders. Aleksandr had a short fuse. Who knows what set it off this time?

Maxim groaned, trying to bring his hands up to block his face but it was useless. Aleksandr wouldn’t relent and eventually Maxim went limp but that didn’t stop my brother. He just kept pounding him with his bloody fists.

Father grabbed Aleksandr by the back of his shirt and pulled him off Maxim. He gave him a quick pat on the shoulder and then moved to stand beside his Sovietnik. He nudged him a few times with his foot, but he was out cold.

‘Could someone please explain to me what the fuck is going on? Why did you snap like that, Aleksandr?’ I asked.

He turned to look at me and I gasped at the look of pure rage on his face. His eyes were bulging, the vein in his neck pulsing and his lip was curled up in disgust. His big body was shaking with anger.

‘He fucking roofied you, Illayana!’ he yelled.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’ I asked confused. ‘No, he didn’t.”

“Did you forget that you and Lukyan fucked me up with that damn drug a few years ago? I know what it feels like. It’s exactly like you described. That fog, the haziness. I still can’t remember a single fucking thing from that night, and every time I try it just comes back in a haze.’

“That doesn’t mean I was drugged, Aleksandr. I was drunk, I could have just blacked out.”

“Either way, he shouldn’t have laid a fucking hand on you! If you were drunk enough to be passed out, he took advantage of you! Can’t you see that?”

I looked over at the unconscious man bleeding all over my father’s floor. I sighed, shaking my head. ‘It doesn’t matter. The past is the past. Nothing we can do about it now. Besides, I’ve been the one to initiate half of our encounters over the last three years.”

‘It doesn’t matter?!’ Aleksandr roared. ‘Of course, it fucking matters! He took advantage of you!’

I looked around the room and watched as my father, Nikolai and Lukyan started to get just as worked up as Aleksandr.

Fuck, I need to get out of here.

I stood up and brushed my hands down the front of my blouse, even though there wasn’t a speck of dirt on me. I looked into my father’s bright blue eyes as I spoke.

‘Can I be excused? It’s been a long day and I just want to rest.’

Father looked like he was going to protest, but then his eyes softened a fraction and he gave me a quick nod. He moved to stand in front of me and wrapped his arms around me.

‘Prosti doch,”I’m sorry daughter,he whispered into my hair.

Whether he was sorry about what happened to me or sorry about choking me, I have no idea. Either way, I wrapped my arms around his torso and whispered back. ‘Eto khorosho, otets, ty znayesh’, plokho vsegda lyublyu tebya’. It’s okay, Father. You know I’ll always love you.

He pulled back and gave me a small smile before kissing me on the cheek. I slowly moved around the room, stepping over Maxim’s unconscious body in the process, and said my goodbyes to my brothers. I could feel the tension on them all as I hugged each of them. I knew that as soon as I left, they planned to have some fun with Maxim.

I made my way out of the office and headed straight for my bedroom. This day…. ugh this whole fucking day! I was ready to wash it all the fuck away and start again. This was not how I pictured the night ending, and I can damn well bet it wasn’t how Maxim thought the night would end either.

I opened my bedroom door and slammed it shut behind me, frustration boiling within me. The fucking idiot! If he had just kept his fucking jealousy in check, none of this shit would have happened.

As I walked into the room, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I got the distinct feeling that I wasn’t alone. Someone was in my room, but who?

Before I could form another thought, a large hand clasped over my mouth while an arm of steel wrapped around my waist, pulling me into the large body that was now standing behind me. He was a tall motherfucker, that was for sure, and his body felt like it was made of pure muscle.

Shit! Don’t think, just react.

And so, I did.

With as much force as I could gather, I drove my elbow deep into his ribs. He grunted and his hold loosened slightly, but not enough for me to escape.

Okay fucker, you wanna play? Let’s play.

I picked up my foot and slammed my spiked heel down on top of his shoe. My heel cut through nicely and stabbed him in the foot. He cursed and let me go, pushing me forward. But I didn’t stop. I knew from experience that it only took one second to fuck up in a fight and have it cost you your life. That wasn’t gonna be me. No fucking way.

My room was still encased in darkness, so all I could see was his silhouette, but it was enough for me. I ran forward and jumped into the air, wrapping my legs around his neck. Using my body’s momentum, I twisted and flung him to the ground in one quick manoeuvre.

He grunted as his big body hit the floor, the ground shaking from the impact. I straddled his large frame and pulled a blade from the sheath around my waist, holding it to his throat

The moonlight shone through the curtains at just the right angle, revealing his face. His mouth curved up in a sexy smile, his eyes dancing with mischief. And desire.

‘Ya skazal tebe, chto skoro uvizhu tebya, kotenok.’I told you I would see you soon, kitten. His deep, sexy voice said in perfect Russian.

Arturo fucking De Luca.