Porcelain Vows (Tarasov Bratva #2)

Chapter One

Stella

Strip?

I stare at Gianni like he’s out of his mind — which I’m pretty sure is the case. The man is insane.

“What?” I say hoarsely, then repeat, “What?” more clearly as I find my voice. “No!” I shake my head. There’s no way. No fucking way that I’ll let this pig put his stinking hands on me again.

“You’ll do as I say, puttana .” His face twists into something cruel and ugly. I still can’t believe I once found this man appealing. Everything about him repulses me now.

“I’d rather die, you piece of shit!” I snarl, rage rising inside me like a wave of heat. I don’t mean it, obviously. There’s no way I’ll do anything to harm my child, but I won’t let him think he can push me around either.

“You think I won’t do it?” he sneers.

“I don’t care if you do.” I jut my jaw out. “It took me long enough to wash your stench off me the last time. I won’t let it happen again.”

His expression darkens. Beside him, Sofia gives a ladylike snort. “This is a waste of time, Gianni. I told you I—”

A sharp, crackling sound stops her midsentence. Shouts ring out, and something or some one falls to the ground with a low thud. My heart stands still. Gianni’s head snaps toward the open doorway, and Sofia’s eyes fly wide.

Aleksei!

It has to be. Even though he’s the last person I would have gone looking for right now, the thought of him coming to save me has relief washing through me.

“ Fanculo! ” Gianni barks out, hastily pulling his pants up and zipping his fly. There’s more crackling gunfire. Screams.

“You idiot! You said they’d never find us here,” Sofia yells at him.

“Shut the fuck up!” Gianni’s looking around wildly. The shots are echoing through the building in staccato bursts. Someone yells a string of curses that are cut off sharply with another burst of gunshots. Footsteps ring out. Footsteps that are coming closer.

“Gianni! You—” Sofia’s voice is shrill.

“I said shut up, you stupid bitch!” He turns away from her, snapping out a hand and gripping my wrist.

“Don’t you touch me!” I snap, trying to tug my wrist free. His grip tightens, and he yanks me forward against his chest. I struggle, but it’s useless; he’s too strong.

“Fucking stay still,” he growls at me. I’m about to fight him some more, but the feeling of cold steel against my temple stops me short. The footsteps are near now, thundering up the metal stairs that lead to the door to the room we’re in.

Gianni is so close I can feel the heat of his body against my back, his breath hot on my ear. I shudder, fear, and disgust warring within me.

I swallow hard and squeeze my eyes shut, then open them just in time to see two huge figures looming in the doorway. Aleksei appears, a pistol in his hand, murder in his eyes. Behind him, Sasha follows. Aleksei’s eyes lock with mine, and for a moment, I forget everything that drove me here.

The lies.

The deception.

The fact that he murdered my father.

For one sweet moment, I’m overjoyed to see him.

He raises the handgun.

“I wouldn’t try anything if I were you,” Gianni says from right behind me. Aleksei hesitates, his eyes flicking from mine to Gianni and then back again.

“Drop the gun, Maranzano. You’re outmatched.” His voice is like ice.

Behind me, Gianni laughs, his grip tightening on my arm. The barrel of the gun presses harder into my skin.

“I don’t think so, Tarasov.” He pulls me more firmly against him. “You’re finally where I want you — trapped between your precious cargo and your famous fucking reputation.”

Aleksei’s gun remains trained in our direction. I’m pretty sure it’s aimed at Gianni’s head, but it still feels a lot like I’m looking straight down the barrel, and it chills me.

“Let her go, and we can settle this like men.” His voice is so calm, you’d think he was discussing the weather. “This is between us.”

“Oh, I disagree. Your little bitch here has been a problem for both of us. Did she tell you how she begged me for money to save his little brother? How she’d do anything? Maybe I should keep her after all.”

Everything inside me stiffens. He’s talking about the way he used me as if it’s some sort of joke.

As if it was funny that he held my brother’s life in his hands and used it as a bargaining chip to force me to do things I never want to do again.

Bile rises in my throat. Suddenly, all I want is for Aleksei’s finger to tighten on that trigger. Somehow, I don’t think he’d miss.

Shoot him.

Just fucking kill him!

I want to scream the words, but I don’t.

“Three seconds. Then I put a bullet through your skull,” says Aleksei, still cold as ice.

“Try it. See who drops first. Me, or your pregnant girlfriend.” There’s garlic on Gianni’s breath, and it makes my stomach churn.

“Just fucking kill them, Gianni!” Sofia’s voice cuts through the standoff. “You promised revenge, not this fucking shitshow!”

Gianni goes tense and then twists to the side slightly at the sudden interruption. That’s all Aleksei needs.

Before I realize what’s happening, there’s a violent explosion, and Gianni jolts away from me, screaming as his weapon falls from his hand. Blood sprays my face, and then he’s clutching his hand.

“Aaaah!” Gianni howls.

“Move!” I hear Aleksei shout to Sasha as I leap to the side, away from where Gianni is still screaming.

“Aaaah! Vaffanculo !” Gianni screams a moment before Aleksei silences him. He moves across the room with such speed that I can barely register what’s going on before he plows into Gianni. I’m vaguely aware of Sofia screaming as Sasha grabs hold of her, slamming her against the nearby wall.

I back away, clutching my arms around my middle, my thoughts now consumed by the tiny life growing inside me.

Aleksei has Gianni on the floor by the throat, his grasp so tight that Gianni is gagging and choking as he fights for air.

“Aleksei!” I scream. I’m oddly sickened by the thought of him killing Gianni with his bare hands. Over me.

His head spins to the side, and he focuses on me. For a moment, I’m flooded by that warm sense of relief yet again.

He came for me.

He saved me.

He saved our baby.

He also murdered your father, Stels.

My breath catches in my throat. Before I can say anything more, there’s a familiar sound. It’s Aleksei’s phone. He freezes… and I know why. It’s the ringtone he uses for Bobik’s doctor.

An eerie, unnatural silence descends, broken only by the sound of the phone. Aleksei’s expression flickers, and for the first time ever, I see indecision color his features. I wonder if he felt the same hesitation the day he ordered my father’s death.

The relief I felt begins to ebb away as pure rage takes its place. Our eyes lock, and this time, I can’t suppress the hate that’s been building. Aleksei is releasing Gianni, who’s writhing on the floor, his face battered and bloody.

“Watch them,” he says to Sasha before straightening and stepping away to take the call. I watch in alarm as he leaves me in the room with Sasha, Sophia, and a battered Gianni.

Sasha drags Sofia against the wall, keeping his gun trained on her while his eyes dart between her and Gianni. The air feels thick with tension after Aleksei’s abrupt departure. I stand frozen, unsure of what to do as my mind races with conflicting emotions.

Gianni’s face is a bloody mess from Aleksei’s beating. He’s curled on the floor, wheezing and spitting blood, one hand still clutching his bullet-wounded one. Sofia’s mascara runs down her cheeks in black rivulets as she struggles against Sasha’s grip.

“Don’t you fucking move,” Sasha orders in his thick accent. “Either of you.”

I press myself against the wall, trying to make myself invisible. My heart hammers against my ribs as I watch Gianni’s body language shift. Something in his posture changes—a subtle tensing that sends alarm bells ringing through my head.

“Sasha—” I start to warn him, but it’s too late.

It all happens in a blur. Gianni’s good hand darts to his sleeve, and suddenly there’s a small pistol in his grip. He rolls and fires in one fluid motion.

The gunshot is deafening in the enclosed space. Sasha jerks sideways, his reflexes saving him from taking the bullet straight to the chest. Instead, it tears through his upper arm, spraying blood across the wall.

“ Pizda !” Sasha roars, stumbling back but keeping his weapon raised.

Sofia screams and dives for cover as Gianni fires again. The bullet misses, embedding itself in the wall inches from my head. I drop to the floor, covering my stomach protectively.

Sasha steadies himself, blood soaking through his sleeve. His face remains impassive despite the wound, his gun never wavering as he adjusts his aim toward Gianni.

“Drop the fucking thing!” he commands, his voice deadly calm despite the blood dripping from his fingertips. “Now!”

Gianni’s eyes are wild, darting between Sasha and the door where Aleksei disappeared. He’s calculating his chances, and I can see the desperation written across his battered face. It’s desperation that leads to bad decisions because he swings the gun up again.

Shots explode in the small room, the sound so deafening I can barely think. Bullets ping against metal and thud into the walls. I press myself flat against the floor, arms wrapped protectively around my belly.

“Fuck you!” Gianni screams, firing wildly despite his injured hand.

Sasha returns fire with deadly precision despite his wound, his face a mask of cold concentration. The acrid smell of gunpowder burns my nostrils.

I need to move. Need to find cover. My eyes dart frantically around the room, searching for an escape route.

“Aleksei!” I scream instinctively, but my voice is swallowed by the gunfire. I’m dimly aware of a shadow looming, before something hard and heavy slams into the back of my head.

For a moment, everything turns white, like I’m in a void.

Pain explodes through my skull like a bomb going off.

My vision blurs instantly, then I’m falling, my body suddenly too heavy to hold upright. The concrete floor rushes up to meet me, but I barely feel the impact.

Through tunneling vision, I see a body crumple to the ground—can’t tell whose. Blood pools beneath them, spreading across the concrete like spilled wine.

Darkness creeps in from the edges of my vision, consuming everything. Voices fade to muffled, underwater sounds. My last coherent thought is of my baby, my hands still cradling my stomach as consciousness slips away.

And then, darkness sets in.