Page 108 of Innocent Prey of the Bratva

I’m on my feet before I realize it, moving across the lawn with my breath caught somewhere between my ribs and my heart.

When we reach each other, I fall into their arms, and we all hug so tightly it almost hurts. I feel their tears mix with mine.

“You’re okay,” Jennie whispers, her voice thick and cracking.

Zoe pulls back just a bit, hands on my shoulders. “You’re…oh my God, Violet. You’re really pregnant?”

I laugh, nodding as I wipe my eyes. “Yeah. Four months.”

They look at me like I’ve returned from the dead. Maybe I have, in a way.

Kaz watches from a few feet away, arms folded, his eyes steady on me. Guarded, but warm.

“You invited them?” I ask him.

He nods once. “I thought you could use some joy.”

My heart pulls in a way I don’t have words for. “Thank you,” I say softly.

He crosses the distance, brushes his knuckles across my cheek, then leans down to press a kiss to my temple. “I’ll give you girls some time.”

And then he walks away, heading back toward the house, leaving me standing in the garden with the only two people who knew me before all of this.

I lower myself onto the blanket again, feeling the tug of gravity in my lower belly. Zoe and Jennie settle on either side of me like puzzle pieces snapping into place. It feels easy. Familiar. Like I haven’t almost died twice in the past few months.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “For not reaching out. For vanishing. For making you worry.”

Jennie waves her off before I can even finish. “Please. You think you’re the first one of us to get dragged into the black hole of Bratva romance?”

Zoe smirks. “We’ve been there. We get it. Once you fall in love with a Bratva man, it’s over. They just…consume everything.”

I smile, a little stunned by their grace. “He’s kind of like that,” I admit.

“Kind of?” Jennie raises a brow.

The garden door swings open again, and two staff members carry in drinks and snacks—iced tea, cucumber sandwiches, fresh fruit. I blink, a little overwhelmed by how…gentle everything feels after all the violence.

Jennie grabs a strawberry from the tray and pops it into her mouth. “Remember when you said you’d never, ever, ever fall for a Bratva man?” she teases, grinning around the fruit. “Said you’d rather die alone with thirty cats than deal with all the blood and brooding.”

I laugh, covering my face. “Okay, that sounds exactly like me.”

“It was exactly you,” Zoe says. “Now spill. All of it.”

They both lean in, eyes wide with curiosity and affection.

I take a breath.

“Well…it started the night I went to photograph a robbery and murder scene. I wasn’t supposed to even be there for long. Just shoot and go.” My voice drops. “But then…I saw something. Something I wasn’t meant to see.”

Jennie’s eyes widen. Zoe’s mouth parts slightly.

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a hit. And I caught Kaz on camera. His face.”

“Oh my God,” Zoe breathes.

“And everything spiraled from there,” I say softly. “He found me. Took me. Hid me. Protected me. Threatened me. Fell in love with me. It’s all a blur now, but also crystal clear. Like it’s the only story I’ve ever lived.”

Jennie whistles. “Girl. You always did like drama, but this is…cinematic.”