Page 81 of Cruel Russian Pakhan

He kissed the side of my head. “Alright, sleeping beauty, let’s get you to bed.”

“I like your bed,” I yawned again.

He chuckled. “And I like you in my bed.”

Lev carefully stepped out of the tub first, then helped me out. He dried me off with a soft towel, then quickly dried himself before lifting me into his arms. Back in bed, he tucked me beneath the covers and climbed in beside me, pulling me close.

As I curled into his chest, his arms around me and his hand resting protectively over our baby, my eyes fluttered shut. For the first time in a long time, I let myself believe tomorrow would be better.

For me.

For Lev.

For the little life growing inside me.

And with that hope in my heart, I drifted into sleep.

Chapter 25 - Lev

“Safin…I want you to listen carefully, because this is the last time you’ll hear my voice without the sound of gunfire behind it. I’m done playing shadows with you.

“Congratulations, you’ve gone from being just an enemy to the target of war.

“After what you did, there’s no peace left. No truces. No more pretending. And the world knows it now; I made sure of that.

“Those new alliances you were trying to charm? I took them, right from under your nose. And I’ll make sure no one ever wants to align themselves with you again.

“Every man, every woman, every child who lives under your faction’s protection, inside or outside the Bratva, is now a target. If they stand behind your walls, they fall with you.

“I’m coming for everything you’ve built.

“Every deal. Every dollar. And every drop of blood spilled from this point forward…is on you.

“And Lev?

“Unlike you, I’m a man of my word.”

I pressed the stop button on the machine and looked up at my brothers. We sat in the downtown office conference room.

It had been a week since Katya was taken. A week since she started sleeping in my bed. A week of nightmares, every night, after hearing what those bastards said.

After the third night in a row, we saw a doctor. They prescribed mild sedatives just to help her sleep.

I was grateful she was in my bed. If she’d still been sleeping in her own room, I might never have known.

She’d been jumpy lately, zoning out a lot. And I fucking hated it.

Ninel or Mariya had been with her every day this week, since I didn't like leaving her alone right now.

“Did Katya hear it?” Avit asked through clenched teeth.

Ever since they found out she was pregnant, my brothers had become protective of her. And honestly? I was grateful. Knowing they had her back during all this chaos gave me some peace of mind.

“Thankfully, no. I figured Artyom left that message hoping she’d hear it, but the light was still blinking when I got home. She never played it.”

“I expected some fallout,” I continued. “But for now, he’s all smoke, no fire. The real problem is, someone else is out there. Someone we don’t know. Someone who wants both our factions to burn.”

“We got hits on the faces of the men we killed rescuing her,” Jaroslav added. “They were all mercenaries.”