Page 58 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

By the last hit, he’s starting to sag against the wall. For a second, I think he might be unconscious. But then he spits blood on the floor and looks up at me.

“Wait… are you…” He frowns up at me. “Are you Mr. Zhukova?”

“Bingo,mudak.” I grab his shirt and lift him up so his feet are dangling just above the floor. “But if you ever pull shit like this again, I’m your worst fucking nightmare.”

All at once, I let go, and he crumples to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

I step over him and then melt back into the crowd.

Belle is waiting outside by a new bouncer. Apparently, shift change happened while we were inside. Elise is sagged against her, drooling on her shoulder.

When Belle sees me, she looks relieved. “What happened?”

“I found Zach,” I explain. “The situation has been handled. He won’t be bothering you again.”

Her mouth forms a worried “o” and I want to press my lips to it. “Did you—”

“Everything is fine,” I interrupt. “Let’s get Elise in the car.”

I move to walk past her, but she grabs my arm. “You didn’t hurt him, did you?”

Belle isn’t looking at my knuckles, but if she was, she’d see they’re split and bloodied. I pull my hand away and shove it into my pocket. “I fired him. But he’s fine.”

“Okay. Good.” She exhales.

I bend and scoop Elise out of her arms, cradling the girl in my arms away from my chest. She’s out of it, but still conscious. Barely.

“Who are you?” she mumbles to me. “P-put me the fuck down, fucker.”

I snort. Belle touches my shoulder. “Thank you, Nikolai. For… for everything. You didn’t have to do this. But… thank you.”

She’s right. I didn’t have to do this. So why did I?

Probably the same reason I punched the asshole with the silver chain and beat my own employee to within an inch of his life.

Because Belle Dowan does things to me that I can’t explain.

And she makes me do things that I could never explain to her.

It will be better for both of us if this doesn’t go any further. I try to find the words to say just that, but they won’t come.

So I just turn and walk away.

12

BELLE

“I’m not a fucking child. I’m a grown up. I’m…” Elise’s voice wavers and fades. Then she lunges for the empty Big Gulp cup and gets sick.

I pat her back. “Get it all out.”

Nikolai doesn’t say anything, but he rolls down the windows. The fresh air disperses the thick smell of vomit, which I’m grateful for.

When Elise is finished, she plunks the cup in the cup holder and continues her rant. “I was completely fine! Zach was looking out for me, and I was having fun.”

“Zach pumped you full of alcohol and drugs,” I snap.

“He had plans to pump her full of something else, too,” Nikolai mutters.

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