Page 30 of Bratva’s Vow (Bratva’s Undoing #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

MAXIM

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d cried.

Not when my father beat me half to death after finding out I was gay. Not when I stood over Vova’s mangled body earlier. Not when I killed my first traitor and vomited behind a dumpster afterward.

But now, somehow, this had broken me.

Some boy I didn’t even know two months ago.

My arms were wrapped so tightly around him, I worried I might bruise him. I should loosen my grip, give him room to breathe, but I couldn’t get myself to let go. I didn’t want to find out what it would feel like if I opened my arms and he disappeared again.

He didn’t ask me to stop.

He didn’t flinch or squirm or whisper that I was scaring him.

He kept rubbing my neck in slow, steady strokes, fingertips tracing the tense line of my spine like it might soothe the rage locked there. And when his lips brushed my hair, soft, warm, patient, something in me broke even more.

“I didn’t plan on sleeping with you that night,” Wren murmured into my temple, voice low and a little hoarse. “But it had been days without you. Everything felt too loud, too quiet, too wrong. Even when I hated you, I missed you.”

I pulled him closer. Buried my face in the hollow of his throat.

“I missed your arms around me,” he said. “So when you came into the shower, I didn’t think to say no. I didn’t want to. I… I craved being close to you again.”

He took a deep breath. I felt the hesitation in the way his fingers stilled against my skin.

“When I woke up in the middle of the night, I panicked.” He kissed my temple. “I thought—I thought I’d betrayed my dad. That I must be a horrible person to want you like that. To touch you like that. After everything.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, breath trapped in my chest.

“I didn’t leave to hurt you, Maxim. I was… drowning. And afraid. But I would never use my body against you. Not ever. You’ve got to believe me, please.”

A full beat passed.

And another.

Then I let out a breath I’d been holding—ragged, sharp-edged. My chest ached like I’d been gut-punched.

“You hate me for what happened to your father,” I said, the words like glass in my mouth.

If we were going to fix this bridge between us, we had to talk about everything, even the painful parts.

“And I can’t trust you now not to leave me again.

So, where does that leave us, Wren? Are you always going to try to run from me?

Because I won’t let you go.” I lifted my head just enough to look at him.

“You’re mine. And even if I have to chain you to the bed when I’m not around, I’ll do it.

You’re not allowed to leave me. Do you understand? ”

Wren’s lips curled into the faintest smile.

He gathered his shirt in his hand and wiped my face.

“No need to be so drastic. I swear I won’t run again.

If I need space, I’ll let you know. You can assign me a dozen bodyguards, and I’ll use your credit card to book the most expensive hotel in the city.

One that’s secure. And I’ll pester you with video calls every half an hour so you know I’ve not been kidnapped, and I will send you my location so you’ll be aware of where I am every minute of the day. How does that sound?”

I let out a dry sound—half laugh, half sigh—and cupped the back of his head. “You’re being funny, but… please do. That would make me feel so much better.”

His fingers resumed their slow stroking. “Maxim… what about the rest?”

I went still. “Your father?”

“Yes.”

The truth weighed heavily in my chest.

“He worked for me,” I said at last.

Wren nodded slowly. “And you didn’t force him? He did it on his own, right?”

“I gave him the same choice I give every man who’s ever stood in front of me—a one-off assignment. Then we renegotiate if they want to continue. He knew what kind of life he was signing up for.”

Silence.

Wren sighed. The sound was heavy as if he’d been holding his breath for a long time.

“Then Jess was right. He made a choice. And although I’m sad about it…

it’s not fair to blame you for his decisions.

A part of me might resent you for a while, but not because of anything you did.

” His voice softened, thick with feeling.

“I think what hurt most is the idea that he chose you over me. Th at I wasn’t enough to keep him from that world.

And maybe that’s not true, but it felt like it.

After he disappeared, my mom was never the same again.

She was always so depressed that she started drinking.

During my first year of college, I came home to find her dead next to a bottle of vodka and pills.

There was no note. I still have no idea if she did it intentionally or if it was an accident. ”

God. That hit something deep inside me. He’d lost everything.

I touched his face gently, brushing his hair back behind his ear. “I’m sorry, Wren.”

“It’s like both my parents disappeared, leaving me with questions. That’s why it stung so much to find out you had the answers all along and hid them from me.”

“I thought I was doing you a favor by not bringing up the past.”

“To be fair, I don’t think I would have reacted well if you’d told me the truth. I’m not sure how long it’ll take to process what you are.”

I stroked his arm slowly. “Are you worried I won’t give this life up for you?”

“I hadn’t really considered it. I try not to think about it.”

I took a long breath. “I won’t lie to you, kroshka.

I’m not walking away from this world. You can’t just retire from the Bratva.

It doesn’t work like that. Even the ones who leave…

they still have targets on their backs. The only way to survive is to become the shark that devours everyone else. And that’s what I am.”

I cupped his face between my hands.

“The worst monster of them all.”

Wren blinked up at me, eyes shining. Then he leaned in and kissed me.

Not urgently. Not hungrily.

Just tenderly .

Like he was stitching something back together between us with his mouth.

When he pulled back, he pressed his forehead to mine.

“But you also love me more than I’ve ever been loved,” he whispered. “I was lonely for so long before you. Even when I hated you, I felt more seen with you than I ever have in my life. And I can’t change the fact that I’m in love with you, Maxim Morozov. Now and forever. For better or worse.”

My hands trembled as I gripped his chin.

I searched his face, desperate to find some crack, some false note. But there was none. Did I finally have my Wren back?

“Do you mean it?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Even knowing what I am? Knowing everything?” I didn’t hide the quiver of vulnerability in my voice.

Wren didn’t answer. He was staring behind my shoulder. I closed my eyes and swallowed, knowing what he was staring at. The sledgehammer I’d brought back with me, still crusted with Vova’s blood.

“Max, what’s that?” he asked, voice low, wary.

I turned slightly, trying to see the sledgehammer through his eyes. Leaned up against the wall, the weapon was a reminder of the world I couldn’t walk away from. A reminder of what he was in for.

“It’s better if you don’t know,” I said quietly, watching his face with bated breath. I had no intention of telling him about Vova. About bribing a cop to get the evidence to disappear from the precinct. About my plan to bludgeon to death whoever was responsible for hurting my cousin.

I waited for Wren to recoil. To look at me like the monster I’d admitted I was.

But he didn’t.

He surged forward and slammed our mouths together .

The shock of it hit me hard, but relief flowed through me even harder. I locked my arms around him instantly, instinctively, moving my mouth against his like I needed to prove something.

His moan vibrated down my throat, and it fucking wrecked me. Tongues tangled. Teeth clashed. It was messy and raw and far from tender. He bit my bottom lip, and I growled, grabbing a fistful of his hair and yanking his head back just enough to break the kiss.

“Wren, stop.” I panted. “We need to stop.”

He blinked, dazed and breathless. “What?”

“This is one of those times I warned you about.”

His lips parted like he was going to argue, but I kept going.

“Too many things happened in the past twenty-four hours that I couldn’t control. I’m wound too tight. If we keep going, I won’t be gentle. I’ll want to be selfish. I’ll want to use your body for my pleasure and give nothing back. If you can’t give me that now, then please don’t tease me.”

The silence between us was deafening.

Wren scrambled off my lap.

My heart plummeted. I should have tried to be gentle instead of demanding him to be totally submissive to me tonight.

Wren took two steps back.

Then pulled his shirt over his head.

Followed by his shorts.

He stood there in nothing but his underwear. Delicate black lace hugged his hips, the fabric sheer enough to leave nothing to the imagination. His belly button piercing gleamed under the light of the desk lamp, and I was instantly hard.

The sight of his erection hit me like a punch to the gut.

Fuck .

This wasn’t fake desire to use me. He wanted me.

My mouth went dry. Blood thundered in my ears. Every rational thought I had—the grief, the guilt, the restraint—was drowned under the rush of hunger.

Wren tilted his head, that familiar glint of mischief flickering in his eyes, dark, dangerous, and entirely mine. He stepped back, slowly, dragging a single finger along the waistband of his underwear, teasing.

He smiled. “If you want to dominate me so badly, Maxim…” His voice dipped low. Sultry. Defiant. “Then you have to catch me first.”

And he ran.

He sprinted, barefoot, laughing, down the hall like he hadn’t just brought me to my knees moments ago. Like he hadn’t seen me cry in his arms. Like he hadn’t torn open my chest and nested himself inside again.

If this was some ploy of his again, I was screwed. I had no defense mechanism against Wren.