Hidden Monsters (Volkov Bratva #4)(33)

Luka’s actions might have gotten their attention, but his words were enough to put fear in their hearts. They weren’t stupid, none of them could take on the Bratva and live to see the end of it.

There was never a day when Luka thought that he would have to use the Volkov name to get him out of a bind. He was plenty terrifying on his own, but if he wanted to get Alex out of there safely, then he had to do this the right way with minimum bloodshed.

“Now, you have one choice. I’ll take her out of here and I won’t mention this to my boss, or I shoot you and then we’ll leave.”

“You can’t take all of us.”

Of course, this intelligent answer came from the one person who Luka was itching to kill. Gun still in hand, he closed the distance between them, all too aware of the others aiming at him, but he paid them no mind. He grabbed hold of the man’s cut, jerking him forward and off balance.

Luka held the gun pressed to his head, not caring that there were at least four others pointed at him in return. He wasn’t outmatched, but he had someone other than himself to think about, and despite that dark desire in him that was begging for a fight, he had to let this one go.

“You think you don’t know fear,” Luka said, speaking so only he could hear. “But you don’t know what I’m capable of. When I catch back up with you—and I promise I will—I’m going to put a bullet in both your f*cking knees, and by the end of the night, you’ll beg me to kill you.”

“Snow,” the president snapped, breaking up their moment. “Find another bitch for the night.”

Snow was still smirking, trying to keep face for his brothers around him, but Luka could practically smell the stench of unease on him now. He didn’t know how long it would take, whether a day or a year, but Luka was going to pay him a visit, and when he did, he would purge every demon inside of him.

____

There were a number of traffic laws broken as Luka raced from the warehouse, his mind going just as fast as he tried to think of how best to handle this. This wasn’t the first time he had been around someone who used drugs, but it was the first person he cared about.

Mishca would overreact and make the situation worse, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with Klaus, so without any other options, he took her to the only place that was secluded enough for him to take care of her.

His own place.

He gunned the engine, constantly looking down at his lap to make sure that she was okay where her head rested on his leg, but with how still she was, he worried whether or not she was still breathing. When his place came into view, he threw his Jeep into park and hurried around to Alex’s side to pull her out.

Gingerly lifting her over his shoulder, he kept an arm around her legs as he walked the short distance to his house.

Getting the door open one-handed was a bit of a challenge, but he managed it. Luka kicked the door shut with his foot, not bothering to lock it behind him as he carried her up the stairs, heart hammering in his chest. He tried to center his thoughts and focus on the task at hand, but having her over his shoulder, hardly moving at all, his emotions were too chaotic. He was too invested in this, in her, to turn it all off as he had done so many times in the past.

Not giving it a second thought, he took her to his bedroom, dropping her on the bed, but immediately gripped her shoulders to force her back up.

But she was still limp.

“Shit…shit.”

Picking her back up, he carried her into the bathroom, nearly tripping in his haste to get the shower on, freezing water streaming from above. He sat with her in his arms, the water immediately soaking through their clothes.

“Alex, wake up.”

He was freezing, water droplets falling in his eyes, no matter how often he wiped them away. When she still didn’t stir, he raised his hand to her face and smacked her though he didn’t put much power behind it, his hand shaking too badly.

Nothing.

For so long, Luka had worked with careless abandon, never giving a second thought to those he hurt, and despite it all, he rarely felt fear.

But as his hand continued to tremble when he raised it again, he couldn’t deny that that was what he was feeling.

Fear.

With one slap harder than the others, he yelled her name.

She groaned, a low sound that was like music to his ears. She tried to push off him, but he kept a firm hold.

Luka had to fix this, fix her, but in his current state, he was panicking too much to do any good. Balling his fist, he slammed it into the wall, then again, only satisfied when he heard the crack of the tile along with the sharp pain radiating up his arm.

Pain sharpened his mind, helped him focus, and normally turned off everything inside of him.

Against her hair, he whispered an apology, knowing that what he planned to do to her was for her own good…even if it hurt her.

Shifting her, he opened her mouth and shoved two fingers in. Alex responded immediately, gagging, her dainty hands coming up to grab at his arm, her nails scoring his skin. Only when she started throwing up did he remove them.

Once it started, it wouldn’t stop. She lurched to the side, but there was hardly any room for her to move. Most of it went all over his jeans, and her own clothes, but he didn’t care about that, only glad that he was finally seeing her move.

But it wasn’t until she started crying, whispering broken words he couldn’t hear that something broke inside of him.