Page 8 of Pregnant Bratva Wife (Vadim Bratva #13)

Everyone at work was surprised to see me come in this morning.

So soon after your wedding? My secretary had proclaimed in shock, like there was something wrong with my marriage already.

The truth was, I had tried working from home.

But she was in the same house.

And when I heard footsteps, or her quiet chatter with the maids, or a glimpse of her face in the hallways when I stepped out for a stretch, I lost focus.

All I could do, for the next hour, was to force my heart to calm.

That was no way to work. So I drove out here.

The office was quiet, and there, I could focus peacefully on our monthly metrics. Numbers kept my mind sharp, clean, and orderly.

Until Caspian threw the door open.

“We need to go,” he snapped.

When I looked up, he looked pale and panicked.

“What happened?” I asked, immediately shutting the books to grab my coat.

He tossed a gun onto my desk. “It’s Dante. The Espositos hit the south-side warehouse. Four of his men are already down, and he needs back-up. Now.”

My blood turned to fire.

“They attacked?” I growled, following him out the door. “On our turf?”

Caspian nodded. “Giovanni is already there.”

We rushed down the hallway, taking the private elevator to the underground garage. Achille and Luca were already waiting by the convoy.

“What was Dante even doing there?” I demanded as we climbed into one of the cars. “That shipment wasn’t scheduled to leave until tomorrow.”

Caspian’s jaw tightened. “He moved it up and paid someone along the Suez Canal to let the ship pass without tariffs. Wanted to time the arrival so his guy could be there. Didn’t tell anyone except his own crew.”

Fucking Dante. Always thought he knew better. Always cut corners. Always put himself in danger because he couldn’t follow a goddamn plan.

“Fuck the Espositos,” Achille growled.

The Espositos. Our rivals for three generations. The thorn in our side that refused to be plucked. First, the railyard ambush, now this. They were growing bolder and more desperate. More dangerous.

“How did they even know?” Luca turned to look at us from up front.

“We probably have a leak in our midst,” Achille said—it was what we were all thinking.

I clenched my fists. A leak meant a traitor. A traitor meant someone close to us was soon to be dead—they just didn’t know it then.

“First things first,” I said, checking my gun again. “We get Dante out.”

Twenty minutes later, we pulled up a block away from the warehouse. The area was industrial, desolate. The perfect place to ambush without witnesses.

I could already hear gunfire, even from inside the car.

We got out of the cars and put on our bulletproof vests. Checked our weapons. Started to move.

Our men had us covered from all sides.

“We’ll go in from the south side,” Caspian said, giving us our commands. “Dante and his men were hiding out in the loading area office. That place has two ways out—one in the front and a fire exit at the back.”

I nodded. “Luca, Achille—take the back. Caspian and I will create a diversion at the front. Find Dante, get him out. Don’t play hero.”

My brothers nodded. We moved silently, splitting up at the warehouse perimeter.

As Caspian and I got closer, I saw six Esposito gunmen hiding behind big shipping containers, holding automatic weapons. They were all aiming at the loading dock office, with their backs to us, and every now and then, shots coming from inside told me Dante and his men were still alive in there.

“Cover me,” I told Caspian, and moved to a better position.

I quietly snuck up on one of the enemy men and shot him in the back of the head with a soundless gun.

He fell instantly, and I moved on without stopping.

At the same time, Caspian threw a smoke bomb to distract everyone, making it harder for them to see.

Amid that chaos, I took down two more enemies. Then, through the smoke, I saw him—Dante.

He was trying to escape while two of his men covered him with gunfire.

“Dante!” I hissed, waving him toward me.

He changed course, crouched low as he ran. He looked relieved on seeing we were here. That relief immediately turned to alarm just as he spotted something over my shoulder.

“Federico! Down!”

I dropped on instinct. Bullets ripped through the air where my head was a split second earlier. I rolled, changed directions, and came up firing, catching the shooter in the chest.

He fell, but not before he got off another wild shot that grazed my upper arm.

It burned. Fuck. It burned. Hurt. Seared.

But there was no time.

We had to get out of here. We had to see if the rest of our brothers were okay.

“Move!” I shoved Dante ahead of me as Caspian lay down covering fire.

We made it to the extraction point where Luca waited with the engine running. Achille was already inside with the rest of Dante’s crew—or what was left of them.

Three men, bloodied but alive.

“Where’s Giovanni?” I asked.

“He’s with Caspian now. Just got the intel through radio,” Achille explained. “Our men are going to extract them.”

As soon as we got in, Luca peeled away.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” I turned on Dante, the adrenaline and anger making me raise my voice. “Moving up the shipment without telling anyone?”

At least Dante had the decency to look ashamed. “I got a tip that customs were watching the docks. Thought I’d beat them to it.”

“A tip? From who?” I demanded.

“One of our dock workers. Said he overheard they would hike up bribes through the ports the day we were on the routes.”

I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth might have crack. “And it didn’t occur to you that this might be a setup? That maybe The Espositos wanted you to change plans so they’d know exactly when to hit you?”

Dante’s eyes widened. “Shit.”

“Six men dead, Dante. Six of our people.” The wound on my arm throbbed like hell and only made me angrier. “All because you couldn’t stick to the plan.”

“I thought I was protecting our interests,” he argued, but the fire was gone from his voice.

“You’re not paid to think,” I snapped. “You’re paid to follow orders. Next time you get a ‘tip,’ you come to Caspian, Giovanni, or me first. Understood?”

He nodded sullenly. “Understood.”

A few moments of silence passed before Achille turned to face me. “You’re hurt, Brother.” His eyes were drawn to the blood on my shirt.

“I know,” I said. “Just a graze.”

“You should get that looked at. We can take you to the doctor,” Dante said, pointedly. Though reckless, he cared deeply for me. I knew that.

“No hospitals. I’m tired,” I protested. “Just drop me home. I’ll manage.”

***

By the time I got home, it was past midnight. The mansion was completely quiet; thank god for that.

My plan? I wanted to slip in, clean up, and bandage the graze without Autumn seeing me.

I had nothing to worry about. At this hour, she was bound to be asleep.

I slipped in through the side entrance and hoped to make it to my room without a sound. The last thing I needed was to explain bloodstains to my new bride.

I made it halfway up the stairs when the lights flicked on.

Autumn stood at the top of the landing, a sleepy smile on her face. “Oh, hi!” she mumbled, walking down the stairs. “I was just going to grab some water.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I needed to turn around.

But that would be suspicious.

Maybe she wouldn’t notice. Maybe she was too sleepy to notice.

But then, she stopped. Her mouth hung open.

I froze.

“Is that blood?” she shrieked, nearly dropping the empty bottle of water in her hand.

She moved towards me, the concern clear on her face.

“It’s nothing,” I said, trying to step around her to head up.

She blocked my path. “That doesn’t look like nothing.”

“I said it’s fine.” My voice came out harsher than intended.

“You’re hurt,” she insisted, reaching for my arm.

I jerked away. “Don’t touch it.”

Her expression hardened. “What happened? Were you in an accident? Should I call a doctor?”

“No doctors,” I snapped. “It’s just a scratch. I’ll handle it.”

“A scratch that bled through your jacket?” She crossed her arms. “What aren’t you telling me?”

I had no answer for that. What wasn’t I telling her? Everything. Everything that truly mattered. Everything that would have sent her running for the hills if she knew.

“Nothing that concerns you,” I said coldly.

Her eyes flashed. “I’m your wife.”

“On paper,” I reminded her, throwing her own words back at her.

She flinched like I’d slapped her. “Right. How could I forget? Just business.”

“Exactly.” I stepped around her, heading for my room. “So mind your own business.”

“Fine.” Her voice was tight, controlled. “Bleed out for all I care.”

I turned, the anger and frustration boiling over. “This is my house, Autumn. My life. You don’t get to ask questions just because we signed some papers.”

“I wasn’t aware basic human concern was off-limits in our arrangement,” she fired back. “Next time I’ll just step over your corpse on my way to breakfast.”

“There won’t be a corpse,” I growled. “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it long before you came along.”

“Clearly,” she said, her gaze dropping to my bloody sleeve. “You’re doing a fantastic job of it.”

We stared at each other, the air crackling with anger. I could have told her everything—about the Bratva, about the Espositos, about what I really did for a living.

But she would have walked away. It was better if she hated me than feared me.

“It was a fight, okay?” I said, at last. If she pried deeper, asked more questions, I would be cornered.

I hated keeping the truth from her. But this way, she might have thought it was a bar fight or something. A fight was still a fight. A half-truth.

“A bar fight?” She furrowed her brows. “What happened?”

“None of your business,” I said, truly tired now. I was done making up stories. Tired. I needed to get to bed.

Disappointment flushed across her face, her eyes turning cold. “You know what your problem is, Federico? You think the world works on your terms, but sooner or later, you’re bound to find yourself alone.”

With that, she turned and walked away, the water forgotten, her back straight and proud.

The door to her bedroom slammed shut.

I stood there, still bleeding. Thought about what she said.

She was right, of course.

But what she didn’t understand was that there was one world I was protecting her from, one world I couldn’t let her be a part of, one world that simply worked better on my terms.