Broken Soul (Jackson Family 3)

jaxon

Adrik passedaway at two A.M. two weeks after our trip. Inessa cried for hours, neither of us getting any sleep after James broke the news to us.

And then, before his body was even completely cold, we were attending Ivan’s coronation to become the don of the Bratva. Ivan was Adrik’s second-in-command’s son, and while he probably wasn’t one hundred percent ready, I was confident he would remain a good ally for us.

Inessa was with me, wanting to respect her grandfather in this way. So, we were surrounded by Jackson family guards while we watched the coronation and quite possibly, everything fall apart at the same time.

“Got a bad feeling,” James whispered to me.

I nodded once. I’d had it since Adrik’s passing. Inessa’s father wasn’t going to take this lying down. He’d lived his entire life thinking this was his right.

Inessa’s father was quiet throughout the entire thing, which just cemented that bad feeling inside of me. I didn’t let my hand leave Inessa’s body. I wasn’t taking any chances or risks with her safety.

Ivan walked over to us afterward, shaking James’s hand first and then mine. “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to go ahead and sign a new peace treaty with my name on it instead of Adrik’s. You can read over it, but it says the exact same thing your treaty with Adrik said.”

“No!” Inessa’s father roared. I quickly moved in front of my wife, my gun already in my hand and pointed at his forehead.

“Try me,” I dared him. He would not harm my fucking wife.

“Leonid, stand down!” Ivan barked, his own gun pointed at Inessa’s father’s head. “Stand down now, or I swear, I’ll make your wife a widow and your children fatherless.”

Inessa whimpered from behind me, her hands fisting my jacket. Leonid glared at me. “She is the cause of all this mess,” he hissed.

“I’d advise you to sit the fuck back down,” I warned him. “Or I’ll bathe myself in your blood.”

Inessa’s grip tightened on me. My eyes didn’t waver from her father’s face. Finally, he stood down, and then, Ivan shot him in the head anyway. I didn’t even flinch, but Inessa shrieked. I quickly pulled her into my arms, pressing her face to my chest so she wouldn’t see her father lying on the ground, blood pooling around his head.

Her little sister and her mother were screaming. Inessa was trembling in my arms, but I held her tight, restraining her as much as I was trying my damnest to comfort her.

Ivan pocketed his gun. “Silence!” he shouted. The two women immediately shut up. Inessa flinched in my arms at his command. I smoothed my hand down her back. He pointed to two of his men. “Get rid of that and get this cleaned up.” He looked back at me and James. “So, the treaty?” he asked as if he hadn’t just splattered brains across the floor. I almost laughed.

I nodded once and lifted Inessa up, forcing her to wind her arms and legs around me. I carried her towards the conference room and settled her on one of the chairs. James and I both took our time reading over the treaty, making sure it still read word for word what our treaty with Adrik had read.

After we signed the papers, Ivan shook hands with us. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on Inessa’s mother and little sister,” he informed us. “Feel free to stay as long as you need. What’s mine is yours.”

He left the room. James pulled his phone from his pocket. “I need to take care of a couple of things before we leave,” he told me. “Meet at the SUV in twenty?”

I nodded once in agreement. He slipped from the room. I settled Inessa on the table and slid my hand up her thighs, looking up at her. “You okay, little bunny?” I softly asked her.

She nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. She drew in a deep breath. “The gunshot scared me—not the thought of him dying.”

I smirked at her. “Am I turning you cold-blooded, baby girl?” I teased.

She laughed softly and shrugged. “Maybe.” She ran her hands over my shoulders. “But maybe you just make me feel safe, and I know you’re not the kind of monster I need to be worried about.”

I loved that she didn’t deny the fact that I was a monster. Because I was. And she knew that.

But she was right. I wasn’t the monster she ever needed to worry about.

I grinned at her. “Never have to worry about this monster, baby.” I stood up and kissed her. “Now, how quick do you think I can get off?” I wanted inside of her—didn’t care which hole I filled. Seeing her father’s blood all over the place had heated my blood. And I’d been itching to be inside of her since she’d wrapped herself around me.

She giggled and slipped down from the table, dropping to her knees. “I don’t know.” She winked up at me. “Shall we find out?”

I groaned when her lips wrapped around me and she sucked me deep into the back of her throat.