The Bratva’s Stalked Bride (Milov Bratva Brides #16)

Chapter 1 - Simon

The hot Miami sun scorches down against my shoulders, and a trickle of sweat runs down my back. I roll my neck, hearing a soft crack, then lean forward to pick up the last box from the back of my SUV.

“That’s all of them,” I say, setting the heavy load onto the trolley so that Devon can wheel it into the warehouse.

It’s a small but incredibly important delivery for a client that I opted to oversee myself due to the order’s delicate nature.

It’s the second order this particular client has placed, and the first one had a bit of a hiccup, so I wanted to make sure his second experience with us went smoothly.

I collected these products from Fort Lauderdale at the very early hours of this morning.

“I’ll triple-check the truck before it leaves the warehouse,” Devon confirms.

“Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”

Turning my back to the warehouse, I look out over the docks, lifting my hand to shield my eyes from the sun’s glare.

Seagulls cry a relentless gargle against the salty ocean air.

Business has been good. Life has been pretty good.

If it weren’t for the issues I have with Jaco Marcas, things would be perfect.

“Ok, the boxes are all loaded. Fuck it’s hot. Feels well over 100 today!” Devon wipes the back of his forearm across his face to stop the sweat from dripping in his eyes.

Thanks goodness I had the aircon blasting the whole drive. But the thirty minutes it’s taken to unload the boxes have my shirt drenched and my skin burning.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to head home and do a few laps in the pool. You’re escorting the truck, right?” I ask.

“Yes, sir, Max and I are going to follow in the Audi.”

He nods, setting his hands on his hips and leaning back to flex his spine. “Thank goodness it’s just around the corner. Then I’ve got my kids’ recital at school.”

“Nice, I hope it goes well. How old is Becka now? Seven?”

“Six and suddenly go this massive attitude. I guess she gets it from her mother,” he chuckles.

My phone rings, and I pull it from my back pocket.

“Marlen,” I say as I take my brother’s call. Turning, I wave to Devon. He smiles and nods and gives me a cursory silent wave before heading back toward the warehouse while I climb into my car, immediately setting the cold air to full blast.

“Hey man, how was the drive from Lauderdale?”

“Not too bad, it’s nice driving in the dark before the rest of the world is awake,” I say, reversing from the parking area. My back is sticking to the seat. I feel clammy and gross.

My shirt sleeves are rolled up over my forearms.

Marlen is the head of our family. He’s ruthless, cold, and often grumpy. There has been some improvement since he married Stef, but his nature is typical of a Bratva man. Wanting to be the most powerful. In charge. The strongest, coldest, deadliest man in the city.

I never had that drive.

The way I see it, it’s better to sit back and observe. Have patience and be calm.

That way, you get to plan everything. Nothing is a rush, so nothing can throw you off your game.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m as ruthless as the rest of them, but I have no desire to prove it to anyone.

Except Marcas.

“Stef wants to know if you want to join us for dinner tonight. We’re going to light a fire and throw some steaks on. Jump in the pool. Try ease off some of the heat,” he says.

“Thanks, but I’ve got a few things to do this evening. Tell Stef I appreciate the invite, though,” I reply.

“No worries. I’ll chat soon then. Have a good one,” Marlen says. “Let me know once that delivery is done. And thanks again for fetching the products yourself.”

“All good, man, I’ll update you later.”

We say goodbye and end the call.

Tonight, a very important part of my plan is unfolding. A plan that I have kept secret. There is no need for my family to know what I’m doing. It doesn’t involve them anyway.

And I’ve waited a very, very long time for the perfect moment. Waiting is like a game to me. It gives me time to perfect my methods and savor the revenge I will take on Marcas. He isn’t going to realize what’s happening until it’s too late.

Which is exactly what I want.

***

It’s almost nine. The heat of the day has left a heavy, windless weight in the air as I sit at the bar listening to the people around me laugh and talk and enjoy the cooler temperatures that darkness has brought.

My eyes drift to a man standing on the opposite side of the bar.

There is a blonde woman draped tipsily over his arm, giggling and gushing.

Lucas Jackson is one of Jaco’s inside men, and I need information from him.

Even back in the day when I used to do business with Jaco, I never liked Lucas.

I have no idea why the hell he puts up with him.

The man is arrogant. I’m pretty sure he steals from the family. He’s scum, basically.

I’ve been watching him take shots for over an hour. His routine is always the same. Friday night at the bar. He picks up a woman. He drinks with her and gets her drunk, then takes her to some sleazy motel. Despite his wealth, he doesn’t even bother booking a nice place.

Part of my plan involved following his movements.

But tonight, I won’t just be watching. Tonight, I’m going to have a little chat with the man.

He leans forward and whispers something in the woman’s ear, and she grins wider and nods.

They’re getting ready to leave, which means I’m getting ready to leave.

I down the last of the drink I’ve been nursing since I got here.

Lucas puts his arm around the woman, and she stumbles a little, leaning into him as they walk toward the door.

I am right behind them as they exit the bar and turn left onto the street.

Silently, I pull a black mask over my face.

As we pass an alleyway, I grab Lucas and tug him into it, covering his mouth and pressing a knife to his throat. The woman yelps.

She stares in horror at me, unsure what to do.

“Run,” I growl.

She doesn’t hesitate.

I’m sure she’ll run back in for help, so I need to make this quick. A robbery. That’s what it’ll look like to anyone who hears the story.

I shove Lucas against the wall and pat down his jacket in search of his phone.

“You know who the fuck I am?” he snarls furiously.

“Shut up,” I mutter calmly, pressing the knife more firmly against his throat.

I shove his phone into my pocket. It’ll take me exactly seven minutes to replicate it before I ditch it so they can’t track it.

“I swear, buddy, you’re fucking with the wrong guy. You should have chosen someone else for your pathetic…”

“I believe I asked you to fuck nicely to shut up,” I say again. This time, when I press the knife harder, it breaks his skin. A thin trickle of blood runs into the collar of his shirt, staining the fabric. He winces, then snarls in frustration, but presses his lips together in silence.

“Give me the watch,” I demand.

“Fuck you,” he whispers. “It’s my father’s watch. It has sentimental value.”

“Like fuck it is.”

Lucas hates his father. He hasn’t spoken to him in years. But he doesn’t know that I know that.

He hurriedly unclips his watch and tosses it onto the ground.

I leave it where it’s lying and plant a solid fist into his ribs.

He huffs out a heavy breath as pain wracks through him.

In the dark alleyway, I see his eyes flare with anger. In a flash, he grabs my mask and rips it from my face.

“Simon?!” he snarls.

I never intended for him to see me.

Fuck. There is only one solution for this.

In a swift and deadly move, I shove the knife up through his lower jaw and into his skull.

His death is instant, but his body twitches for a few seconds before I let it drop to the ground with a thump.

“What was that?” I hear the nervous voice of a girl, whispering in fright.

Glancing up the alley back toward the street, I see a woman peering into the darkness toward me.

“Nothing, just a cat or something,” her friend says, grabbing her arm.

The girl is still squinting into the darkness. She’s looking right at me, but whether or not she can actually see me is unknown.

“Come on, Blair, the Uber is here,” her friend huffs, tugging her away.

“Ye, sorry, coming,” she mutters, but even as she climbs into the Uber, she’s still staring into the darkness. It feels like she’s looking right into my soul. Blair.

I wait until the taxi drives away, then quickly grab my mask from Lucas’s grasp and his watch from the ground. A robbery gone wrong.

I never intended to kill him, but fuck it, the world is a better place without scum bags like him in it. I have what I came for—the phone.

Running from the alley, I wipe the blade of my knife and shove it back into the sheath at my side. Glancing up and down the street, I see no other witnesses. It seems Lucas’s date didn’t even bother trying to get help.

Within minutes, I’m in my car, cloning the phone. While the program is running, I drive to the docks and park near the water. As soon as it’s done and I have a copy of all of the information on his device, I toss the phone and his watch into the water.

But now there is a loose thread.

A brown-haired girl, driving through the city in an Uber. I recite the number plate in my head again. Hurriedly, I punch it into my phone, using my tech to see if I can locate the car.

The owners’ details pop up, and I paste his phone number into the tracking app.

Thank fuck.

It worked.

A blue dot pings on my dashboard map, and I rev, pushing the car into gear to race after it.

My instincts tell me that the girl didn’t actually see anything. But I can’t risk the assumption. I need to know. I need to be sure.

It doesn’t take me long at all to catch up with the Uber.

Stopping on the opposite side of the road from where it’s parked, I watch as both girls climb out of the car. Blair hugs her friends. They talk for a moment, saying goodbye.

The other girl walks toward an apartment building, and Blair tugs the Uber door open again. My heart stops when she glances nervously around her, searching the quiet street. Is she on edge because she saw something?