Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
I don’t bother to wipe the tears that stream down my face as I hold her gaze and tell her with as much sincerity as I can muster, “I would never betray the brotherhood. Never. I saw Stefan and Nicolai kill a man last night, and my first thought was ‘if Stefan orchestrated this, this was well deserved.’”
“Smart girl,” she says. “Stefan never orders execution lightly.” She nods. “I believe you. And this hurts worse for you because you have feelings for Stefan?”
If she’s to be an ally, there’s no point in hiding the truth anymore. So, with a sigh, I nod. “I’ve known him for years. He’s ignorant of how I feel, but before tonight, I thought he was a good man. Now that I know better, I—”
But she shakes her head so sharply, I stop mid-sentence.
“Do not allow his treatment of you tonight to color what you know to be true.”
I shake my head. “How could I not?”
She sighs. “Taara, listen to me. Stefan is a loyal man. You witnessed his son perform an execution. If you told the authorities, Stefan’s son would be put into jail. Did that not occur to you?”
None of this occurred to me. Still, I’m hardly in the position for feeling sympathy for those two right now.
She continues. “I’m sure given his concern for Nicolai, he assumed the worst about why you were there and what you could potentially do to hurt his son.”
“That might make logical sense, but it doesn’t make what he did right.”
She waves a hand impatiently at me. “Stop talking about right and wrong. You’re framing all of this in average terms, but we live by a different code.”
We. Not them.
Has what happened tonight made me one of them?
I bite back the snarky reply that’s on the tip of my tongue, because it would be utterly foolish of me to deny the opportunity to form an ally in this.
“So, he caught you,” she says without emotion, simply stating facts. “He punished you or interrogated you.” The sympathy I imagined she felt has fled. What the hell?
I swallow hard, embarrassed to discuss this with her. “He did.”
“And now you’re likely his prisoner, and he won’t allow you out of his sight.”
“Yes.”
She nods, mulling this over with her chin in her hand for a moment, before she turns to me. “Taara, there’s something you should know.”
“Yes?”
“The women of the Bratva stand together. Always. But we do so in a way that strengthens all of us—our entire extended family. We do not seek to change who they are, what they stand for, or what they do. But we can join in solidarity together as one, for those times when we need to withstand the tempest, as it were.”
I swallow hard and don’t reply. I don’t know where she’s going with this.
“So, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to tell you how to handle Stefan. I’m going to assure him of your innocence. And I’m going to promise you that you aren’t alone.”
Her phone rings, and we both jump. She glances at the screen, muttering, “I’m sorry, that’s my husband.”
She answers the phone.
“Hello?” She listens for a minute, nodding, then smiles. “Very well. Yes, of course. I would be happy to.” She hangs up the phone and smiles at me.
“In the midst of all this, Tomas asked me to make traditional Russian food to bring to Stefan’s former housekeeper. An interesting request, considering the circumstances, but if there’s anything you should know about Stefan, it’s that he takes care of his own.”
I blink. He remembered. Even after I did what I did, he remembered my mother.
Oh, Stefan. What the hell are you doing to me?
I don’t respond to her, because I can’t bring myself to tell her it’s my mother she’ll be cooking for.
“And that’s something else you should know, Taara. Being tied to a man of the Bratva is not for the faint of heart. These men are ruthless, heavy-handed, domineering. They can be brutal. But if you win his heart, he will devote himself to you with a deep, abiding love unlike anything you could ever imagine.”
If I win his heart? Is she out of her mind?
“Show him your loyalty, Taara. Prove your fidelity to the Bratva, and you will not regret it.”
Chapter 5
Stefan
I let Taara go with reluctance. I want her under my watchful eye, but I also know that if she spends some time with Caroline, it will give me the ability to speak freely to my men, more so than if she were present. So instead, I opt for allowing her to be supervised by my men and Caroline. I am curious what Caroline wishes to say to her, but I trust Tomas. And if Tomas trusts her, so do I.
They go to an adjacent room, and I focus on the men before me. Nicolai stands with his arms crossed on his chest, eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep and stress. I give him a discreet nod, confirmation that we are together in this. Rafael stands beside him in a similar position, and Tomas sits beside me, one leg crossed over the other. Nicolai and Tomas are like brothers.