Page 16 of Bratva’s Vow (Bratva’s Undoing #2)

“Wren.” Bradley stepped closer. His voice dropped, urgent, low. “This isn’t about me trying to get into your pants. I swear to god, it’s not. But if you want answers—real answers—you need to come with me. We can’t talk here.”

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. I wanted to tell him to fuck off. This was partly his fault. If only he’d listened to me all the times I’d told him I wasn’t interested.

“What answers?”

Bradley’s gaze sharpened. “The real reason you were offered this internship in the first place. Why Maxim keeps you on a leash.”

I inhaled sharply, my heart pounding in my ears. “What are you talking about? I got this internship through the university.” But had I? No one had really confirmed how I got that initial call.

“An internship you never applied for? You can’t be that clueless, can you, Wren? Have you never thought about it?”

“It doesn’t matter.” I didn’t need to hear the story from Bradley. Maxim could tell me the truth himself.

“Don’t you want to know what really happened to your dad?”

My blood ran cold.

“What?” My throat tightened, and the word came out squeaky. “What did you just say?”

“I know, Wren.” Bradley’s voice softened slightly, but the intensity never left his eyes. “I know about your dad’s disappearance. And if you want to know the whole truth… meet me on the rooftop. Ten minutes. That’s all I need to tell you the truth.”

He didn’t wait for me to agree. He left, the door whispering shut behind him like he’d never been there at all.

I stood there, frozen. My head spun with a hundred thoughts all at once.

How did he know about my dad? And how did that tie in with Maxim? I clenched the edge of the sink again, dizzy with confusion.

Fuck. No. This was stupid. Maxim would be furious if I went to the rooftop with Bradley. He’d lose his mind if he knew I was even entertaining the idea.

But I needed to know. For so many years, I’d been left in the dark, clueless about my father’s disappearance. I’d called hospitals and checked in with prisons. He’d disappeared off the face of the earth.

“Shit,” I whispered. I wiped my face one last time, yanked the bathroom door open, and hurried toward the elevators.

Whatever this was, I needed to know.

I needed the truth.

The second I stepped out onto the rooftop, the wind hit me. The city stretched out below me, distant and indifferent. Far below, the hum of cars and the occasional wail of a siren signaled the presence of others.

Bradley stood near the edge, staring out like he belonged in one of those moody noir movies. His hands were shoved into his pockets, his shoulders hunched.

I hovered near the door for a second, my stomach tangled in tight, uneasy knots.

What the hell was I even doing here?

Bradley could be lying. Maybe Maxim was right, and he was trying to come between us. Or maybe he really did have answers. The kind of answers that felt too big and too dangerous to ignore.

I swallowed hard and stepped forward.

“You could’ve picked somewhere less horror-movie creepy for this little chat,” I said, sounding thinner than I liked.

Bradley didn’t laugh. He didn’t even look at me. He kept his eyes on the skyline. “Rooftop’s the only place Maxim doesn’t have cameras and hidden microphones. The whole office is bugged.”

That made me stop cold.

Fuck.

That sounded… extreme.

I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets and rocked back on my heels. “All right, you’ve got ten minutes or less. If Maxim realizes I’m gone again?—”

Bradley spun around, his mouth curling in disgust. “Jesus, listen to yourself, Wren. Do you even hear how pathetic you sound?”

I blinked. “What?”

“You sound like a prisoner begging to get back to your cell before the guard notices you’re gone. Do you even realize how twisted that is?”

Anger sparked. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He took a step closer, voice lowering but sharper now.

“Don’t I? I tried to warn you in the beginning.

I tried to be friendly, but you pulled away.

Then, surprise surprise, I start getting shipped off on bullshit assignments to keep me out of the office.

That’s not paranoia, Wren. That’s control. That’s him isolating you.”

I didn’t want to hear this. I really, really didn’t want to hear this.

“So what?” I shot back. “You’re risking your job to tell me all this out of the goodness of your heart?”

Bradley’s smile was humorless. “I’m not going to have this job for much longer anyway. Either Maxim will get tired of me or… someone else will make sure I disappear. That’s how it works in his world.”

His world. That made me pause.

“What are you talking about?” I asked warily.

“Wren,” Bradley said slowly. “Do you know what the Bratva is?”

I stared. “Yeah. Isn’t that like… the Russian mob or something?”

“Exactly.” He took another step toward me, and this time his voice was urgent. “And they own this fucking city. Politicians, cops, judges. They don’t just exist. They run things. And you,”—he pointed at me, jabbing the air—“you’ve been sleeping with the man at the very top.”

I opened my mouth, then shut it again.

“No,” I said finally, my voice shaking. “No. That’s insane. Maxim isn’t—he’s not?—”

“ Pakhan , Wren. That’s what they call the boss.

The head of everything. The one whose word is law.

That’s him. Your sweet, overprotective boyfriend?

He’s the fucking Pakhan.” He inhaled deeply, his face getting redder with each sentence.

“He came to this country with nothing and is now on top of the food chain. Do you think he got there with clean hands? He worked his way up from being a thief. How many men do you think he killed to be on top, Wren? And that’s why people are after him.

Not because he’s rich. Not because of his legitimate businesses.

Because a man like Maxim has made enemies to get to where he is.

Enemies who would burn this city to the ground to kill him, and now you’re exactly the leverage they can use. ”

I felt cold all over. My mind flashed back to the night I’d stayed late at the office. The night I’d accidentally walked in on Maxim surrounded by hard-eyed men speaking rapid Russian. The ones who’d asked if I was soft like a bitch in bed.

“No,” I whispered again, but it sounded weaker now because Bradley’s words made sense. They filled in the gaps neatly. The things I never quite understood about Maxim.

Bradley’s expression softened. “Wren… the reason he keeps you close? The reason he always has people following you? It’s not just jealousy.

It’s because the second his enemies know you exist, you’re a target.

You’re his biggest vulnerability. He’s putting your life in danger and not telling you the truth about it because he’s afraid you’ll leave him. ”

The rooftop door banged open behind us, loud and violent.

I flinched, whirling around.

Maxim stood there, his face murderous, eyes burning hotter than I’d ever seen.

He looked at Bradley like he already had his hands wrapped around his throat.

“Do you know what happens to men who can’t keep their mouths shut?” Maxim growled, stepping forward like a storm about to unleash its wrath .

Bradley grabbed me—fingers tight like iron around my wrist and then my neck—and yanked me toward the edge so fast I stumbled.

“Don’t take another step, Maxim,” Bradley growled like a wild animal backed into a corner. “Or I swear to god I’ll pull him over with me.”

My heart shot into my throat as I felt how close we were to the edge. While there was a barrier, it was low enough for Bradley to fling both of us over.

“Bradley, what the fuck are you doing?” I gasped, panic twisting in my chest.

“Shut up, Wren.” He squeezed harder, and I winced.

Maxim’s entire body went rigid, but he stopped moving. “Let him go, Bradley. He has nothing to do with this.”

Bradley’s laugh was bitter, unhinged. “Doesn’t he? Because he’s the only way I’ll get off this rooftop alive, isn’t he?”

“I said let him go,” Maxim repeated, voice like ice cracking in winter. Deadly. Controlled. But underneath his chilling demeanor, he was unraveling. His chest rose and fell rapidly, and his fingers twitched.

This is all my fault.

“I will… if you admit it to him,” Bradley snarled. “Tell him the truth. Tell him what you are, or he falls.”

I stared at Maxim, my throat tight. My heart screamed “tell me it’s a lie.” I needed him to say it. To tell me Bradley was mistaken. That none of this was real.

But Maxim didn’t say anything.

He stared back at me… and didn’t deny it.

And that silence told me everything.