Until the End (Volkov Bratva #2)(56)

Grabbing her by the hair, he threw her into the chair, the force of the movement sending it back on its hind legs. As she made to get up, he snatched up his gun, shoving the barrel of it against her throat, keeping her in place.

She cleared her throat, forcing a smile. “That’s the Mishca I remember.”

“Tell me where the diamond is.”

“I don’t—”

“Do not lie to me,” he warned as he cocked the hammer back, “or I’ll paint these walls with your brain.”

Smirking, she said, “Seems counterintuitive when I wear your stars.”

“And I’ll burn those f*cking stars off your back if I need to.”

She remained stubbornly silent, practically daring him to act.

So be it.

If he couldn’t hand over the diamond, they could have her body. Moving his finger to the trigger, whatever she saw in his face made her break.

“I’ll have to bring it to you,” she hastened to say, her eyes now following the movement of his finger as he removed it from the trigger. “Tomorrow. I have it stored in a safety deposit box.”

Lowering the gun, he crouched down until they were eye level. “Two o’ clock, tomorrow. The Fountain. You bring it, then you leave and never show your face here again.”

Stashing his gun away, he gave her his back as he headed towards the door.

“All of this for her? Why is she so special?”

He expected the bitterness in her voice, but beneath it was a sadness he hadn’t expected. He had never thought much of how he treated the women that came and went in his life, only thought that since there was a mutual understanding as to what was expected, there wouldn’t be an issue, but as he was seeing now, the lines sometimes blurred.

“Because I love her,” he answered honestly.

And this time, she was the one who flinched.





Lauren kept her eyes closed though she felt Mishca move from beside her. He was careful, moving silently around, trying not to disturb her. She had wanted to sleep, but every time she about to drift off, images of the Albanian had her too afraid to succumb to her unconscious, not sure what she would find in her dreams.

It was easy, pretending like she was sleeping, because she counted in her head. The only way she could keep herself from going back to that dark place was to count aimlessly, thinking of random numbers in various combinations.

She could hear him beside her, the sound of something dropping onto the dresser reaching her ears. He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead, the act taking away some of the anxiety.

She had no idea what to feel.

Guilt mixed with relief. Anger and sadness. Fear and justification.

Standing up, she tiptoed across the cool floor, cracking the door to peer out. Luka was laying on the floor with his feet against the wall, staring up at the ceiling as though it held all the answers in the world.

“What’s doing?”

She didn’t know why she had gotten up, just wanting to move around, but now she felt obligated to answer him.

“My shoulder hurts. Is there any aspirin?” Actually her shoulder did hurt, probably from the recoil of the gun after shooting it the first time. It had more power than she was expecting.

“I could call the Doc for you, have him look it over. Cap might want me to do that, be responsible and all.”

“The Doc?”

“Shit, I forgot you’re new. We have a doctor on call. Comes whenever we need him.”

He didn’t know and the words explaining it to him caught in her throat. The only thought that repeatedly ran in her mind was that there was another doctor.

She didn’t know what she had thought. It wasn’t like they were not going to need a doctor just because her…but they couldn’t just replace him, could they?

“Yo?” Luka was looking at her as though she might be having a panic attack.

She felt like she was. “Yes,” she said without thinking about.

She didn’t know what she would say when the doctor got there, but she needed to see for herself.





It was the way he carried himself that brought the first lance of pain, then there was the slight scent of beeswax and rubber that clung to his hands when he brushed her hair back to gaze down at her shoulder. Even in the way his eyes could be caring one moment, but detached the next.

Just for an instant, Lauren didn’t see the strange man standing next to her. No, she saw Cameron Thompson, at least how she last remembered him. That easy smile of his, familiar golden eyes with laugh lines fanning out beside them.

She could almost imagine it was him who was tending to her, but all too soon, that illusion shattered, leaving only the reality of the situation she found herself in and the emptiness she felt at seeing her father’s replacement.

“You’re—” She needed to clear her throat, “—Doc, right?”

“Yes, that’s what they call me.”

“What’s your real name?”

He seemed taken aback by her question, looking to Luka for an answer though she doubted he would be able to give him one. If he knew about her relationship with the Volkovs, he would have never brought the man here.

Mishca wouldn’t have allowed it.

She couldn’t help but wonder what else she didn’t know, how many more of his secrets would hurt her. She thought the worst thing that could have happened to them was his uncle, but she realized that that was just hitting the surface.