Sinful Bride (Belaya Bratva 3)

“What else?”

Quickly I told her about how the war with Konstantin and the rest of the Krasnaya Bratva had come about, how Naomi had been kidnapped, and about Anatoly’s death.

“I’m working on finding her now,” I finished, feeling suddenly weary of all the shit that was going on. I wasn’t even sure if I could find Naomi right now or if Jon was going to keep her alive long enough for me to do so. It fucking tore me in two.

“You’re a fool,” she said after a moment, her voice soft. “A damn fool, Gavrushka. Why would you send her away when she needed you the most? When you needed her the most?”

“Are you joking?” I bit out. “You didn’t even like her.” We had fought about Naomi when my mother thought she was Sveta.

She snorted. “It’s my job not to like her, Gavril. You are my son, and no woman will ever be good enough for you. I will treat your sisters’ future husbands the same way.” She drew in a breath. “But I didn’t think then and I don’t think now that Sve—Naomi—would ever betray you. There is fire in her, even if she isn’t Russian.”

I sucked in my own breath, the pain nearly unbearable now that my mother had made me see the truth of what Naomi felt about me. I had done some shitty things in my life, but losing the one person that mattered to me in my life right now was unforgivable. No matter what the fuck had happened between us, I couldn’t stand the fact that she wasn’t here and safe. I didn’t know what Hampton was doing to her or if she was still alive, and it was destroying me minute by minute.

“The man that has her,” I finally said, clearing my throat against the sudden rise of emotion. “Is a fucking FBI agent. She failed to tell me that.”

My mother was silent for a long time before she spoke. “Is that why you still harbor resentment toward her? Because she kept a secret from you? Have you ever thought that the reason she did so was because she didn’t feel like she could fully trust you?”

As much as I hated to admit it, my mother was right. I hadn’t given Naomi any reason to trust me. I had kept my darkest secrets from her, only opening up to her in the recent month or so. I thought telling Naomi would make me feel like I was weak, but it wasn’t my secrets I needed to be scared of.

It was the fact that Naomi had in fact broken through my barriers, and I couldn’t live without her. She had ripped through every veil, stepping through them one by one and forcing me to face the truth about my life. Even Katya had never touched me the way that Naomi touched me.

Not to mention the biggest, most amazing fucking thing she had given me. “There’s more,” I said, swallowing hard. “She’s pregnant.” My child. My heir. The future of the Belaya Bratva was missing as well.

“Do not lie to me, Gavril.”

“Why would I lie about something like that?” I bit out, clenching my fists. It had been the plan all along to get her pregnant, but now that she was, I couldn’t even begin to identify all the times I had seen our child in my dreams. Whether it was a boy or a girl, I didn’t give a fuck, but I did plan on seeing my child born.

“Because if you aren’t,” my mother continued, her voice hardening. “Then you are a bigger idiot than I thought.”

She had called me a fool and an idiot in the same phone call. I was getting tired of her judgment. Besides, I had better things to do, like find my wife and end this stupid war before it spiraled out of control.

“You should never have sent her away,” she said after a moment. “I know what your intentions were, but knowing she had an FBI agent after her while she was carrying your child? She belonged at your side Gavril. I thought I had taught you better than that.”

What she had taught me was not to let anything interfere with my destiny, but I wasn’t about to bring that up to her.

“I had no choice,” I said tightly. I had thought I was doing the right thing at the time, putting Naomi out of harm’s way so that she would be safe.

It was a lapse in judgment, one that I hoped I wouldn’t be paying for the rest of my life.

“You always have a choice,” she reminded me, her voice losing some of its anger and suddenly sounding weary. “Do you think I would send you or your sisters away at the first glance of danger? Do you know how many times that would have happened over the years? Do you, Gavrushka?” she sighed into the phone. “No, of course you don’t because I kept it from you and your sisters. It’s what I had to do to make sure that we stayed together. Family is the most important thing in life, Gavril. And you have deliberately ripped yours apart.”

“I did not rip it apart,” I growled, ignoring the twist in my stomach as I said the words. I had no fucking idea where Naomi was or if I would see her again. If that fucker hurt her at all, I was never going to forgive myself.

“Bring me back my grandchild and my daughter-in-law,” my mother finished, her voice hard once more. “And ensure their safety before you go play war with the Krasnaya Bratva. Your wife and child are far more important than anything you could get from bloodshed.”

I opened my mouth, but the dial tone greeted me instead and I threw the phone on the desk. I wasn’t playing war. The war was real, and it was going to be detrimental to our family, to the name that had been built for generations, if I didn’t win the damn thing.

I would have to balance both finding my wife and handling this war. I was the pakhan. It was up to me to ensure that my family’s name made it another generation, and without winning on both ends, there was a chance that it might not happen.

I couldn’t let that happen. The weight of everything was on my fucking shoulders, and it was time for me to start acting like the pakhan I used to be.

It was time to show the Krasnaya brigadiers that they had picked the wrong side and simultaneously deal with Jon Hampton for stealing my wife from me. Did he know about the child? Of course he does, you fool. If he had been following us at all, then he would know. But then again, Naomi had barely begun to show, and her secret could still be kept.

I hoped to God I was right. If he knew, it would only give him more leverage and something disastrous would happen. I was sure of it.

It was time for me to be prepared for what he might want in the end. There was very little that I wouldn’t give up to have Naomi back, but if it came down to my position, my Bratva, I honestly didn’t know what I would do. The decision would be hard indeed as both of them were parts of me.

Very important parts.