Page 18 of Betrayal and Vows (Bratva Vows #2)

Anton

I ’m dying inside.

I don’t even bother hiding it anymore.

It simmers just under the surface. It feels like there’s a live wire twisting through my chest.

Every nerve feels like it’s on fire.

Lena begged me.

Tears in her eyes, fingers twisted in my shirt like she could anchor herself to me and never let go. “Don’t let them do this,” she whispered. “Anton, please—please, just get me out.”

I kissed her and walked away.

I had to. I didn’t have a plan. Not yet.

For now, she had to go through the motions. She had to play along with this fucked up wedding.

I wasn’t going to give up. But I needed time. Dmitri and I needed privacy to plan. She didn’t understand and I couldn’t explain.

Her friend Kira showed up an hour ago. After I searched the bags she brought with her, I let her into Lena’s room.

I heard the sobbing.

The wedding planning was not a happy occasion. Mikhail was giddy.

And I wanted to fucking kill him.

There is no security risk. Mikhail just enjoys flaunting his bullshit power.

And if he’s the one sending the pictures or his people are, it might just be a way to let me know my death is imminent.

Taunting us.

The wedding is tomorrow.

The estate is a carnival of drunken fools and smug bastards. Fireworks are going off outside. Somewhere downstairs, Mikhail is probably toasting my death and Lena’s ruination.

And all I want to do is carry her out of here and run.

But we’d never make it. Not with Vadim’s men in every hallway and the security tripled for the big day. Not when every exit leads to death.

I tell myself I’ll get her out of here, but the timing isn’t right. I don’t want to steal her away only to have her die in my arms.

Dmitri is doing what he can to make contact with people he knows outside the Bratva, but it’s been hard. Security is tight. Everyone is suspicious.

Every morning we get a list of credible threats.

It’s more than a little disturbing to learn men are actively trying to kill the woman you love.

I find Dmitri near the south entrance, checking the guest list for the third time today.

Two of Yuri's men flank us.

They are close enough to hear every word, far enough to pretend they're not listening.

"Any word from your grandmother?" I ask casually, scanning the names on his clipboard like I give a shit about the guest list.

His eyes flick to mine for just a second. "Da. She's looking forward to my visit. Says she has something special planned."

Hope flickers in my chest like a match struck in darkness.

"Good," I manage, keeping my voice calm. "It will be a good visit."

"She always said timing is everything." He flips a page, making notes in the margin. "Patience pays off."

I nod, understanding. Whatever he's arranged, it's not ready yet. We're still trapped.

Yuri approaches with that look on his face that has both of us standing a little straighter.

Behind him, three more guards I don't recognize. New faces mean new threats.

"Security briefing. Now."

We follow him to Yuri’s office. There are several of Mikhail’s guards as well as Vadim’s all standing around. I feel the looks.

Which one will kill me? Who’s been given the hit? One? Five?

"Effective immediately," Yuri announces, "the estate is sealed. No one enters, no one leaves until after the reception tomorrow night."

My blood turns to ice. "What about the caterers? The flower delivery?"

"Already here. Everyone who needs to be inside is inside." His eyes sweep the room. "This includes all wedding guests. They'll be staying overnight in the guest wing."

I feel Dmitri’s tension. We’ve been locked in. Like a prison.

There is no escape.

"What's the threat level?" I ask, because it's what Anton Malikov, professional bodyguard, would ask.

"High enough." Yuri answers calmly.

More threats against Lena. All because she happens to be the woman forced to marry Mikhail.

"Guard rotations will be doubled," Yuri continues. "No one sleeps more than four hours at a stretch. The chapel, reception hall, and all guest quarters will have armed security at every entrance."

Every guard position is a potential obstacle. Every locked door is another barrier between Lena and freedom.

"Questions?" Yuri's gaze lands on me.

“Nope,” I shrug.

I glance at my watch. It’s time to escort Lena to the pre-dinner cocktail hour. The irony isn't lost on me. I’m escorting the woman I love to celebrate her wedding to the man I want to kill.

I knock twice on Lena's door and wait.

Kira opens it, her expression carefully neutral, but I catch the way her eyes dart nervously to mine. She knows.

Maybe not the details, but she knows something about us.

"We're ready," she says quietly.

Lena appears behind her, and the air leaves my lungs.

The dress is worse than I imagined.

She’s nude.

Technically not nude, but the color of the dress and the transparency gives the illusion she is.

The bodice clings to her breasts, the delicate fabric doing nothing to hide her body.

The skirt flows like liquid gold, but every step reveals the outline of her thighs, the curve of her ass.

Silvery threads are carefully sewn over her nipples and crotch to provide what I assume is modesty.

She's breathtaking.

And the dress should be a fucking crime.

Her makeup is heavy tonight.

But I know my little sunshine. The slight puffiness around her eyes that no amount of concealer can completely hide. The way she holds her shoulders back like she's afraid she'll shatter if she relaxes even slightly.

"Ladies," I say, my voice professionally neutral. "The family is waiting."

Lena's eyes meet mine for exactly one second. In that brief moment, I see everything. She’s in pain. And she’s ashamed.

I step back and allow them to exit.

I glance at her hand and see she’s wearing my mother’s ring.

I casually undo a button on my shirt to show her the new chain I’m wearing. With her grandmother’s cross. Her eyes widen briefly and then I see her lips twitch.

We walk in formation down the hallway. Me slightly ahead and to the side, both women behind me.

Professional distance. Nothing suspicious about the bodyguard doing his job.

The ballroom buzzes with conversation and laughter. It's beautiful and civilized and completely fucking obscene.

I position myself against the far wall where I can see every entrance, every guest, every potential threat. Where I can watch her without appearing to watch her.

Mikhail swoops in immediately, like a vulture sensing wounded prey.

"My beautiful bride," he purrs, reaching for her hand.

I see her flinch—so slight most people would miss it.

But I catch everything. The way her fingers tremble before she lets him take her hand. The microscopic step backward. The way her body leans away from him.

"You look stunning, printsessa ." His eyes rake over her body with obvious hunger, and my hands curl into fists behind my back.

"Thank you," she murmurs.

He tries to pull her closer, but Elena appears like magic at Lena's other side.

"Mikhail, darling, I must introduce Lena to someone.”

Mikhail looks pissed, but he has to keep appearances.

The next two hours are much the same. Mikhail moves in and Kira and Elena are always there.

At dinner, security is denied entry into the formal dining room. It makes my teeth grind but the contingent of guards lining the hall gives me some comfort.

I decide to take advantage of the time with everyone occupied and focused on the dining room.

It takes seconds for me to black out the couple of cameras before I slip into Vadim’s office.

I don’t know what I’m looking for exactly. Evidence? As if he’ll ever pay for his crimes. Bratva justice is swift and deadly.

I can’t kill him but if I know what he’s up to, I can drop information into the wrong ears and let someone else handle things.

Vadim is not invincible.

Mikhail will not be alive.

I will kill him.

The Orlovs will fall.

I will succeed in taking them down. That has been my mission in life since I was a boy.

I move the ugly painting and expose the safe.

I’ve seen Vadim open that safe enough times over the years that my fingers move without thought.

Click. Click. Click.

I smile when the safe unlocks.

Inside is chaos. Documents. Folders. Ledgers. And something I didn’t expect—photos.

The first one stops my heart cold.

It’s my mother.

Her dark eyes are mine. Her smile is one I haven’t seen in three decades. She’s holding me in her arms.

I dig deeper. There are more pictures. But as I flip through them, a feeling of dread washes over me.

There are photos of me when I was around eight or nine.

Another with Dmitri. I was maybe thirteen.

The pictures are always from a distance.

Grainy surveillance photos. My first tattoo. My first kill.

He knew.

Vadim knew exactly who I was. Who I am. How long has he known?

My blood is ice. All this time, I thought I was a ghost. I believed I was the vengeful son creeping back into the lion’s den unnoticed.

But Vadim was watching me.

I don’t know if it’s pride or punishment in those files. I don’t know if he kept them because he missed me… or because he was waiting for the day he could bury me alongside my mother.

I push the torrent of emotion to the side and focus.

There’s a folder. Thicker than the rest. Lenoid Rostova.

Lena’s father. I open it and find intel with maps, records of meetings with another Bratva family. One I’d heard of but never thought Vadim would stoop so low to partner with.

A third faction. Ruthless. Bloodthirsty. And treacherous.

They are Vadim’s sworn enemies. The people that are trying to kill Lena to stop the wedding.

“What the hell?”

Then it hits me like a bullet.

Vadim is going to let them die.

He’s setting Lenoid up. Elena too. After Lena signs her soul away, the Rostova’s will be executed.

This whole arranged wedding is to protect the Rostovas. They are selling their souls to Vadim because they believe it will make them powerful.

Lena is giving herself up for a family that’s already been marked for death.

Rage twists in my gut. I shove the papers back, slam the safe shut, and lock it with shaking hands. I want to scream.

I quickly exit the office.

My mind is spinning with everything I’ve learned.

Vadim is much smarter than I knew.

He knows I’m his son. What is his game?

I casually slip into place at the end of the hall with the other guards.

I have to talk to Lena. Warn her.

After a long night, I walk Lena to her room as always.

She says nothing.

Doesn’t look at me.

Nothing.

I go to my room and wait. Pacing until it’s been long enough for the rest of the house to fall asleep.

Then I go to her using the passage.

I cross the room silently and slip into her bed.

“Don’t,” she says the second my arms go around her.

I freeze. “Lena?—”

“No.” She pulls away like I’ve burned her. “You can’t be here. You have to go.”

Something cold settles in my stomach. “What happened?”

She doesn’t answer.

I reach for her, but she recoils. “Don’t touch me.”

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Leave, Anton. Do not come back to my bed.”

I sit up. “Lena?—”

“No. You have to go. I will not die for you. You will not die for me. Leave, Anton. Leave and never come back.”

“The fuck I will,” I growl.

I reach for her, jerking her against me.

For a brief second, she sags into me. And then my little sunshine is gone.

She climbs out of bed like she can’t physically be near me.

“You think we’re going to run away together? Start over? What, like this is some kind of fairy tale?” She laughs but it’s filled with disgust. “There’s no escape. You of all people should know that.”

“I know more than you think,” I say tightly. “I know what Vadim’s planning.”

She flinches.

“What do you mean?” she whispers.

I hesitate. She’s clearly under a lot of stress and I don’t want to make it worse. “Your father. Your mother. They’re marked, Lena. Vadim’s working with another faction. He’s going to have them killed once you’re married to Mikhail. He wants your family erased.”

She doesn’t speak.

“Do you understand?” I press. “Everything you’re sacrificing—he’s going to take it all anyway.”

“I don’t care.”

That stuns me. “What?”

“I don’t care anymore,” she says. “Anton, I am exhausted. I can’t fight this. I’m done pretending we have a choice. I’m marrying Mikhail tomorrow, and you need to stop trying to save me.”

Her words slice my heart.

“I don’t believe you,” I say hoarsely.

“Then you’re a fool.” She turns her face away. “We were never going to work. I was never yours to begin with.”

“That’s not true.”

She looks at me finally, her eyes deadened and flat. “Go, Anton.”

I don’t move.

“I said go.”

“You don’t mean that.”

She’s quiet for a moment. “My future is with Mikhail. Not you. I will marry him, and I will have his children. You cannot give me the life I want. The life I deserve.” Her hands wave to gesture at the room.

“I am Lena Rostova. I will live in a palace. I will have nice things. You… you can only give me a life on the run. I will never be happy with you. We had sex. That’s it. I am a Bratva princess.”

Every part of me wants to scream, to shake her, to tear this place apart until there’s no wedding left to ruin.

But instead I nod.

Just once.

I will not beg.

Never.

I get out of her bed. My chest’s caving in.

She doesn’t watch me leave.

I don’t look back.

Back in my room, I close the door and brace my hands against the wall.

My breath shakes.

My fists clench.

I don’t know if she meant it.

I don’t know if she’s trying to protect me—or push me away for real.

But either way, I’ve lost her.