Page 10 of Bratva’s Vow (Bratva’s Undoing #2)

Eventually, the tears slowed, leaving behind that drained, hollow feeling I always got after. Like I’d wrung out something too tender from inside me. I swiped at my face, sniffled, and handed her the photo.

“I found it stuffed in the lining,” I said, voice scratchy. “Forgot I even had it.”

Jess looked at it carefully, brushing the edge with her fingertips. “God. You look like a gremlin in this picture. ”

“I was eight,” I huffed, but a small smile broke through.

“Still a gremlin.”

“Max’s gremlin.”

She laughed and nudged me. “You work things out with your man, then?”

I nodded. “Yeah. He apologized. Can’t believe he did.”

“Why not? He doesn’t want to lose you.”

I didn’t say anything. I was still turning something over in my head. Eventually, I took her hand and laced my fingers through hers.

“Jess… do you think the way Maxim treats me is weird?”

She turned to me, brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

I bit my lip. “He’s just… always so overprotective. Like, watching me constantly. The bodyguards. The way he flips if I don’t answer my phone right away or if I leave the house without telling him. I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like he doesn’t trust me.”

Jess stared at me for a beat, then flicked her fingers against my forehead. Not hard, but enough to make me blink.

“Ow.”

“Wren, that man loves you. And he clearly doesn’t want to lose you. So yeah, maybe he’s a little intense. Maybe he’s a little jealous and possessive. So what?”

I stared at her. “So what? That’s not healthy.”

“Says who? Look, healthy is what works for you two. You seem happy. He treats you like you hung the moon. You’re not scared of him. He listens to you, even when you stand up to him.”

I exhaled slowly. “It feels… like too much sometimes. Like I’m under a microscope.”

Jess smirked. “And yet when he touches you, you practically melt.”

I rolled my eyes. “I do not. ”

“You absolutely do. You go boneless like a Victorian maiden in a corset commercial.”

Despite myself, I laughed. “He is hot, though, isn’t he?”

“Devastatingly.” Jess got to her feet. “So come on. Let’s pack all your shit and bring you home to your man.”

In fifteen minutes, we were back in the car and heading home.

To Maxim’s place. I sent him a message that I was on my way and a picture of myself in the SUV for proof.

He messaged me back that I was being cheeky and he would have a field day with my ass later.

Smiling, I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes.

I cracked one eye open and watched Nik. His face was blank as usual, always scanning, always aware. Jess sat beside him in the front, legs on the dashboard like she owned the whole damn car.

“Babe, as much as I love those long legs, that’s not actually safe.” Nik patted her thighs. “Get them down, please.”

“You’re no fun.” Although she pouted, she lowered her legs.

“Good girl.”

My mouth went dry, and the statement wasn’t even directed at me. I swallowed, and my stomach grumbled, reminding me it’d been a hot minute since I had breakfast.

“I’m starving,” I muttered. “Can we do a drive-thru?”

Nik glanced at me through the mirror. “We really shouldn’t stop. Maxim is expecting us home at a certain time.”

“Just tell him there was a lot of traffic on the road.”

“Trust me, he’d know.”

I sighed, peering through the rear glass. “Oh, right. I forgot he has people stalking me. So which one of those cars is it this time?”

“Don’t be silly.” Jess reached back to pinch my knee. “I’ll order food from my phone. If I time it right, it’ll get to the house around the same time we do.”

“Seems like a lot of hassle.” I frowned. “Why not use a drive-thru? We’re already on the road.”

“Nik’s been on duty for more than sixteen hours. We really should be getting to his apartment so he can rest.”

“All right, then.”

I gave a tired sigh, settling deeper into the seat.

Jess started chatting with Nik again, tossing ideas around for what she wanted to do that night.

Apparently, they had a date night with Darius.

They were deciding on movies and massages, or maybe rope and blindfolds.

I tuned them out before I heard too much.

My thoughts returned to Maxim.

His birthday was coming up in a few days.

He hadn’t mentioned it, and I had no idea if he was the type to want a big thing or if he preferred to pretend it didn’t exist. A part of me wanted to do something special, even for us.

But what did you get the man who already had everything and lived like a Bond villain?

A jolt rocked the car.

The sound of metal screaming against metal filled the air.

The SUV spun.

My stomach dropped. My body jerked sideways as the car flipped. Once. Twice. The windows exploded, glass like a thousand glittering needles in the air. Someone screamed—maybe Jess, maybe me. The world tipped again. Gravity twisted sideways, then up. Then?—

Stillness.

Silence.

A strange, ringing silence that filled my ears and made the world feel like it was underwater.

Smoke curled somewhere above me. I blinked through it, disoriented, my entire body aching in a way that told me I was lucky to still be conscious. Everything felt far away. My fingers twitched. I tried to move my head.

“Wren?”

Jess’s voice. Hoarse. Shaky. Close.

“I-I’m okay,” I managed. “Are you?”

She groaned. “Yeah. Just bruised. Fuck. I banged my head.”

Nik’s grunt came from the front seat, followed by the bang of him kicking a door open.

“Stay put,” Nik ordered, the words grating as though through clenched teeth.

Muffled sounds, rustling, and grunting. Then the door next to me was thrown open, and Nik’s face appeared in my line of sight. Blood streaked down his forehead, but his eyes were clear and alert.

“Can you move?” he asked, gently prodding my arms and legs.

“Pain right here,” I said. A sharp twinge pierced my side as his fingers roamed over it.

Nik grunted in concern but kept a stiff upper lip. “It’s probably a bruised rib. I am going to get you out.”

Slowly, Nik helped me out of the car and onto shaky legs. Pain flared in my ribcage with each breath, but I managed to stay on my feet. The scene that met us left me speechless.

Jess was already out of the car, leaning against its flipped side. Her face was pale, lips bitten raw. She gave me an attempted smile that didn’t quite make it past her eyes.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked her.

“Yes. Just winded from the airbag.”

I glanced around, not seeing a sign of what we rammed into. “What the hell was that?”

“Someone hit us.”

The car had landed sideways, crushed like a toy. A car had stopped in front of ours, and a man and a woman ran over. I dropped to the curb, my legs giving out, my chest heaving. My body felt too small for all the air I was sucking in.

Hyperventilating. I knew it. But couldn’t stop it.

“Breathe, Wren,” Nik said. “Deep breaths. It’s shock setting in.”

“Is everyone okay?” the woman called, crouching beside me. “That driver didn’t even stop! But I got the license plate. You’ll need it.”

“Yes, please.” Nik handed her his phone. “Can you type it here?”

What an asshole. They’d hit us and hadn’t even stopped. How could someone be so heartless? We could have died.

Oh god, I could have died .

I placed a hand over my racing heart.

“Thanks. We appreciate it,” Nik said.

“Anything else we can get you?” the man asked. “I also left my number in case you need someone to be a witness. These reckless drivers need to be taken off the road, and I’m willing to testify to make that happen.”

“You’ve done more than enough. Thank you. We’ll phone some friends to pick us up and call a tow truck.”

The man nodded, took one last look at the wreckage. Then he and the woman climbed back into their car and drove off.

“Nik, you’re bleeding.” Jess moved closer to her man, taking Nik’s arm. A gash ran the length of it, bright red spilling from the wound. He looked down, seemingly unfazed.

“It’s a flesh wound.” But his jaw was clenched tight, and the tick in his cheek screamed otherwise.

“No, let me at least bandage it.”

I hated myself for being so fucking useless while Jess took off her jacket and wound it tightly around Nik’s arm, but the sight of the blood made my stomach lurch.

“Thanks, love.” Nik kissed her forehead. “That’ll do until a doctor can look at it. Are you both sure you have no wounds? Wren?”

I shook my head weakly. “Just trying not to be sick.”

Tires squealed on asphalt as a black car screeched to a halt, sleek and silent like a panther. My breath caught in my chest. Had the driver come back?

Before the engine had even cut off, the driver’s door swung open.

Maxim.

He strode across the asphalt, his coat flaring behind him like a cloak, eyes locked on one thing—me.

“Wren!” he barked.

I scrambled to my feet, dizzy and aching, and nearly fell into him.

Maxim caught me instantly. Arms like steel wrapped around me, crushing me to his chest.

“Thank god,” he said into my hair, running his arms across my back. “Thank god you’re okay.”

“How…?” I croaked. “How did you even know? How’d you get here so fast?”

He didn’t answer but turned, keeping me close, already surveying the wreck with eyes that had gone ice cold.

“Nik,” he snapped. “What the hell happened?”

Nik stood straighter, even with blood soaking the makeshift bandage. “Car clipped us, but the driver didn’t stop. Probably drunk. I’ve got the plate.”

Maxim nodded once, tightly. “Let’s hope we can find the driver. A crew’s on the way to clean up this mess. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Maxim ushered all three of us into his car, murmuring for someone to get a medic to the house.

My head was spinning again, but not from injury. Just the sheer velocity of what had happened. One minute, we were talking about food. The next, we could’ve died .

I leaned against Maxim in the back seat, letting the steady thud of his heart calm me down.

“You’re safe,” he whispered over and over again as if consoling himself, sometimes lapsing into Russian. Just hearing his voice was all the reassurance I needed, even if I didn’t understand.

Whoever the hell that driver was, I hoped they had their license revoked for a long time.