Page 72 of Innocent Prey of the Bratva

I stare at him, and my voice comes out barely a whisper. “And who’s going to protect me from you?”

He stills.

The smile fades. The fire in his eyes dims, just slightly—shifting into something deeper. Something painful.

“I would never hurt you, Violet.”

“You already have,” I whisper. “You took me. You scared me. You put me in a cage and told me it was for my safety.”

“I didn’t know how else to keep you alive,” he says quietly. “But I’m learning. For you, I’ll learn.”

Silence stretches between us.

Then he leans in, presses his forehead to my stomach, and says in a voice that’s almost broken, “You won’t ever need protection from me. I’ll be your shield. Always. Even if I have to protect you from my own darkness.”

“I don’t want to raise a baby in your violent world.”

My voice is barely above a whisper, but the words hit hard. Kaz tenses beside me and slowly rises to his feet.

I don’t look at him. I can’t.

“I grew up alone,” I continue, my eyes stinging. “My mother died, and my father left. I don’t want my child to ever feel what that kind of loneliness tastes like. And what if something happens to you? Or me? What if we don’t make it out of all this madness?”

Kaz shakes his head. “You won’t go through that. Neither will our child. I swear it.”

I lift my eyes to his. “You can’t promise that.”

“I can,” he says. “And I will. Once I deal with Milo and find out who else he was working with, everything will go back to normal.”

I almost laugh, but the ache in my chest stops me.

Normal? There’s no such thing anymore.

But I’m too tired to argue. Too overwhelmed to keep the storm inside me at bay.

“I want to rest,” I murmur instead.

Kaz nods. He doesn’t ask questions, doesn’t press me further. Just pulls me into his arms, lifting me gently like I’m made of glass and he’s terrified I’ll shatter.

We leave the office in silence.

The hallway is dim and quiet, and the moment we enter the bedroom, the tension starts to bleed from my bones. He lays me down carefully on the bed and starts to pull away, but I catch his wrist.

“Stay,” I whisper.

He doesn’t hesitate.

He climbs in beside me, and I curl into him, burying my face against his chest, inhaling the familiar scent of leather and danger and something only Kaz carries.

His arms wrap around me, warm and solid. And for the first time since this chaos began, I allow myself to close my eyes.

Chapter 18 – Kaz

I sit beside her as she sleeps—finally calm, finally quiet.

The rise and fall of her breath is slow, even. Her lashes flutter slightly, but there’s no fear there now. Just exhaustion.

She’s curled into my side, one hand still tangled in my shirt like she needs the contact to stay grounded. And maybe she does. God knows I do.