Bratva Bride: Chapter 25

“That was so much fun!” Lukyan yelled, a bright beaming smile on his face as we walked into the house.

Their large Victorian-style mansion was well underway to being repaired with dozens of men working hard to restore the house to its former glory. Builders, carpenters, electricians all worked around the clock to fix the damage that Nero caused, cleaning up the rubble, fixing the walls and applying new plaster and paint.

The Bratva sure did work fast and wasted no time.

“I mean fuck, did you see how much blood and guts where on the floor by the time we left? They’re gonna have to rip that carpet out. There’s no way they’re gonna get all those blood stains out,” Lukyan continued, heading towards the kitchen.

“I know right! It was so fucking awesome. What about that one fucker who pissed his pants?” Vin laughed, following behind Lukyan like a little puppy dog.

I knew the second those fools met that they’d bond like crazy. They were too much alike not to. I shook my head and sighed, trailing after them. They talked loudly, chatting about their kills and how much fun they had just had as Lukyan handed out shots of vodka to everyone. They were like a bunch of teenage girls talking about their latest crushes, voices all high and excited.

“Oh my god, yes! That was hilarious. Fucking pussy.” Lukyan tossed back his shot and poured another. “Illayana is going to be so pissed that she missed it. She hates missing out on all the fun.”

Speaking of, where was my wife?

I noticed her absence immediately but just assumed she was upstairs somewhere. This place had four fucking floors. She could be on any one of them, but surely she would have come downstairs when she heard us come back?

I went to leave the kitchen when Vin spoke.

“Turo, where the fuck are you going? Let’s celebrate! We got all the guns back, got a few prisoners and we didn’t lose a single man. Win, win, fucking win.”

All valid points to celebrate, but-

“I’m going to find my wife.”

“Don’t bother. She’ll just be killjoy, ruin our buzz.” Lukyan shrugged out of his bloody suit jacket and hung it over a chair.

Aleksandr slapped him over the head. “Don’t talk about her like that.

“What?! I’m just being honest,” he whined, massaging his head. “Watch. The second she comes down here she’ll whine and bitch about how she wasn’t allowed to come.”

I left them to argue and went to find her. After checking upstairs and the rest of the house that wasn’t being repaired, I was irritated as fuck when I still couldn’t find her.

Where the fuck was she? She better not have left the house. I gave very specific instructions to Christian, Luca and Lorenzo and they better have fucking listened or there’d be hell to pay.

When I stepped back into the kitchen alone, Aleksandr frowned. “Where’s Illayana?”

A sinking feeling churned in my stomach. “I don’t know, I couldn’t find her.”

“Relax. She’s probably in the warehouse or something punching out her frustrations,” Lukyan said, taking another shot, not at all bothered about the fact that his sister wasn’t here.

Aleksandr walked over to the glass sliding door and pulled back the curtain, peering outside. “There’s no lights on in the warehouse. She isn’t in there.” He walked back to the kitchen bench and knocked back a shot, the frown still on his face.

The sinking feeling grew, spreading throughout my body, and I clenched my fists.

Oh, I’m going to kill them. They fucking left.

I pulled out my phone and just as I went to dial one of her idiot bodyguards it rang, the name CHRISTIAN flashing on the screen. I answered quickly.

“You better have a damn good fucking reason as to why you aren’t here at the house,” I growled.

“I’m sorry, boss. Fuck, I’m so fucking sorry.”

I stiffened, my whole body going rigid. “Put her on the phone.”

“Boss-”

“Put. Her. On. The. Phone,” I repeated slowly, my voice deepening with every word.

Christian spoke fast. “I-I can’t. Listen, boss, it was a mistake. A stupid fucking mistake that we shouldn’t have made but she wanted to go out and she wouldn’t take no for an answer, and then we ran into her cousin who wanted to talk to her alone and then I seriously don’t know what happened. We got gassed or some shit, I dunno, and when we came to she wasn’t there anymore. Fuck, I don’t even-”

“Enough!” I yelled. “Where is she, Christian?”

“I’m sorry boss, I don’t know. She was taken.”

Taken.

Time slowed down, everything around me grounding to a halt as those words sunk in. She was gone. Someone had kidnapped her. Taken her from me.

Rage blasted through me and I roared, screaming at the top of my lungs. I lashed out, kicking furniture over and cursing him three ways to Sunday, calling him every filthy name I could think of. I was no longer speaking English. Everything came out in a rush of Italian.

I punched the wall, every curse accompanied by my fist punching through the plaster. I kicked in the China cabinet filled with expensive antiques, bashed the shit out of everything in my reach until my knuckles bled.

Aleksandr stepped towards me, to do what I had no idea, but Vin got in his path, shaking his head. He knew the best thing to do was stay the fuck out of my way when I was like this.

Christian didn’t say a word the entire time, but I knew he was still on the phone.

“Get your asses back here. Now,” I snarled, hanging up.

They were all going to pay for disobeying my orders.

The room was silent, Aleksandr, Nikolai and even Lukyan staring at me with intense eyes. They looked at the destruction I caused and said nothing. I didn’t feel guilty about it. I’d pay to replace everything later.

“What’s happened?” Aleksandr asked, body tight with tension.

I didn’t even want to say the words. “Illayana’s gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean, gone?” Lukyan snapped.

“Someone’s kidnapped her.”

Suddenly the room sprang to life, Illayana’s brothers moving like the house was on fire. Aleksandr barked orders, Nikolai grabbed his laptop, typing away furiously while Lukyan ran out of the room, a few Bratva men hot on his heels.

My mind swirled. All I could think about was Illayana, about what could be happening to her and who could be doing it. My thoughts turned savage, the idea of her being hurt making me want to burn the whole fucking world to a crisp. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I had to do something. I had to find her.

“Vin, call Derek. See if he can track her phone. If it hasn’t been ditched, we might be able to find her.”

“There’s no need.” Dimitri stomped into the room, anger in every step, hair wet from a shower and dressed in a fresh Armani suit. Bratva men trailed behind him, concern wafting them as they ran to do as he commanded, gathering weapons and supplies.

My father stepped into the room a second later, coming over to me. “Is it true, son? She’s been taken?” He placed a hand on my shoulder, offering support.

“Yes. And I’m about to lose my fucking mind.” I shrugged off his touch and went to Dimitri. We had to find her, get moving now. “What did you mean there’s no need to track her phone? You know where she is?”

Dimitri’s blue eyes shone with menace as he barked, “Nikolai,” effectively ignoring me.

His son jogged over, laptop in hand.

“Dimitri!” I snapped, my patience non-existent. “Why wouldn’t I need to track her phone?”

His gaze snapped to me and I could see the fire burning in his eyes, the anger radiating from him, but I wasn’t deterred. He didn’t fucking scare me, even if he was The Bratva Butcher.

“We can glare at each other later. Right now, you need to talk to me or you and I are finally going to go at it.”

A chorus of gasps echoed in the kitchen. Silence reigned over the room but I couldn’t let it last. We didn’t have the time to fucking waste. Every second we stood here staring at each other, she could be getting hurt.

Fed up, I reached into the holster strapped to my chest and gripped my gun, ready to start threatening if he didn’t start fucking talking. Just as I was about to pull it out, my father body checked me, ramming his chest into mine and pushing me back a step while Aleksandr jumped protectively in front of his father, a scowl on his face.

“Figliolo, tranquillo. Respirare,” Son, calm. Breathe,he whispered in my ear.

“Sono fottutamente calmo,” I am fucking calm, I growled, shoving him away.

Alessandro stayed in front of me, blocking me from Dimitri in case I lost my temper again. “Dimitri, I’m sure you have a plan. Please, share it.”

My father – always the fucking peace maker.

Dimitri pushed his son to the side and stepped forward, glaring at me. “You and I are going to have a few words when this is all over, Arturo-”

“Looking forward to it,” I snapped, interrupting him. “But right now, we’ve got more important shit to deal with.”

“I agree, it’s the only reason you’re still breathing right now. But make no mistake, this matter will be dealt with.” Dimitri took the laptop from Nikolai and turned it to face me.

I stared at the screen, seeing a map of a small town in the middle of nowhere and a bright red dot. “What the fuck am I looking at?”

Dimitri narrowed his eyes, irritation wafting off him. “That’s Illayana. Her location. I’m assembling my men now. I suggest you do the same. We leave in three minutes.”

“You bugged her phone?”

“Not exactly.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we can waste time while I explain it to you, or you can move your ass so we can get going.”

I glared, but lucky for him he had a point. No reason to waste even more time than we already had.

“Fine. Vin, gather the men, get them armed and loaded back into the car. We’re going to get my wife back.”

“Tell me how your father knows exactly where Illayana is,” I demanded, casting my eyes to Lukyan who sat in the passenger seat of the SUV.

I was surprised he chose to ride with us and not his own family. He had even fought Vin for the front seat, literally pushing him to the ground when Vin opened the passenger side door.

Vin now sat in the back seat next to Father, glaring daggers at the back of Lukyan’s head. If looks could kill…

“Did he bug her phone or something?” I asked, following the other SUV in front of me as we merged onto the highway.

I wasn’t 100% sure where we were going, just that the location was somewhere outside a small town on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

“Or something.” Lukyan turned and tapped the back of his neck.

The fuck?

“He bugged her?” I asked incredulously.

“Calm down, it’s not like she doesn’t know about it. We’ve all got em’.”

“Got what exactly?”

“It’s like a little microchip. It’s implanted just beneath the skin. No big deal.”

Vin poked his head into the front section of the car, a frown on his face. “Like what cats and dogs have and shit?”

“Yeah, kinda. It’s a safety measure, in case one of us gets lifted.”

“Lifted?” Father questioned, confused.

“Kidnapped,” Lukyan clarified.

Father sighed and grumbled “young kids and their stupid slang.”

I wouldn’t really call Lukyan ‘young’, but whatever. I switched the car into cruise control and leaned back. “So you’re telling me you all have trackers in the back of your neck that broadcasts your location to your father?”

“You make him sound crazy,” Lukyan laughed. “He’s just a bit protective, that’s all. He got a bit paranoid after our mother was kidnapped. He wasn’t able to find her before she was raped and killed. He decided he wasn’t going to go through that shit again. Hence, tracker.”

I didn’t know how I felt about that. I mean, right now it was coming in handy, but I wasn’t comfortable with Illayana having a microchip in her like she was a fucking animal.

My phone chimed. I picked it up and glanced at it quickly, making sure to keep one eye on the road.

A text message.

Unknown: Your wife sure is a pretty little thing.

Rage poured through me like hot boiling lava and I ground my teeth, squeezing the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. Another text message came through. It was a link to a website.

My stomach dropped. What would I find when I clicked it?

“What is it? You’ve got a real murdery look on your face right now,” Lukyan said, and I glared. He inched away from me. “Yeah, that look.”

“Take the wheel.” I climbed over the centre console, moving to the back seat.

“Aye, what the fuck!” Panic flashed across Lukyan’s face and he jumped to grab the steering wheel before we veered off the road.

“Move,” I barked, shoving Vin over so he squished up against the window.

“Ow, Turo! You fucking prick.”

“Shut up before I shut you up,” I snapped, opening the message.

“Your road safety awareness is a bloody joke,” Lukyan squawked, eyes flicking to me in the rear-view mirror before returning to the road.

I ignored him and focused on my phone. “Someone sent me a link.”

“To what?” Vin asked, climbing into the passenger seat.

Lukyan tapped on the breaks and Vin flew forward, smashing into the dashboard. Vin shrieked and groaned in pain.

“Whoops,” Lukyan chuckled.

“Will you stop fucking around? This is not a fucking game, Lukyan! Your goddamn sister is being held captive and you’re playing around like there’s nothing fucking wrong. What the fuck is the matter with you?”

Hurt flashed in his eyes and he stared at the road, jaw clenched. “People cope in different ways, Arturo. I’m choosing not to dwell on something I can’t change and instead to try and relax before I walk into a situation that has the potential to shatter my heart. I love my sister. Out of all my siblings, she’s the one I’m closest to and if we get there too late…if she’s dead…” he choked, his words dying off.

I blinked, momentarily taken aback. I definitely wasn’t expecting something so….deep, so meaningful, to come out of his mouth. It was like a whole other side to him.

My father gave me a deathly glare. “Arturo.” That one word held a magnitude of reprimand. “That was uncalled for. I understand how you’re feeling, but you can’t lash out at everyone around you.”

He was using his ‘Dad’ voice. I sighed and looked up from my phone. “Sorry, Lukyan.” I wasn’t really, but I didn’t want to continue this conversation.

I clicked on the link, and it took me to a website that was live streaming a video.

Illayana stood in the centre of the room, her hair wet like she’d been dunked in a bucketful of water and clothes covered in dirt. I stiffened at the sight of her, my blood running cold.

The grip on my phone tightened and a dark growl slipped from my lips as a man backhanded her across the face.

Nero.

He walked towards the camera and took it, pointing it towards Illayana as he spoke, his words echoing in the car.

He talked of the benefits of live streaming, of how excited he was to know that I would be watching as he defiled my wife, as his men took what wasn’t theirs to have.

My body grew tight, my anger skyrocketing as I was forced to sit there and listen to that sadistic asshole talk about how his men planned to have her, what they were going to do to her.

Lukyan cursed and beat his fists against the steering wheel. He slammed his foot down on the accelerator and we sped forward, overtaking the car we were following with his father and brothers and taking the lead.

His phone rang and he answered in Russian, his words harsh as he explained to whoever was on the other line what was going on.

I didn’t know how far away we were but I prayed we were fucking close. I had the stomach to deal with a lot of things.

I’ve gutted men from throat to pelvis. I’ve ripped organs from their bodies and then eaten a turkey sandwich while I stood in a pool of their blood, but this? Watching Illayana being hurt? Brutalised? That I couldn’t stomach.

The camera panned out to the men in the room, a dozen at least, and I tried to commit every one of them to memory. I would hunt them all down and inflict twice the amount of pain and suffering they caused Illayana.

I squinted at the screen.

Wait a second, is that Diego?

It was! Standing amongst the men waiting to defile my wife was that little shit stain, his eyes lit with excitement.

Motherfucker.

One of the men walked forward, heading towards my wife. My gut churned.

Oh God, I don’t think I can watch.

Father stared at the screen, a worried but thoughtful expression on his face. “She doesn’t look scared.”

I zeroed in on her face. My father was right. She didn’t look scared at all. If anything, she looked excited. Eager.

“What’s happening?” Lukyan demanded, one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding the phone to his ear. His eyes darted to me impatiently.

“She’s about to fight some guy one on one.”

I described the scene for Lukyan as he drove, never taking my eyes off Illayana. I honestly felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest at any moment, like my body was going to shut down from all the stress and anxiety flowing through me.

Within a second, Illayana slit the man’s throat with one quick manoeuvre and I breathed a sigh of relief. That was until Diego and another man stepped forward. Then my heart sped up all over again. I could have sworn that I was going to end up having a fucking heart attack.

This fight lasted longer, was more hands on, more brutal. Every time I saw those fuckers swing at her, I wanted to wrap my hands around their throat and choke the life out of them.

“How far away are we?” I shouted, my grip on my temper and sanity at breaking point. I was going to snap.

My father tried to comfort me, whispering supportive things in Italian, but it wasn’t any good. Nothing could comfort me except having her in front of me unharmed.

“Not far,” Lukyan gritted out, focused on the road as he weaved in and out of traffic. He jerked off the highway and we sped down a long, dark road, driving further and further away from civilisation and deeper into the sticks.

Illayana stabbed Diego in the leg and kicked him away. Her and the other man circled each other, then she looked directly at the camera and winked.

Fucking. Winked.

“For fuck sake, Illayana,” I hissed, grinding my teeth.

When I got my hands on her I was going to punish the fuck out of her for that. For playing around when her fucking life was at stake.

The car came to a screeching halt and I finally looked away from the screen. A large house sat a few miles away, surrounded by mountains of dirt and an abundance of cars and motorbikes.

A knock at my window had me reaching for my gun. Dimitri stood outside the car, face hard and expression as dark and deadly as the devil himself. He stepped back as I opened the door, giving me room to slide out.

“She in there?” I asked, pulling out my gun and checking the chamber. Ready to go.

“Da. Lukyan said you were sent a video? I want to see it.”

“Trust me when I say there isn’t time for that. We need to go, and we need to go now.”