Untamed (Bratva Kings #2)

Chapter 22

RODION

It’s dark out. The lights outside our estate have flickered on, armed guards at the gates as always, as I wait in Rafail’s office. I can’t remember what I did this time or how I got here, but I know the routine by now—lecture. Disappointment.

Punishment.

When the door to his office opens, I feel the weight of his disappointment before I see him. “Rodion, are you ever going to fucking learn?”

This time, Rafail isn’t alone. He’s brought… everyone. My grandfather leaning on his cane, his wizened face lined with disapproval. Semyon, frowning and not meeting my eyes. My cousin Matvei. They pour into the office and don’t meet my eyes.

I open my mouth to protest but find I can’t talk. My lips are sealed together. Mounting frustration builds in me, and I’m on my feet before Rafail snatches me back down with a growl and promise of a worse punishment if I don’t sit.

I try to tell them she needed me. I try to tell them I didn’t mean to. I try to tell them I won’t let them down. But I can’t open my mouth, the words won’t come…

I wake from my dream with a start, blinking in the early morning quiet. I pat the bed next to me and find it empty.

The dream fades, but the sting of it remains.

“Ember?” I call out her name but don’t hear a response. I sit up in bed, my heart slamming against my rib cage, and tell myself to calm. Just because she’s?—

Water runs in the bathroom. The door’s slightly ajar. I turn my head to see—Ember’s standing at the bathroom sink, her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, brushing her teeth with vigor.

I let out a breath.

She’s wearing my tee.

It reminds me of a video she did, one of her viral ones, where she sighed and said she lost her mind over a scene where the heroine wears her boyfriend’s too-big tee. Mine is way too big on her. I stare at her. When she lifts her arms to put the toothbrush back, the hem of the tee rises to show the curve of her bare ass.

I know this might not be what she ever imagined for herself, but I’m going to make every damn day feel like a scene only her favorite writer could ever dream up.

I swallow hard.

It was just a dream. Just a fucking dream.

I watch in silence as she splashes water on her face. She’s humming to herself. The sound is haunting and makes my heart ache.

My memory drifts to the times I let my family down, some of them not too recent.

If I hadn’t , I never would’ve been in California. I might have never met Ember. Still, the sting of being the goddamn black sheep of the family lingers, and I know I’m doing it all over again.

I told Ember this was temporary, knowing full well a temporary marriage to Bratva’s an impossibility.

“Hey,” I call out louder this time. I want to touch her again and drown out the memories of the past and the fear of the future. Turning to me, she gives me a little wave.

“Morning. Hey, aren’t you Russians super superstitious?” When she cocks her head to the side like that, she looks so innocent.

“Yeah, why?”

“Shouldn’t we, like, not see each other on our wedding day?”

“Too late for that now.” I push out of bed and head to her.

“But what if our future is doomed now?” That sweet little pucker between her brows...

Our future. Let’s stay here a minute.

“Then I guess we’d better make use of the time we have together before doom sets in.” I bend and kiss her bare shoulder, where the tee’s fallen down. Her eyes flutter closed as I kiss her neck next, my hands anchored on the warm softness of her hips.

“What time is it?”

“Eight thirty-two.”

Eight.

Eight?

“ Fuck !”

I let her go like she’s branded me and turn to head to my phone. “Rafail said to be ready by nine at the latest. Sending a car to take us to the Romanov estate.”

Oh god.

“Rodion!” Her eyes widen in panic as she tosses the brush down and looks around the room wildly. “What do I wear? You didn’t tell me!”

Stifling a groan, she runs into the room and rummages through her things.

“Doesn’t matter. They’ll have everything there.” I’m checking my phone to make sure I didn’t fuck something else up, reading through the messages from my sisters. They’ve got shit sorted with Rafail’s wifePolina and her mother, the Romanov matriarch.

My phone is ringing, Ember’s flying around the room trying to get her shit together, and I’m cursing myself for not getting my ass out of bed earlier. I don’t want to start our day like this.

She’ll fucking lose her mind when she realizes our wedding isn’t temporary, and it feels like all of this is an omen.

“What?” I snap into the phone. Rafail, of course.

I hear him blow out a breath on the line and mentally curse myself for not keeping my shit together. I expect him to tell me to get us outside because they’re waiting for us, but he doesn’t.

“We’ve got bad news, brother.”

Ember looks at me, and I look back at her as I listen. I stand up straighter. If anyone’s going to hurt her, if anyone’s planning on?—

“Yeah?”

Rafail doesn’t speak right away, and that’s what sets me off. He’s not the type to hesitate. Not unless it’s something big—something that could derail everything.

“Rodion.” His voice drops, low and sharp. “Her fucking brother’s here.”

What?

My entire body locks up. Across the room, Ember freezes like she knows, as if she can feel the news straight through the phone.

“What do you mean, here ?” I grit out. The fucking audacity of this goddamn prick.

“I mean, he’s at the gate. Says he’s her family, and he’s demanding to take her back.”

How fucking delusional can one person be?

Ember’s staring now, wide-eyed and pale, her lips parted to speak. “What is it, Rodion?”

Rafail keeps going, his voice clipped. “He knows about the wedding. About her. Too much, Rodion. He’s not just some jealous asshole from the past. He’s been digging, and he’s not alone. Looks like he’s made some friends in all the wrong places.”

“Like fucking who?”

“Feds.”

Of all the fucking?—

The words get stuck in my throat, as Rafail’s meaning sinks in. Shawn isn’t just sniffing around to make trouble, he’s weaponized his obsession with her, using her as leverage. A small pebble in the ocean, causing a ripple that reaches miles.

Jesus.

Rafail’s voice cuts through the haze of fury. “Looks like he’s been feeding them information. Could be nothing, could be scraps, but you know how the Feds work. They’ll turn a crumb into a fucking feast if it gets them close to us. He’s probably selling it like he’s a fucking golden boy, a good citizen. And now they’re circling.”

I grit my teeth.

“Why the hell do they care?”

“They could use her. Think about it. Get your head out of your ass and use that brain.”

I pinch my lips together as he continues.

Should’ve fucking ended Shawn before we left Cali.

“She doesn’t have to talk. They could use her to track your movements, trace your calls, watch her every step.”

“Then we get him out of here,” I growl, pacing toward the window like I might spot him through the damn gates of the hotel.

“Already tried,” Rafail says. “He’s not leaving. Not without her. And if we make a scene… well, Romanov hospitality only stretches so far. I promised Polina.”

I’m going to fucking kill the son of a bitch.

But how, when I can’t do it in the open when my hands are tied?

And would Ember ever forgive me?

I can practically hear the underlying warning. This isn’t our family’s territory. The Romanovs have their own rules, and our alliance with them is tenuous, at best. If Shawn pushes his connections with the Feds, instead of a wedding day, I’ll be led out in handcuffs.

Ember’s already at my side, eyes burning with questions.

“Give me ten minutes,” I tell Raf, ending the call.

“What is it?” Ember stands in front of me. I hate the way her lower lip trembles.

“You won’t fucking believe this.” I shake my head when recognition dawns on her.

“There’s only one person from my past who could fuck this up. It’s him, isn’t it? God. This is what I tried to tell you—that he isn’t harmless. You can’t just treat him the way you’d treat a normal predator. He-he’ll stop at nothing, Rodion, nothing. Oh god.”

She closes her eyes, and two fat tears roll down her cheeks.

I won’t let this happen.

I reach for her.

She pushes me away.

“You don’t understand. Shawn doesn’t stop. He doesn’t… doesn’t break. ”

I pull her to me, this time not taking no for an answer. She breaks into a sob. “He could never let me have anything good or normal or healthy.”

I can’t help but smirk at her. The situation is fraught; she’s a mess, my brother’s pissed, and I have no idea how I’m going to get out of this situation, but I can’t always take shit so seriously.

“So you take it all back? Marrying me is good and normal and healthy.” I nod as if proud. “Honored, babe.”

“ Rodion. ”

I sober and pull her to me. I kiss her forehead fiercely and pull her into a hug. “I’m teasing, baby. I’ve got this. You said he doesn’t break?” I hold her out in front of me and tip my finger under her chin, meeting her gaze. “Doesn’t back down? Neither do I. ”