Page 20 of Bratva’s Stolen Bride (Obsessed Bratva Bosses #1)

FELIKS

I hoped we’d have more time as newlyweds before I had to kill people.

We wash off and dress quickly, and Payton trails me in a sundress she’s thrown on, but I require more clothing for placement of weapons. A holster at my ankle and over my shoulder, then a suit jacket.

Slipping the guns into place gives all my years of experience a new focus. Payton.

“If I tell you to stay in the house, will you?” I ask her.

She looks at me like I’m mad. “No way.”

“It would be the safest place for you. I’d really prefer it, because if anything happened to you, I’d…” There aren’t words for how much it would crush me to see Payton hurt. And to live without her? Death. It would be death.

However, I’m not an idiot. It would be better for her to come with me than to be in more danger because she isn’t where I expect.

“Please. Stay here. For me.” It’s not a command, it’s a plea.

Biting her lip, she shakes her head. “My place is by your side, because what if they try to hurt you?”

I bark a laugh. “They’re not going to harm me.” The whole concept is ridiculous. “Come on.” I hold out my hand. “They really don’t know what they’re walking into.”

The proximity alarm for the jetty goes off on the panel by the front door and on my phone, showing a boat from the north that we saw, and another from the south.

I open the app for my state-of-the-art defence system and check that the drones are in position, sending some to both boats.

They pick up human targets and lock on immediately.

It’s only a few minutes in the pickup then we’re at the jetty. The boat comes in, one of the Mafia Syndicate is mooring up as Payton and I get out of the vehicle.

She cuddles into my side, and I sling my arm over her shoulders as we walk down to the water, my phone in my other hand ablaze with alerts. A group of men I recognise from various incidents in London step ashore.

“You’re a long way from home, gentleman.” My voice comes out as a territorial growl.

“Hayley!” Payton squeals.

“And lady.” I dip my head. “Stay with me, moya lisichka,” I murmur to Payton when I feel her twitch to go to her sister.

She stills obediently.

“Payton, are you alright?” Hayley, who looks like a slightly bigger, less beautiful copy of Payton, steps forward.

“We’re here for the girl,” Richmond says, revealing a pistol at his side. “Give her to us now, Beckenham, and no one needs to get hurt.”

“Apologies for your wasted trip, but Payton is remaining with me,” I reply with deceptive calm.

Greenwich steps up. “You’re outnumbered.”

“Don’t come any closer, I’m warning you,” I say mildly, glancing down at my phone screen. Greenwich and Richmond share a sideways glance.

“Payton, come to your sister,” Richmond says.

My good girl doesn’t move.

“One more step forward, and I’ll be forced to protect what’s mine,” I warn.

“Look,” Greenwich snarls and pulls out a gun.

I touch his image on the overhead view on my phone, and he lights up red. I choose the “scare” button, and confirm.

A hail of bullets rain from the sky a few feet to the side of Greenwich and he jumps aside, protectively pulling Hayley with him with a yelp.

“What the fuck, Beckenham?!” he bellows, as the other men go pale, and step away.

I sigh. “You think I have this island all to myself without defence?” I roll my eyes. “And call off your men at the south, or I’ll be forced to deal with them more directly.”

“What have you got there?” asks Harlsden, hands in his pockets. He glances up at the sky. “Drones and, like, a games console?”

“More or less,” I confirm.

“Nice.” He nods. “Good bit of kit.”

“Fucking drones,” complains Richmond looking up. “When did we start doing our business with toys? As bad as poison. Give me a proper shoot-out any day.”

“You sound like an old man,” says Harlsden.

Richmond grumbles, but pulls out a phone and issues an order to stand down.

“Are you okay?” Hayley says, and I growl as she starts to approach. She’s shaking, and her voice is high with fear.

Payton gives me a cross little glance, and I press my mouth into a flat line.

Okay. No killing her sister.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Payton replies. “Who are these men?”

“Maxim is…” Hayley blushes. “My new… Boyfriend? Things happened after Ivan attacked me.”

“And he killed my son.” Might as well take that moral high ground, since it’ll help get rid of them.

“He—” Greenwich begins.

“And I appreciate you disposing of that problem for me,” I add smoothly. I can’t bring myself to feel more than token regret about Ivan’s death when the result has been me finding Payton.

His eyebrows raise to a height only slightly lower than the drones hovering overhead. “You’re welcome?”

“And thank you for letting me know in person, but I think it’s time you left. I have a honeymoon to enjoy with my wife.” I smile down at Payton.

“You really got married?” Hayley cries out, wringing her hands with concern.

“He kidnapped her,” Richmond growls. “From my territory.”

I meet Richmond’s angry green eyes. Yeah, that might take a bit of smoothing over. Possibly some money.

“Payton, can we just talk for a moment?” Hayley takes a cautious step forwards, and Payton looks at her longingly.

I can’t withhold anything from my girl. I check my app. The drones are still perfectly online, locked onto each of the men.

Bringing my hand to Payton’s throat, I tilt her face up. Her trusting eyes meet mine. She’s so beautiful. My instincts war inside me. But I love her, and I’m certain she belongs to me.

“Go to your sister.” Then I release her, and her incandescent smile tells me I’ve done the right thing. The sisters are in each other’s arms instantly.

I glare at the men behind them.

The two girls talk as fast as a machine gun, but so high-pitched I think I can’t catch half of it because only dogs can hear that frequency.

“Do you think we should hire some girls in their early twenties as spies? No need to even encrypt. No one else has a hope of deciphering their speech,” says Harlsden casually.

“Wait so…” Payton says, then the rest is impenetrable.

“My wife isn’t in that business,” I mutter. But he has a point.

Payton turns to me. “My sister is with your enemy?”

“Yes.” I scowl. This could be inconvenient.

“But…” She pouts, then resumes talking to Hayley.

They’re so similar in some ways, and clearly happy to be reunited, that I can’t spoil it for Payton.

I was wondering, and I suppose this is what love is. Her pleasure is more important to me than my interests, or those of Beckenham.

“Perhaps we can come to some terms,” I say warily, turning to the other men.

Hopefully they won’t need permission from all of the members, because I sold weapons to the Essex Cartel last year, and I don’t doubt the London Mafia Syndicate is aware.

They certainly will be when Essex uses them.

And I did kill a few of Westminster’s men only a few months ago, but they were in Beckenham trying to go behind my back and get support for a fucking pedestrianisation scheme, and how are the businesses in my area supposed to keep going without people being able to drive and park near the shops?

There’s a tense silence, then Harlsden shrugs. “Why doesn’t he join the London Maths Club?”

“He,” Greenwich points at me angrily, “doesn’t represent the ideals of the Maths Club. He kidnapped her. That’s rule one. No kidnapping.”

“More of a guideline, I think,” Harlsden mutters.

“Kidnapping the woman you’re going to marry is practically compulsory for the London Maths—” Richmond swears colourfully. “I mean, Mafia Syndicate.”

“You people are entirely unserious,” I say levelly. “Is it true you call it the Maths Club because someone couldn’t admit to their wife that he was a mafia boss?”

“Yes, Canary Wharf. That—” Richmond begins.

“Serious enough to kill your son and all his friends.” Greenwich folds his arms. “And I bet I could kill you before your drones took me out.”

“You’d be dead before I hit the ground,” I reply, and it’s no more than the truth.

“You’re not going to kill us, and we won’t take the girl from you,” Harlsden says tersely. “So could you call off your drones, Beckenham? And Greenwich, stop antagonising him.”

Greenwich gives me a dark look, but mutters, “Fine.”

“You’re sure?” Hayley says as she steps back from Payton, drawing my attention, so I leave the drones.

Payton nods. “Absolutely.” And her voice has that ring of certainty. She glances around at me.

We’re all watching her now.

“Okay, we think you should all put your weapons away, and be friends, since we’re sisters, and she loves him.” Payton points at Greenwich. “And I love you.” She smiles sweetly at me.

Richmond looks as though he swallowed a parrot.

“How about they leave, and I won’t kill—?” I suggest to Payton, who gives me puppy eyes.

“That only solves the immediate problem,” Harlsden interrupts. “Once we’re back in London, the full force of the London Maths Club?—”

“You have to join their club,” Hayley says, like this is easy.

Richmond groans and Greenwich shoves his hands in his pockets and looks up in resignation as though expecting heaven—or my drones—to strike him down.

“Do you want me to join the Maths Club?” I ask Payton.

Her gaze flicks between all the stern-jawed mafia men, then settles on me.

“Yes,” she says clearly.

Okay, I’m helpless against that. This truly is love.

“The first of many things that are totally against my instincts that I will do for you, lisichka.” I nod my head towards the pickup. “Fine. There are cold drinks in the fridge, and it’s very hot out here.”

“Oh good idea. Thank you!” Payton goes up on tiptoes to kiss my cheek, then grabs Hayley’s arm and leads her off the jetty.

“Westminster is going to kill me when he finds I’ve let you into the Mafia Syndicate,” Richmond grumbles. “You’d better behave yourself.”

I bare my teeth in an approximation of a simile.

“Feliks, will you drive?” Payton calls from beside the pickup.