Page 80 of Born into Blood

“No,” he agrees, “it’s best if she never knows. The things I had to look at,” he starts to say and then shakes his head as if to clear it, but not before I see the flash of horror and disgust. “I’ll never forget it.”

Even though he’s almost sixteen, he’s way too fucking young to have to look at shit like that, and I hate that he’s had to do so. He’ll see enough horrors to keep him awake at night when he’s older and helping us run the Bratva. It’s not something he should have to worry about right now.

“I’m sorry you had to comb through it all. I would have done it for you if I could have.”

A faint smirk lifts the corner of his mouth. “Well I think we both know that was never going to happen.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad,” I tell him with a laugh.

“Uh-huh,” he says, patting my arm in a very sarcastic sure thing kind of way.

“You don’t have to be an ass about it,” I say while trying not to laugh because he’s not wrong. No way in hell could I do what he does.

He just laughs and starts to walk off while I follow him out, eager to check on Lara to make sure she’s okay. As soon as I spot her laughing at something Svetlana’s said, the tightness in my chest goes away. All I want to do is keep her safe and to make sure she always looks as carefree and happy as she does now. As if she can sense my presence, she looks up and meets my eyes, her smile growing even wider when she sees me.

God, I fucking love this woman.

After another hour of mingling with my family, I’m about to suggest we go and meet with her mom and then get her moved in with me when I see my dad and uncles talking in a group a few feet away. They look pissed, really fucking pissed, and when my dad waves me over, I brace myself for whatever the fuck he’s going to say. I know Niki would never lie to me, but I have a gut feeling that this relates to the Lebedev Bratva in some way. No such thing as a coincidence and all that.

“We need to have a meeting,” my dad says, cutting to the chase. “One of our men can drive Lara home.”

I scrub a hand over my face, not liking this idea at all.

“This is how it is, Son, you know that,” my dad reminds me. “She’ll be fine, and you can go and see her later.”

“What’s this about?” I ask him.

He looks at his brothers, each of them stone-faced and quiet, but none look as violent as my Uncle Matvey.

“We’ll explain later,” my dad says. “Val and Max are helping everyone get packed up and then we’re meeting in Dominic’s office. Tell her goodbye, Luka, and then come find us.”

He’s right. I have no choice. I don’t get the option of going home and living a normal life with the woman I love. My life is dictated by the Bratva. It’s not that everything else comes second because it’s less important. It’s more that everything has to come second so I can keep the people I love safe. If we get lazy about work, then it will come back and bite us in the ass, except we won’t be the ones who feel the sting of it. When enemies strike, they go after the people you care about first. So to keep Lara safe, I need to send her away from me so I can focus.

When she sees my face, she stands and walks over. “What’s wrong?”

I smile down at her and thread my fingers in her hair, pulling her closer. “Nothing’s wrong, baby, but there’s a slight change in plans. I need to talk with my dad and uncles about something, and I’m not sure how long it’ll take. I’m going to have one of our men take you home, and then I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”

She clutches my shirt and looks me in the eyes. “You’re sure everything is okay?”

“It’s fine, kisa, just some work shit.”

“That can’t be good,” she mutters.

Looking into her blue eyes and sweet face, I know there’s no way in hell I will ever tell her the truth of what’s going on. I will take this secret to my grave to spare her the pain of ever having to know the kind of monster her dad and uncle were.

I cup her face and kiss her, losing myself in her for a few precious seconds before I’m forced to pull apart. Resting my forehead against hers, I say, “I swear to you I’ll be there as soon as I can, and then we’re telling your mom and you’re moving in with me. Tonight you will be in my bed, and every fucking night after that for the rest of our lives.”

“Okay,” she whispers. “Sounds good to me. I’ve got a few things I still need to pack anyway.”

“That’s my girl,” I tell her, making her smile.

“Be careful, Luka.”

“Always, kisa,” I tell her, giving her another kiss before reluctantly letting her go.

Svetlana sees us and nods at the black SUV that Vitya’s getting into. “Do you need a ride? We can drop you off, Lara, if you need us to.”

Lara looks up at me to make sure I’m okay with it, and when I nod, she smiles at Svetlana and says, “That would be great. It’s on the other side of the city, though. Is that okay?”

---