The Final Hour (Volkov Bratva #3)(3)

Despite what was between them, Klaus had saved her life, even if he didn’t mean to.

“What do you want to do about him?” Luka asked gesturing over to Brahim.

Mishca looked at him for a second before saying, “Leave him.”

As they left the warehouse, Lauren took one last look back at Brahim, wishing she could forget his lifeless eyes.



As the building faded away behind them, Lauren tried her hardest to put it to the back of her mind, wanting to compartmentalize the entire experience. Now that she was out of that environment, she felt every ache in her body.

She closed her eyes for one blissful second, happy that she was safe with him…if only for a moment. As she reopened them, his thumb swept across her cheek, the look of relief in his eyes making her feel at ease.

She could see the question in his eyes, the one he was too afraid to ask though it seemed he had asked it plenty of times over the last couple of weeks.

“I’m fine,” she answered anyway, trying to put enough truth into that statement to convince him.

Reassured, at least for the moment, he reached into his pocket for his phone, handing it over to her. “I promised Amber you would call.”

And for the next twenty minutes of their ride, she did. Despite the circumstances, Lauren found herself smiling, trying to reassure her friend that she was fine. And surprisingly, she was. She had just seen a man murdered, learned that Mishca had a rather hostile twin brother, and there was going to be a new problem with the Albanians, but she was refusing to think about it all, pushing it all to the back of her mind.

For now, she could only be grateful she made it out with just a few bruises.

By the time the brownstone came into view, Lauren was back on her side of the car, quietly enjoying the sun on her face as she leaned against the window. This time, as she stepped out of the car, Mishca and the others following close behind, she didn’t try to go up alone, letting Vlad go first, Mishca and Luka taking up the rear.

The door to her apartment was splintered, and the landlord was standing in the entryway, scratching his head as he assessed the damage. Lauren had only ever met the man on a couple of occasions, and both had been rather uneventful—in part because the man rarely left his own apartment.

Tucker, Lauren thought his name was, didn’t look too happy about the damage he saw. “This is coming out of your security deposit.”

“I got that the first ten times you said that,” Amber snapped from inside the apartment.”

“I’ll take care of this,” Mishca interrupted.

Lauren moved past him, into the apartment. Amber had her phone in hand, talking quietly, at least until she caught sight of Lauren in the doorway. Without a goodbye, Amber hung up the phone, dropping it on the couch as she hurried over.

“Could you not do that again!” Amber shouted as she swept Lauren into a hug, nearly cutting off her oxygen as she squeezed, but she couldn’t complain, not when she was glad to be back in the apartment.

Amber looked her over, making sure Lauren wasn’t hurt more than what she had already seen.

“I came home and the apartment was a wreck, you weren’t here—do you know what that was like for me?”

Lauren laughed, sniffing back tears as she tried to keep it together. It was easy to be strong with Mishca around, he made her feel that way, but when he was gone and it was just her, sometimes it became too much.

“Don’t ever do that to me again. I almost had to stab Mishca in the thigh.”

Mishca coughed, hiding a smile behind his fist.

“With one of your paintbrushes, no doubt,” Lauren said pulling back.

Amber scoffed. “Don’t mock the brushes, my friend. They can do some serious damage.” But her expression grew serious as she took in one of the bruises on Lauren’s face. “Can I ask, or is those one of those, ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ situations?”

They both looked over at Mishca.

“If that’s what you want, but it will need to be later once I bring you home.”

“Wait, you’re leaving again?” Amber asked alarmed.

Lauren looked back at Mishca, not sure what he was talking about, but didn’t question him. “We have to talk, but I promise I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Nodding, Amber looked at Mishca. “Mish?”

He inclined his head to her. “You have my word.”



Lauren was quiet beside him, lost in her own thoughts as she stared out the passenger window. She was almost too calm, no fidgeting, just still, but with Luka and Vlad in the car, he wanted to wait until they were alone before he tried talking to her.

Mishca’s phone buzzed, the only time Lauren looked over at him. He didn’t have to look down to know that it was Mikhail calling, but he wasn’t leaving Lauren, no matter how angry Mikhail would be that he wasn’t answering right away.

Letting it go to voicemail, he turned the vibration off entirely, pocketing the device without a second thought. When they arrived at Mishca’s apartment building, he glanced over at Lauren, then up to Vlad and Luka.

In Russian, he said, “Vlad, I need you to go stall for me with Mikhail. Luka, you’re with me.”

He would have sent Luka to run it, but he doubted Mikhail was in the mood for him. Climbing out of the car, Mishca helped Lauren out, keeping his arm around her as they entered the building. Tossing Luka a key, he sent the enforcer around the rear, not wanting to draw any more attention than they needed, especially with Luka covered in dried blood.