Page 25 of Bratva’s Vow (Bratva’s Undoing #2)

I know you’re mad. You have every right to be. But please… just tell me you’re okay.

I’ll kill anyone who touches you. If you’re hurt… if you’re in danger, I will burn this city to the ground.

Wren. Baby. Please. Just send a single fucking text. I’m losing my mind here.

I’m sorry. For everything. I don’t care what you think of me right now, but I need to know you’re alive. You can hate me forever, but don’t disappear like this. Please. Come home.

I stared at the screen, numb.

The progression hit hard.

Anger. Panic. Fear. Desperation.

I could practically hear his voice through each one. The tightness. The unraveling. The vulnerability he always tried so fucking hard to hide from everyone but me.

A lump formed painfully in my throat.

I swiped through the others quickly.

Jess

Where the hell are you??

Jess

Wren, seriously. Maxim is losing his shit and so am I. Please answer.

Jess

He’s threatened to sack everybody if they don’t find you.

Nik

Wren. This shit isn’t funny anymore. He’s tearing through people trying to find you. Call someone. Anyone. For fuck’s sake, at least talk to Jess.

Sergei

You’re making this worse, kid. You need to check in. For your own safety. This is not a game.

Darius

Wherever you are, don’t be foolish. You need people around you right now. Whatever happened between you two, don’t shut everyone out. It is not safe out there. We care about you.

I dropped the phone onto the bed and sat beside it, letting my head fall into my hands. The pressure behind my eyes threatened to split my skull. I didn’t know what to feel anymore. Part of me wanted to stay gone. Hide. Pretend none of this had ever happened.

The other part—the part that clenched painfully at seeing Maxim’s frantic, almost pathetic messages—wanted to go back. To wrap myself in his arms again and forget for a little while longer that love wasn’t supposed to hurt like this.

My throat felt tight, like I’d been swallowing nails all morning.

I wiped my face roughly with the edge of the sheet.

I pulled up Jess’s number and hit call before I could talk myself out of it.

The phone barely rang once before she answered.

“Wren?” Jess’s voice exploded out of the speaker, high-pitched and frantic. “Oh my god. Where the fuck have you been? Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay.”

I swallowed, my chest tightening painfully at how worried she sounded. “I’m okay.”

“You disappeared! Do you have any idea what you’ve done to everyone? Nik was ready to kick in doors, Sergei looked like he was about to have a goddamn stroke and Maxim—” She broke off, and I could hear her pacing on the other end. “He’s wrecked, Wren. Wrecked.”

Guilt bit into me, sharp and fast. But I shoved it aside.

“Jess, I’m not sorry for leaving,” I said quietly. “I needed time to think, and Maxim wasn’t giving me that. If all you’re going to do is berate me, then I might as well hang up.”

“No, please don’t. I-I’m worried about you.”

“I need clothes. Can you bring me some?”

There was a beat of silence.

“Clothes?” she repeated slowly, as if trying to make sense of it.

“Yeah. I didn’t grab anything when I left. I need clean stuff.” I raked a hand through my hair. “But you have to come alone. Not with Nik. Not with Darius. And don’t tell them either. Please. They’re loyal to only Maxim.”

“Wren… I don’t like this.” Her hesitation was clear even through the phone. “Maxim?—”

“Please, Jess. I need you. Not them. Just you.”

She was quiet for a second but then let out a soft sigh. “Okay. Tell me where you are, and I’ll come alone.”

Relief loosened some of the tension in my chest. I sent her the address of the motel.

“I’ll be there soon.”

“Thank you.”

Half an hour later, the knock came. I tensed instinctively, my heartbeat tripping over itself as I crossed to the door.

Please be Jess.

I cracked the door open and exhaled in relief.

She stood alone, hair piled in a messy bun, holding a bag. She pushed past me and threw her arms around my neck.

“Jesus, Wren.” She clung to me tightly, squeezing like she meant to glue the pieces of me back together. “You scared the absolute shit out of me. ”

“I know.” My voice cracked embarrassingly as I hugged her back. “I’m sorry. I missed you so much.”

She pulled back and gave me a once-over, her eyes filling with tears. “You look like hell.”

“Thanks.”

“Not like… in a bad way. Just…” She pressed her lips together tightly. “You’ve been crying, haven’t you? And have you lost weight?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to.

She set the bags down and pulled out some clothes—sweats, a T-shirt, socks, and even a hoodie. There was also takeout.

“You need to eat,” she said, soft but firm. “I brought your favorite. Pad Thai.”

My throat tightened again. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. Oh right, Maxim had practically forced me to eat last night after we had sex in the shower.

“I’ll get changed first,” I muttered and ducked into the tiny bathroom.

The clothes felt foreign as I pulled them on. I caught my reflection in the cracked mirror above the sink. My face was pale and drawn, eyes sunken. My lips still looked faintly swollen from Maxim’s kisses.

I swallowed hard and turned away.

When I came back out, Jess was sitting cross-legged on the bed, waiting for me. I dropped beside her, grabbed the takeout container, and dug in wordlessly.

Jess didn’t speak. She let me eat, watching me quietly, like she was memorizing every movement. When I’d eaten enough to take the edge off my hunger, I let out a huge sigh. “This is either the best Thai food I’ve ever eaten, or I’m starving.”

“If I’d known Maxim had been starving you, I?— ”

“No, I can’t really blame him.” I took a long drink from the canned soda. “I was being stubborn and refusing to eat.”

She reached out and brushed a lock of hair from my forehead. “I wanted to visit you, you know.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I asked every day, but Maxim wouldn’t let me.

” She gathered a bit of the material of her dress between her thumb and forefinger and pressed down hard.

“Yesterday, he finally gave in and promised he would let me see you today. This morning, when he showed up at our apartment, he lost his mind. He tore the place apart looking for you. He wouldn’t believe a word I said that you weren’t there.

Nik and Darius tried to calm him down, but he’s beyond reasoning with. ”

I flinched. I could picture it too well. Maxim frantic and terrifying. He was always so intense when he thought I was in trouble or he couldn’t find me.

My stomach flipped.

“We didn’t know if anything had happened to you. He was falling apart, Wren.”

I shook my head, pulling my hand back, and jumped to my feet. Back and forth, I paced the tiny room, my nerves sparking all over again.

“He should be terrified. I needed space. I needed air. And what does he do? He locks me away like I’m a possession. Like I don’t get a say. He lied to me, Jess. He let me fall in love with him, knowing what he did to my dad.”

Jess was quiet.

Too quiet.

I turned slowly, narrowing my eyes at her.

“What?”

Her shoulders tensed. She looked down at her lap, fiddling with her sleeve.

“Jess. What? ”

“Wren, your dad chose to work for him.” Her voice came out barely above a whisper.

The air left my lungs like a punch. “No.”

She looked up at me like I was a pathetic creature in need of consoling. “He wasn’t forced. Just like Sergei and Nik and Darius, he knew what he was doing. Maxim didn’t make him take the job. Your dad chose that life. He knew the risks.”

“No.” I took a step back, my pulse roaring in my ears. “No, Jess. You’re wrong. You don’t know. He wouldn’t have. He was a good man. He wouldn’t have gotten involved in that world.”

Jess flinched but didn’t back down. “Wren, you have to stop seeing the world in black and white. Your dad made a choice. That’s the truth, even if it’s ugly.

Now, I know Maxim lied to you, but he cares about you, and you can’t deny the way you feel about him either.

” She smiled as if that could soften the blow.

“Besides, it could have been worse. Your man’s a Pakhan.

He practically owns this city. That’s got to be a little exciting, isn’t it? ”

I didn’t want to hear it anymore.

Couldn’t hear it.

“I need to use the bathroom,” I said roughly, my throat tight as I fled toward the door.

I pushed inside, shut the door, and leaned against it, chest heaving.

My mind raced. My dad had… chosen ? No. No. That wasn’t possible. Maxim had somehow forced him to work for him. My dad wouldn’t have abandoned his family… wouldn’t have abandoned me.

I pressed my palms to my eyes, breathing hard. I didn’t know what to do. I splashed water on my face, collecting my thoughts. Once I composed myself, I slipped back into the room, still raw and shaken from Jess’s words.

“Jess, do?— ”

The breath exploded from my lungs. Maxim stood next to Jess, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his gray slacks, and his face a mask of stone.

I swung my gaze to Jess, who stood awkwardly, not meeting my eyes. “Jess,” I whispered, betrayal thick and heavy in my throat. “What did you do?”

Her expression crumpled. “I’m sorry, Wren. I didn’t know what else to do. You aren’t safe here. I know you’re upset with Maxim right now, but he can protect you. You know he can.”

Disbelief crushed down on me. “How could you? I trusted you.”

Jess swallowed hard. “I know I broke your trust, Wren, but I can’t be sorry for it.

Maxim explained to me the risk you were facing, being on your own like this.

You’re in real danger. There are people after him, and they won’t hesitate to hurt you to get to him.

Please, you have to understand I didn’t do this for him but for you to be safe.

I don’t know the first thing about protecting someone, and you can’t survive on your own. ”

“Who are you to tell me what I can or cannot accomplish on my own?” I snapped.

“You were gone for only one night and already you needed someone to bring you clothes and food. I did what I thought was right for you. All I want is for you to be safe, even if that means staying with him for now.”

I shook my head slowly, switching my gaze to Maxim.

He had yet to speak. I expected him to rant and rave.

I expected him to threaten me, but all I got was the most betrayed look in his eyes.

Like I was the one in the wrong. Like I was the one who’d hurt him when he knew damn well he was responsible for all this pain.

“Are you happy now?” I wheezed. “The one person I could rely on now answers to you too. Is there any other area of my life you don’t control?”

“Wren, that’s not fair. Don’t you understand the danger you are in?”

I refused to look at Jess, refused to acknowledge her. I held my hands out toward Maxim, my wrists together. “Go ahead. You might as well cuff me.”

Maxim still didn’t speak. Just turned his back on me and walked out of the room.

And like a fool, I followed him.

I had no desire to run again, and that scared me.