Sinful Bride (Belaya Bratva 3)

Chapter 9

Gavril

Naomi’s jaw worked as if she was thinking about my question, and hell, I hoped she had a good answer. This shit with Marchetti had gotten out of hand, and though I wasn’t going to admit it to him, we had to work together on this.

He was the one being fucking difficult right now.

“Roman isn’t necessarily wrong,” she finally said, surprising me.

Marchetti smirked, and I wanted to bash his face in. “Told you.”

His wife hit him in the arm, and Naomi looked up at me. “We can’t provoke the FBI, Gavril. It’s a no-win situation, and I know you know that, even if you don’t want to admit it.”

I did. I wasn’t fucking stupid. I knew the ramifications of what I was asking, but I wanted Hampton.

I wanted him dead, consequences be damned.

“But,” Naomi continued, her expression darkening. “Going against Jon is doable.”

“Naomi, what are—” Ilsa started, but my wife held up her hand, halting her words.

“You don’t understand,” she said. “You don’t know what it’s like to never have peace wherever you are. I have had to constantly look over my shoulder to see if he is there. I’ll never be safe until he’s dead and I see his lifeless body for myself.”

“I will protect you,” I told her, rolling my shoulders. She might not have felt safe before because no one had bothered to keep her safe. No one had bothered to stand up to her fucking nightmares and take them head on.

I was willing to do that for her. She was mine. No one was going to touch her now.

She gave me a little smile. “I know you will, but it’s not enough, Gavril. Jon is not going to give up, and if we want a future…” Her words halted, her hand sliding down to rest on her stomach. “He has to go and so does the Krasnaya Bratva.”

I swallowed my retort. She was right. In order for us to have a future with our child, I had to get rid of both Konstantin and Hampton. Otherwise, there would be no rest, no future.

“Roman told me that the Krasnaya Bratva has reformed,” she continued after a moment. “The only way that could have happened is exactly what you thought. They know I’m not Sveta, but more than that, Jon must’ve been involved in that unveiling. He’s the only one who had the incentive to spill this secret, and also the only one who had the means to uncover it.”

“I believe so as well,” I said slowly, not sure where she was going with this.

“He’s studied my every move,” Naomi finished. “But his obsession is exactly how we can get him.” She smiled. “We need to lure out both Jon and the Krasnaya Bratva and then take them out simultaneously.”

I stared at the woman before me, not even believing that it was my wife, my Naomi, coming up with this plan. Where the hell had this woman been all my life? I had never felt more pleased at a suggestion in a long while.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Marchetti suggested, rubbing his chin. “It’s risky. But if they are working together, then it’s the easiest way to not only prove it, but also get rid of them.”

I knew I couldn’t take on both Jon and Konstantin. I didn’t need two wars going on, but if they came together without realizing they had been set up, then it would solve all my fucking problems.

“Naomi,” Ilsa remarked, shock on her face. “When did you get so devious?”

Naomi smirked, her eyes catching mine. “I might have learned a thing or two in the last few months.”

I was going to show her a thing or two the moment we got the fuck out of here. She was fearless, strong, capable, all the things I didn’t know I needed in a partner.

Hell, I didn’t even want a partner until I cooked up the plan that included Sveta.

It was just divine help from above that I had gotten Naomi instead. Someone liked me, though I imagined not a hell of a lot.

“There is a lot we will have to figure out,” I started, my thoughts already churning. “And find a way to get them to come together.”

I could use myself as bait. Konstantin wanted me, but Hampton didn’t. He was after Naomi, and I wasn’t about to put her in harm’s way.

Not now, not ever.