Page 49 of Forced Innocent Bride By the Bratva

By the front door, Ilya stood, his gaze fixed on me with a sly smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. “Hello, Daniel.”

“Son of a bitch,” I cursed, my eyes red with fury.

“Don’t look so surprised,” he said, drawing closer into the room, shoes clicking softly against the blood-stained floor. “You brought this upon yourself.”

I glared at him, my chest heaving, rage surging through my veins. “Why? How much did he pay you to turn your back on me?”

“Funny how you think this is about money.” He chuckled, eyes drinking in the mess around us. “The money is but an added advantage. It’s not even close to why I agreed to fuck you up.”

“Then what’s your reason? Why are you doing this?” I asked, watching him with purposeful intent.

His lips curled into a sly grin. “Hatred. Power.”

“You ungrateful bastard, I gave you my trust—I gave you everything,” I snarled, my voice laced with fury.

“That right there is the problem!” he yelled, eyes blazing red. “It’s all about you, Daniel. You think you made me. You think youownme!” He drew closer, his scowl deepening. “Do you have any idea what it’s like living in your shadow, doing your dirty work—your bidding—at every command? Do you?” He clicked his tongue contemptuously, shaking his head. “Nah, you don’t. To make things worse, you’ve never for one day appreciated—not even once, Daniel!”

My jaw tightened, and my brain was busy analyzing the different ways this would end.

“I got this defending you!” he growled, pointing at the scar across his face. “I put my life on the fucking line every fucking day of the week. Do you think that you’re more important than me? That your life means more than mine?”

“So you think betraying me will somehow bring you some peace?” I asked, my voice low and even.

“You see, Daniel, Liam and I struck a deal. I’ll help him finish you off and have his woman returned to him. In exchange, he’ll put me in a position of power, honor, and authority, which is more than you’ve ever done for me.”

I shook my head at his level of idiocy. It was one thing to be ungrateful and an entirely different thing to be stupid. He was both.

“Killing you will rid the world of one monster.” He drew nearer to me, eyes blazing with anger. “The monster that I hate.”

“You’re a fool, Ilya,” I said, my voice deep and husky, filled with rage and disappointment. “You let Liam trick you into doing his dirty work and fell for a promise that will never be fulfilled.” I snorted, holding his gaze, watching his anger simmer beneath the surface. “You’re nothing but a puppet, Ilya, one to be used, tossed around, and discarded by the real men that matter.”

His jaw clenched, his breathing turning ragged as the weight of my words pressed down on him.

Good.

I continued, “You’re an even bigger fool if you truly believe that Liam Callahan will ever see you as anything more than a peasant dog.”

The plan was to get him so upset that he’d engage me in a fight, a brawl he’d rush into without thinking. The angrier he was, the more likely he was to lose.

“Fuck you, Daniel,” he cursed, aiming his cocked pistol in my face.

Like lightning, I dodged a bullet, and it whooshed past my ear after he pulled the trigger. I grabbed his wrist, arching the gun upward with trembling hands as more shots rang out. I pushed against his strength, the air thick with the sound of our grunts until his back slammed against the shelf behind me. The impact sent books falling off to the floor while we wrestled, gunshots filling the air.

I bashed my forehead into his face with a powerful nod that broke his nose. He groaned, staggering backward, his grip around the gun loosening ever so slightly. I clutched the damned thing out of his hold, but he was quick to kick it out of hand before spearing into me with a thunderous bellow.

I trapped his neck in my arm, straining against his weight as I lifted him off the ground, flipping him over my head. He crashed onto the mahogany table behind, his waist slamming onto the edge. Our deep groans filled the air as we struggled to stand, weak but resilient.

That crash had affected his waist, and now he could barely get off the floor. I lunged at him, striking my knee into his face. His head jerked upward at the impact, and I rushed at him with skull-crushing blows.

He deflected the ones he could, his face turning against those he couldn’t. I grabbed his head, denting his skull into the table with a sickening thud. Swiftly, my fingers scratched a pen off the surface, and I drove into his palm, pinning it to the table. His loud wails filled the air, his body shaking in tremendous pain.

I had him trapped for a moment, bleeding profusely from the wound in his hand. With ragged breaths, I glared at him, his face battered from my heavy punches. “You fucked up, Ilya…big time,” I growled, feeling that jolt of anger coursing through my blood.

He laughed, his gaze devoid of remorse.

“Where is she?” I demanded, towering over him. “Where is Scarlett? Where’s your man taking her?”

Again, he laughed. “You might not see it, but that bitch has changed you.” His voice was low and even. He raised his head and met my gaze. “You’re weak, Daniel—unfit for the position you occupy. She should be halfway to Liam’s by now. You’ve lost her forever, Daniel. You lose.” He sneered.

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