Page 86 of Innocent Prey of the Bratva

“I believed you,” I admit. “Deep down. But I couldn’t afford to be wrong.”

He nods once, like that’s enough. “Can we talk?”

I study him for another beat, then jerk my chin. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Okay.”

The sky is starting to lighten when I pull into the safe house driveway. Inside, it’s still and quiet, the guards alert and patrolling. I lock the door behind me, toe off my boots, and move like a ghost through the dim hallway. Violet is still asleep. Just like I prayed she would be.

I stand at the doorway of the bedroom, watching her for a long second. Her hair is a soft halo on the pillow, one hand resting protectively over her belly. My chest aches.

I step into the bathroom and shower off the blood, the lies, the violence. But some things can’t be scrubbed away.

When I return, she’s stirred. Her lashes flutter, and then her eyes open slowly—still hazy with sleep.

“You were in the office that long?” she murmurs, voice raspy.

I pause, heart tight. “Yeah,” I say softly, climbing into bed beside her. “Time got away from me.”

I don’t have the heart to tell her I left her. Not after the day she’s had. Not when I can feel how she instantly melts against me, curling into the heat of my body like I’m home.

She rests her head against my chest. I kiss her hair.

“It’s over,” I whisper, brushing a hand down her back. “We can return to the estate today. Everything is safe now. We’re going home.”

Her body stiffens slightly. “You’re sure?”

I nod.

“What about Milos?” she asks, her voice careful.

“I handled it,” I say quickly. “It’s done.”

But I can feel her eyes on me, reading me in the dark.

“You need to stop lying to me,” she says, barely a whisper. “I can tell. This isn’t the end. It feels like just the beginning.”

Silence stretches between us. A bitter taste floods my mouth. I’ve never wanted to protect someone so much, even if it means lying to them. I’m not sure what that says about me anymore.

“It’s really over this time,” I say gently, stroking her hair. “I swear it. Life will go back to normal. No more fear. No more running.”

Her eyes stay on mine for a long time. I don’t know if she believes me.

Hell—I don’t know if I believe me.

But she doesn’t argue. She just lays her head back down, her fingers curling into my shirt like she’s trying to hold the pieces of me together.

Chapter 21 – Violet

It’s been a full day since we returned to the estate, but nothing feels like home.

The halls are quieter, yet more heavily patrolled than ever—men in dark clothes and harder expressions posted at nearly every entrance, eyes sharp and unblinking. I wander through it all like a ghost, ignored, but watched.

Kaz says everything is fine.

He whispered it to me last night with his lips in my hair, his hand splayed protectively over my stomach. He kissed me like a man trying to erase blood with tenderness.

But I know better.