Page 56 of Savage Bratva King

“The dog ran off. We followed him to the edge of the woods. The printzessa started asking questions about what’s on the other side.” She pauses, and I think I see a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. “I told her about the wall. I said that the perimeter is patrolled, and that’s when she stole my gun and hit me.”

“Where is the gun now?” Still, his eyes don’t waver from mine.

“Here.” Tamara slides the weapon from her pocket.

Leonid doesn’t even look at it. “Empty the bullets.”

“Pakhan, I don’t understand.” The uncertainty dancing behind her eyes morphs into something that looks remarkably like fear from where I’m standing. “Why do you?—”

“Empty. The. Bullets.”

Tamara does as she is told and tosses the unspent bullets onto the ground at her feet.

“Count them.”

“There are five bullets.”

“How many did you use trying to stop her from escaping?”

Tamara’s eyes flash my way briefly as though daring me to contradict her. “One bullet, Pakhan.” The tic in his temple continues to pulse, and she adds, “You warned us not to harm the printzessa.”

A gush of warmth spreads through my chest. He warned them not to hurt me.

I wish that we could have a moment alone so that I might explain to him why I ran. If I mean anything to him, if our night of passion meant anything to him other than a quick fuck, then surely, he will understand. He is an intelligent man. Ruthless but intelligent.

“Is that what happened?” The question is aimed at me.

I have two options. I can be honest and tell him what really happened in the hope that he will believe me. Or I can go along with Tamara’s version of events and convince him that the attempted escape was my idea.

I force myself not to look at Tamara. I’ve seen what she and her sister are capable of, and I would rather have them on my side than make enemies of them.

So, I look him directly in the eye and say, “That’s what happened.”

20

LEONID

In my study,I fill a shot glass with vodka and drink it straight.

It’s going to be a long night.

I refill the glass. Knock it back. Wait for the burn that doesn’t come.

When I left my brother and sister, I got Marco to drive me to the canine rescue center and I wandered around the building, alone, checking out the animals that had recently arrived. Marco is the only person who knows about my regular contributions to the rescue center. I do it for Marvel. If he hadn’t found me when he did, he wouldn’t have survived another winter, and every time I look into his eyes, I have to force the image of him dying alone and shivering in a dank alleyway from my head.

Sonia, the rescue center manager, introduced me to a German Shepherd puppy they’d recently recovered from a travelers’ site. They’d named her Lucky. If she hadn’t been recovered when she was, the puppy would almost certainly have died from starvation, and that was without the flesh wounds around her neck and the fleas and ticks covering her little body.

Lucky came to me, curled up into a tight ball in my lap, and closed her eyes, and I knew that she belonged to Gianna. When I looked at her head resting against my chest, front paws tucked in tightly, all I could see was Gianna curled up in my bed.

Loyal. Trusting. Faithful.

I signed the paperwork with Sonia before I left. I could already picture telling Gianna about Lucky, the way her face would light up with pure joy, the way she would throw her arms around my neck and hug me tightly, her body pressed up against mine.

Then, driving home, I got the call from my men that Gianna and Tamara were walking with Marvel towards the woods surrounding my land.

I didn’t think about why.

I didn’t consider that she might be trying to escape.

---