Page 3 of Taken by the Bratva (Bychkov Bratva #1)

Aria

They’re all drunk. Every single one of them except Daniil who looks like he’s still in complete control of himself as he slowly sips his vodka like he has been for the past two hours while the other men have been drinking vodka like it’s water.

Kelsey came to check on us a little while ago and I asked her to let Sammy and Jonny know I was up here and fine with Sasha and Carrie so they knew I wasn’t alone.

A few more men joined the group, and it's only growing rowdier the more they drink.

Through it all, I’ve felt Daniil’s eyes on me as I’ve moved around, not daring to look into his eyes again, for fear I’ll react like an idiot again.

“Hey, baby,”

that same asshole says to me.

“You’ve been teasing me all night in the little dress. Let me have a taste of you,”

he begs, slurring his words.

“I need to know if your ass is as sweet as it looks.”

I want to slap him, but I don’t want to make a scene, so I clench my jaw and step away from him. I’m not far enough out of reach though, and freeze when I feel his hand slide up my thigh and grab my ass.

Before I can even react, a deep, beautifully angry voice barks out a string of words in Russian and the hand is gone from my body.

I let out a short breath and shuffle back a few steps, finally allowing myself to look at Daniil. Once again, his gaze is like a shot to my core. For a second, I think I see something other than the cold and hard nothing he seems to continuously project, but before I can decipher it, it’s like the curtain is dropped back in place, locking me out so that all I see is the ruthless, emotionless, Bratva Pakhan who doesn’t show any weakness.

The man who touched me is dragged over to a chair and shoved down into it.

Daniil keeps his eyes on me as he rises to his feet, and I couldn’t look away now even if I wanted to. I want to see what he does. I have a feeling he wants me to watch him, too.

He snaps his fingers and points to the balcony, and a glass wall comes down from the ceiling to meet the floor in front of the balcony, effectively muting the sounds of the club.

“Rex, guard her,”

he commands, snapping his fingers and pointing at the floor beside my feet.

The dog trots over, circles me like he’s making sure the perimeter is clear, and then sits right where Daniil pointed. Rex looks up at me and then back to his owner, waiting for his next order.

“Good boy,”

I whisper, and scratch his head between his ears, my eyes also on his owner to see what his next move is.

Daniil walks over to the asshole who touched me and stops behind him.

“I warned you not to look at her. What made you think you could touch her?”

he asks, gripping the man’s shoulder so hard, he winces under the pressure.

I’m glad he’s not speaking Russian. It makes me think it’s for my benefit so I know exactly why he’s about to do whatever he’s going to do.

“If you think you can dismiss my orders so easily, I guess you don’t value your life very much.”

“I do,”

the guy counters, his voice fraught with panic.

“I would say you don’t since you’re a guest here tonight and have chosen to go against an order. Now, instead of trying to apologize, you’re making me want to kill you.”

“I’m sorry,”

he says automatically, his eyes darting around for help that’s not coming.

“No, you’re not. But you will be.”

He pulls a switchblade from his pocket and flicks it open with the snap of his wrist. Then in flash, plunges it into the man’s hand, pinning him to the arm of the chair. The man grunts and inhales loud sharp breaths in and out of his nose, but doesn’t scream or beg, and Daniil’s eyes find mine again.

“Oh, my God,”

Carrie says frantically from somewhere by the bar where she and Sasha are, but I don’t look away from Daniil. I can’t.

He continues to stare at me like he’s challenging me or testing me. Is he waiting for me to freak out or stop him?

Daniil bends forward and says something in the man’s ear for only him to hear, and the man’s jaw flexes as he keeps whatever it is he wants to say inside.

Straightening, Daniil looks over at Carrie and Sasha, and seeing Carrie freaking out and shaking, he says to Sasha.

“Ger her out of here.”

She nods curtly and grabs Carrie’s arm, practically dragging her out of the VIP area and leaving me alone with fourteen men, most likely all in the Russian mob.

Breathe, Aria. You’re a Carfano. They can’t touch you. If they try, all you have to do is say who you are and tell them you have bodyguards downstairs who won’t hesitate to call the cavalry if I don’t walk out of here safely.

I continue to pet Rex, taking comfort in his presence. But would he protect me from all of them if needed? Including his owner?

Not one single man says anything as Daniil approaches me, my heart practically beating out of my chest with the intensity of the moment. It feels like the beginning of something, but also the end, too.

I’ve never reacted this way to a man before, and it feels like a cruel joke to put him in my path knowing I can’t ever know what it would feel like to have him kiss me, touch me, or love me. Just having his eyes on me is insanely intense, I can only imagine what it would feel like to have all of him all over me and in me.

Daniil stops right in front of me and I have to tilt my head back to keep eye contact. He has to be at least 6’6”

since I’m 6’1”

with these heels on, and damn my body for finding his height extremely sexy on top of everything else about him.

“He shouldn’t have touched you,”

he tells me, that deep voice of his covering me in a blanket of goosebumps.

“No, he shouldn’t have,”

I say back.

“Although, I don’t know if that”–my eyes dart to the groper stabbed to the chair–“was necessary.”

“It was,”

he assures me, his tone leaving no doubt that he believes that.

“If you say so.”

“I do.”

“And what do you plan on doing with him now?”

I ask, raising my eyebrows.

“Would you really like to know?”

he asks back, and what I think is a little dark humor dances in his eyes.

Do I want to know? Kind of, but I’m not going to tell him that.

“No.”

“You sure?”

he prompts.

“Because that look in your eyes says otherwise.”

“Maybe you need glasses, then,”

I say back sharply, and someone behind me chuckles, then coughs to hide it, reminding me that we’re not alone.

“Besides, I can already guess what will happen to him by the end of the night.”

“Is that so?”

Damn it, why can’t I keep my mouth shut?

“It is.”

What I want to think is a flare of desire flashes in his eyes, and it has me thinking the head of the Bychkov bratva likes when a woman pushes back. He’s too used to people doing what he says that a little sass turns him on.

There’s an aggressive knock on the door and Daniil turns around and steps in front of me in a protective stance while Rex growls and immediately stands at attention beside me, feeling the threat.

I peek around Daniil’s large frame to see Sammy aggressively talking to the guard and Jonny scanning the room to find me. His eyes eventually lock on mine and I shake my head, trying to tell him not to come in here. He looks around the room, and seeing the scene before him, says something to Jonny and pulls out his phone.

“Fuck. No,”

I whisper to myself. He’s going to call Leo. I hurry out from behind Daniil, but he stops me by grabbing my arm, and I freeze, his touch like a straight bolt of lightning striking me down where I stand. I look at where his hand is on me and then over my shoulder at him.

“Let me go. You’re going to make it worse.”

“You know them,”

he says gruffly, his eyes back to the hard, cold shards of ice.

“Yes, and if I don’t go tell them to stand down, there’s going to be more than two of them at the door trying to get to me.”

I look down at his hand encircling my upper arm and then back up into his eyes, narrowing mine to show him I’m being completely serious.

“Who are you?” he asks.

“No one. Now, let me go.”

He holds me back for another second, then releases me, and I hurry over to the door.

“Jonny, put the phone down,”

I demand, and he looks me up and down and then over my shoulder.

“I said, hang up. You don’t need to call him. I’m fine.”

“It doesn’t look like you’re fine.”

“Well, I am. Nothing happened.”

I take the phone from his hand and shove it down the front of my dress, then push him backwards.

“Let’s talk. Sammy,”

I grind out.

“you too. Let’s go.”

I grab his arm and pull him away from the club’s bodyguard and towards the stairs where no one will hear us with how loud the music is.

“What the hell is going on, Aria?”

Sammy asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“The two girls that came up here with you earlier were just in the employee locker room and they said something happened and they were ordered to leave while you stayed.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

I nod.

“But nothing happened to me or them. Some guy touched me and Daniil took care of it. End of story.”

“Daniil?”

Jonny questions, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes, Daniil. That’s his name. Am I supposed to say Mr. Bychkov or Pakhan Bychkov?”

“Don’t be a smartass, Aria. You shouldn’t even be here. This is too much of a risk to you and the family. There’s a delicate balance between them and us, and if you’re caught in the middle of something, or are the cause of starting something, then all hell will break loose and people will get hurt, even die. Including you, and we can’t allow that.”

“You’re blowing this all out of proportion.”

“I’m not. Let’s go.”

He steps to the side and holds his hand out to indicate I should go down the stairs.

I ball my hands into fists at my sides and contemplate my options, even though I don’t really have any other than the one given to me.

I look back at the room full of men still staring at me, letting my gaze linger on Daniil for a moment. He takes a step forward, so I quickly look away and descend the two very long flights of stairs.

I’m pissed at Sammy and Jonny for causing a scene, so when I reach the bottom of the stairs, I surge ahead of them and get caught fighting through the sea of people while they trail behind me.

I’m not really paying attention to those around me with my mind still on the man upstairs who I wasn’t ready to leave yet. Was he about to come after me? Was he worried about me?

Aria, no.

Stop.

You’ll never see him again after tonight, and that’s how it should be.

“Hey, baby, what’re you offering?”

some sleazeball asks, grabbing my hip.

“Excuse me?”

I sneer, trying to get out of his grip, but he just holds me tighter and pulls me towards him.

“All the other models are offering shots and you’re empty handed. Are you free to dance? You’re hotter than all of them.”

“Get off me.”

I push against his torso, but he doesn’t budge an inch.

“Come on, baby,”

he slurs, the drunk bastard. His hand slides down and squeezes my ass, and I slap him. “Hey,”

he says angrily.

“don’t be a tease.”

His hand squeezes me harder and I keep trying to push him away, but he’s too strong.

Fuck this.

I pull my arm back and use all the strength I can muster with him still holding me, and punch him in the jaw.

“What the fuck?!”

he yells over the music, and his grip loosens enough for me to push him away.

“I said to let me go, asshole!”

I yell back, and his face turns red in anger. He tries to grab me again, but Sammy pushes his way through the crowd and punches the guy square in the jaw, landing him on his ass.

“You okay, Aria?”

he asks, breathing hard as he looks down at the guy on the floor.

“Yeah, I am. Thank you.”

“Aria!”

Kelsey yells behind me.

“What the hell is going on?”

I point to the guy on the floor and relay to her what happened.

“Jesus, Aria, you can’t go around punching people! And neither can your bodyguards!”

“That’s exactly why we’re here,”

Jonny tells her harshly, and she looks at him with wide eyes.

“Well, you can’t do that here. You’re done for the night, Aria. Go home. You shouldn’t have even left the VIP area. I saw Carrie and Sasha came down here for some reason, too. Now there’s no one up there. This is a mess,”

she says frantically.

“Just go! Now!”

“Fine by me,”

I mutter, and push my way through the rest of the club to the locker room.

“Aria, what happened up there? What happened after we left? Why are you here?”

Sasha asks in rapid fire.

“Nothing happened. Look, I’m sorry, I have to go. Kelsey is sending me home because I hit some asshole who grabbed me and wouldn't let go.”

“Oh my God, what the hell is it with men grabbing you tonight?”

“I don’t know, but I’m never doing an event like this again.”

Grabbing my tote bag, I sling it over my shoulder.

“See you around.”

I don’t want to be here another fucking second, but when I step out of the club flanked by Sammy and Jonny and into the waiting town car at the curb, the image of two piercing blue eyes flashes in my mind, urging me not to leave.