Chapter 34 #2
“She’s about as good as you’d expect someone who’s had one of their children kidnapped to be.
I had to lock her in one of the rooms in the main house to keep her from showing up here.
She wanted to come and wouldn’t listen to me when I told her I could only bring one person, and that one person had to be someone who could shoot a gun. ”
I felt a chuckle rise up in my throat. Sofia Ortega was like a big mama bear. Fiercely protective of her babies, with a pension for destruction built into her very core.
“I bet she wasn’t happy to be left at home,” I laughed. “Do you think—”
An angry roar ripped through the air, followed by loud shouting and a hard thump.
Juan and I looked at each other. “What the fuck was that?” we both said at the same time.
I ran for the exit, Juan hot on my heels. I flung the door open and froze.
Shit .
Aleksandr was straddling Logan’s chest, his hands wrapped around his throat and squeezing so hard there was blood seeping into Logan’s eyes.
Shock slammed into me at the ferocious look on Aleksandr’s face, at the way he bared his teeth an inch away from Logan’s face, his eyes burning with rage.
I’d never seen him this way before. Even when we went to the Rage Room (where the sole purpose was for people to express their anger by beating the shit out of stuff), he’d still been in control, hitting things with precise, direct blows, never truly releasing the reins on that tight self control he possessed.
What the fuck had Logan done to make Aleksandr snap?
“Zander! Enough!” Nikolai barked, trying to pull his brother off Logan and failing.
Aleksandr was like a brick wall. Completely unmovable. He didn’t even seem bothered by Nikolai’s attempts, he just kept his rage-filled eyes locked on Logan as he strangled the life out of him.
Something spurred me forward. What specifically, I couldn’t say. Maybe it was the fact that Aleksandr was literally seconds away from killing Logan. Or maybe it was the click of Juan’s gun as he cocked it, the barrel now pointed right at Aleksandr’s chest.
Whatever it was, it propelled me towards Aleksandr like a magnet.
I wrapped my arms around his huge bicep, pulling back as hard as I could while Nikolai did the same with his other arm, both of us working in unison to try to dislodge Aleksandr.
“Damn it, Big Guy, let go,” I grunted with exertion.
Nikolai unwound himself from around Aleksandr’s arm and ran to his front.
He threw a brutal right hook into Aleksandr’s face, the blow stunning him and making his grip on Logan’s throat loosen.
Nikolai ploughed into his brother with the force of a linebacker and we all tumbled to the ground in one big heap.
Ow .
Juan rushed to Logan’s side, checking his pulse. The relief that washed over his face told me all I needed to know.
He was alive. Unconscious, but alive.
I picked myself up, wincing at the slight pain shooting across my chest. Getting crushed under over two-hundred pounds of hard, toned muscles wasn’t nearly as much fun as I thought it would be.
Aleksandr shoved his brother off him and got to his feet, the anger still evident on his face. His eyes snapped to Logan’s unmoving form. It looked as though he was debating lunging for him again.
“The deal is off,” Aleksandr growled, his hand clamping around my forearm. He pulled me close to him and I was too shocked to do anything but follow.
Wait, what? What the fuck is happening right now?
Juan jumped up, aiming his gun at Aleksandr, which prompted Nikolai to aim his gun at Juan. “Let her go!” my brother yelled.
Fuck . I needed to deescalate the situation as fast as possible. “Guys, stop. We don’t need to do this. Everything’s fine.”
Aleksandr didn’t say anything, marching me towards the elevator that would take us down to the undercover parking lot while Nikolai covered him.
“Hey! I said let her go! I’ll shoot you, I swear to fucking God.”
Aleksandr punched the button to call the elevator and turned, placing me behind him protectively as he stared down the barrel of Juan’s gun.
“No you won’t. Because we both know you’re not the one in charge here.
The deal is off . You hear me? Take your man and go home before I change my mind and kill you both. We’re done here.”
A ding announced the arrival of the elevator, the door whooshing open. Aleksandr ushered me inside with Nikolai at his back. Juan looked at me for guidance. He didn’t know what to do, whether to let me leave with them or put a stop to it.
I shook my head, urging him to stand down. I wasn’t sure what happened with Logan. But whatever it was, it was bad enough to not only make Aleksandr lose control on that tight leash he kept on himself, but also make him go back on the deal he put forth.
I needed time to figure out what was going on and what I needed to do to fix it before an all out war broke out between the cartel and the Bratva.
The elevator ride down to the underground parking lot was silent and tense. Like an awkward family dinner where everyone hated each other. Neither Aleksandr nor Nikolai spoke a word. I was standing, wedged between two hulking men who were both fuming with rage. It made for an unpleasant time.
“Okay. Someone going to tell me what happened?”
Fucking crickets. I might as well have been talking to myself.
The elevator dinged. Aleksandr’s hand tightened on my arm as he steered me out of the elevator and towards his car, our footsteps echoing around the empty lot.
“Aleksandr, we need to talk about this.”
He said nothing, just unlocked the car and shoved me inside without so much as a ‘how do you do’. He slammed the door shut and locked it.
Not again.
I opened my mouth, ready to yell my fucking head off, but the words died on my tongue. It wasn’t only anger rolling off Aleksandr. It was also distress, something I’d never seen in him before.
He and Nikolai stepped far enough away that I struggled to hear what they were talking about. I could catch little snippets as Nikolai yelled at his brother, veins throbbing in the side of this neck as he pointed an accusatory finger at him.
“What is wrong with you…get yourself together…who cares if he…she’s not yours—”
Aleksandr struck him hard across the face. Nikolai dropped, taken completely by surprise.
Aleksandr stomped away, his jaw clenched and brows lowered in an angry glare. He flung the driver’s side door open, climbed in and started the car, not looking at me once.
Nikolai picked himself up, scowling in our direction. He rubbed his jaw as he marched towards the car. Once he was inside Aleksandr sped off, heading towards the house.