Bratva Prince (Bratva Series Book 2)

Aleksandr was being a real asshole.

He currently sat in the chair I had placed by the window so I could watch and ogle him when he did his daily training, book in hand and eyes plastered to the pages. It was a fantasy novel I’d plucked from the bookshelf, one I hadn’t had the chance to properly read yet because I kept getting distracted staring at Aleksandr’s bare freaking chest every morning.

We hadn’t talked much since I told him he had to let me go. At all, really. Which was fine by me because I was pissed. He’d come in, sometimes we’d fuck—because hey, a girls gotta get some—and sometimes we’d just sit in silence, me watching some TV show and he either reading a book or staring at his phone.

The topic of leaving never came up again, because he shot it down every time I brought it up. It ticked me off. He’d given me his phone to contact Juan and I’d managed to convince my brother not to do anything stupid, like attack the Bratva. He was concerned, even though I’d told him countless times they weren’t going to kill me.

Aleksandr had an endless amount of opportunities to do so already if that’s what he wanted, and he never did. Not even when I was first brought here and refused to answer any of his questions, refused to comply with any of his demands. He never laid a hand on me. At least, not in the way Juan feared.

I felt like I was slowly losing my mind here. Losing myself. Aleksandr was right when he said it was a perfectly nice room to be locked in. It had everything I could ever want or need, except the ability to leave when I wanted.

I missed my family. My mum—who I’m sure was probably worried shitless, especially when Juan returned empty handed. God, I could only imagine how much shit she’d be giving him over that. The thought made amusement trickle through me.

“What are you laughing about over there?”

I jolted at that husky, accented voice. I hadn’t even realised I’d laughed. My gaze cut to him. His eyes were still plastered to the book in his hands, giving off the vibe he wasn’t even paying attention, but I knew he was. Aleksandr never missed a thing.

He filled the width of that chair snugly, his ankle resting comfortably on his knee, his posture perfect.

The way the sunlight was beaming in through the open window, bathing him in a gorgeous golden light took my breath away.

Fuck, I was so head over heels for him. It was too late. The damage was done. There was no saving myself from the pain and heartbreak of him leaving to get married. Both my heart and soul were deeply in it, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

I’d fallen hard for the man who kidnapped me, who kept me locked in a room day after day, refusing to let me go. A man who was strong. Fierce. A huge grump but who also did the sweetest things for me, like bring me grilled cheese sandwiches every day because I’d told him one time they were my favourite. Or when he brought me my own very first bike and taught me how to ride it.

Aleksandr was an extremely hard man to get close to. He was quiet. Reserved. He guarded his thoughts and feelings like his life depended on it.

But that was okay, because it was often the hardest struggles that ended up being the most rewarding.

The moment Aleksandr opened up and let me in, the moment he shared his deepest, most darkest secrets made everything that’s happened to me since Nero kidnapped me worth it.

No question.

“Are we back to not talking, malyshka? I thought we were past that?” A playful smirk danced over Aleksandr’s lips and I was helpless to do anything but smile back.

His words were a play on something he’d said to me before.

Truth was, I wasn’t talking to him, because like I said before, I was pissed off with him for not letting me go. For not understanding that it was in my best interest to get away, so I didn’t have to watch him commit himself to someone else when I wished it could be me.

So I replaced my smile with a glare and turned away from him, focusing back on the TV. Ross and Rachel were fighting, the whole ‘we were on a break’ thing complete and utter bullshit, in my opinion.

Rachel never said they were on one. She said ‘maybe we should take a break’. Maybe. And I’m sorry, even if they were on a break (which they weren’t), you don’t go and sleep with someone else a few hours later. That’s a dog move.

Totally Team Rachel.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Aleksandr shut his book. He turned his chair to face me, his head tilting to the side.

I glared harder at the TV, determined not to look at him. It was hard. I loved staring into those magnetic blue eyes. Fucker knew it, too.

“You know that angry look on your face just makes my cock hard,” he rumbled, sending shivers down my spine.

Yes, I did know that, because for the past three days, any time I’d given him that look, we ended up fucking. In the bed. On the floor. Against the wall. In the shower.

Angry sex just hit on a whole other level.

“We’re not fucking today,” I snapped, though I wanted to. “So you might as well just go.”

His brows creased in the most adorable little frown. “Why would I do that?” He asked it like it was the stupidest question he’d ever heard before. “If you think I’m only here to get in your pants, you’ve drastically underestimated your value to me.”

It was my turn to frown.

“It’s not just about the physical things for me, Drea. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the physical side of things is—” a sinful grin curled on his lips, “—mind blowing.”

I smirked. Yeah, our sexual chemistry was off the charts.

“But there’s more to it than that for me. Being around you soothes my mind, it quiets the storm raging inside of me. It brings peace to my soul. I could be having the worst, most frustrating day and seeing your smile—yes, that smile right there—would make all my troubles just fade away.”

My heart raced at his declarations, flutters exploding in my stomach. The sincerity burning in his eyes made me believe every word, and it excited me. Excited me to know that he cared for me as much as I did him. That he craved my presence and thought of me as more than just his fuck toy (which, FYI, I did love being). It was just nice to know he liked me as well as my body.

“You look surprised.” Aleksandr cocked his head. “Why?”

“I guess I just didn’t know that, well—”

“That you mean so much to me?”

I blew out a laugh. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“You shouldn’t be. Why else do you think I just sit in here with you for hours on end? Even when we don’t say a word to each other? Even when you’re just glaring at me the whole time? Because I—”

Bang!

Aleksandr bolted up right, his spine snapping straight as his brows dropped into a deep frown. His head tilted slightly to the side, deep lines of concentration marring his face, like he was straining to hear what the noise was.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Aleksandr was up, jumping to his feet seconds before the screaming started. It took me a moment to realise the banging noises were gunshots.

Fuck! Gunshots! Someone was shooting.

I expected Aleksandr to run out of the room, but he went straight for the bedside table, his hand disappearing underneath. A click rang through the room as he pressed a hidden button. The bookshelf along the wall swung open, revealing a thick, metal door.

My mouth dropped open. What. The. Fuck?

Aleksandr ran to it. He put in some sort of code on the keypad and the door unlocked. He gripped it tightly and yanked it open with a grunt before running inside.

I kicked the blankets off and followed. I stood at the entrance of what I could now see was a safe room of some kind. Aleksandr was in front of a wall of monitors at the back, his eyes moving from screen to screen as he watched a bunch of armed people run through the house.

“Fuck,” he growled, anger vibrating from him. He plucked a bulletproof vest from the wall to his left, strapping it over his chest. He moved to the wall to his right that housed a range of different weapons. He put on a chest, waist, thigh and ankle holster, his movements quick and precise like he’d done this a thousand times before. His eyes never left the computer screens as he swiftly armed himself, shoving guns and knives into the holsters around his body. He picked up a huge machine gun last, pushing his arm inside the strap so it was wrapped around him tightly.

“Aleksandr—”

“Get in and shut the door behind me,” he commanded harshly, writing something down on a piece of paper. “Don’t come out, no matter what you see or hear. There’s a phone, call your brother. Tell him to come get you. This is the address,” he handed me the paper.

Everything was happening so quickly I was having a hard time keeping up. More gunshots and screams came from outside. I didn’t want to be locked in this room. I wanted to help.

I tried again. “Aleksandr—” he kissed me, my words cutting off as he wrapped me in his arms and picked me up off my feet, his tongue diving into my mouth. I moaned, gripping his face tightly as I kissed him back with everything I had. We kissed like it was the last time we’d ever see each other, full of love and passion.

And then he was gone.