Chapter 28
ADRIANNE
Walking away from Nikolai felt wrong on every level.
I could feel his eyes burning holes into my back, and I didn’t need to look at him to know that his gun was still pressed into his palm, ready to strike at the minimal sign of betrayal.
So I kept my steps steady and deliberately slow.
The silence in the ballroom was heavy, loaded with distrust and the kind of tension that could snap at any minute.
My brothers had their eyes set on Nikolai behind me, while Max’s swerved from right to left, probably keeping Adrik, Alexei, and the other Bratva men under control. Jimmy’s gaze was set on me, the half smirk on his face feeling like a warm and delayed “I’ve got you”.
So much had changed since the wedding. So much had changed since I sent that text pleading to be saved. How had I gone from sacrificial lamb to the blood that bonded?
Because that was exactly how I felt.
Everything that followed this slow walk of mine was on my shoulders. On my capacity to convince a handful of mafia men that I had fallen for my captor and couldn’t bear the thought of him getting hurt or leaving him.
I looked back, feeling the need to connect with those pale blue eyes and reassure him that I’d make it happen. That I’d make them understand that I was exactly where I belonged. Yet something in that gesture made Nikolai even more nervous.
He stepped over the dead body in front of him, his gaze always locked on mine, while his gun rose to aim behind me.
Spinning my head forward again, I stopped, just a few feet away from them.
Matt took a couple steps forward, closing the rest of the space between us, his jaw tight, fury written in every line of his body.
“Adrianne. Are you okay?” He held out his hand for me to take.
“I’m fine.”
Liam stepped forward, coming to stand next to Matt. “You were taken from Alison’s wedding. Dragged to Russia. Held against your will. You’re not fine, and we’re here to fix that.”
“It’s not like that, and I need you to listen to me, please.”
“He’s brainwashed you,” Max said flatly, just a couple steps behind them. “Classic Stockholm Syndrome.”
“If you think saving me is a Stockholm Syndrome-inducing tactic, then you might be right.” I kept this distance on purpose, close enough to talk but far enough that they couldn’t just grab me.
“I’ve never asked you for anything, not even for you to pull me out of my miserable life and take me to New York and give me a life that I’d never dared dream of, like you did. But I am asking you to listen to me.”
“We’re listening,” Matt said, his hand gesturing for Jimmy and James to stop their slow approach.
“Nikolai didn’t choose to take me. His father, Vladimir, ordered it. He wanted leverage against our family, and Nikolai was the weapon.” I looked at each of them. “But he’s not his father.”
“How do we know you’re not saying this because he’s standing right there?” Max gestured toward Nikolai. “How do we know he hasn’t given you the lines to feed us?”
“I’ll prove it to you.” I met his eyes, my voice dropping lower as guilt tightened my heart for what I was about to say, but I needed them to know this wasn’t rehearsed.
“He has panic attacks. Debilitating ones where he can’t breathe or think.
From what his father did to him. From watching his mother die.
” I paused. “That’s not something he’d want me telling his enemies. ”
I was met with silence, yet it told me so much more than anything they could say. I’d caught their attention.
“Vladimir promised to tell Nikolai where he buried his mother and sister if he delivered Alison. They took me by mistake. Vladimir wanted her to allure you, so he could end the Battaglia reign and take over your business. That’s the man you made a deal with.
A man who’d use a child’s corpse as leverage, his son’s grief as a means to control him.
But here I stand, your own blood, and you’re questioning me?
” I chuckled, my voice filled with irony.
Matt’s expression cracked a mere inch. “Are you sure?”
“I’m here and not with Vladimir, aren’t I? Who do you think is responsible for that?”
I saw Liam’s gaze shift to Nikolai and then back at me. “But he’s not allowing you to leave.”
“Because I don’t want to leave.”
“So you’re in love with your captor?” Jimmy spoke for the first time, his words scoffed in scorn. “He’s a monster, Addy. Didn’t you see what he just did?”
“By definition, so are all of you, then.”
“Adrianne,” Matt said, not sure if in warning or reasoning.
“There’s nuance, right? Yet it applies to you, but not to him? I didn’t know my brothers were hypocrites. Father’s sons, right?” There was no hiding the hurt in my voice, but I knew I’d struck a chord.
I straightened my shoulders, shaking my head to get rid of those problems and focus on the ones at hand, “Vladimir followed you here. There’s an army coming, and he won’t be picking and choosing who to punish.
We’re outnumbered three to one, as per what Adrik said.
” I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply and aiming for the kill, “I was hoping that, for the first time in my life, I could count on my family to help me.”
Another long silence stretched between us before Matt smiled. I was confused at the gesture, and when he looked at Liam, he smiled, too. Wide smiles with glinting eyes, and I had no freaking clue what that meant.
“You’re ours, alright. Just like your sister,” Matt finally spoke. “How the hell did you girls learn how to wrap us around your fingers like that?”
Relief flooded through me as I leaped into their arms and hugged them both. “Thank you.”
“But we talk to him first,” Liam said. “We need to make sure he understands what happens if you get hurt.”
“Of course.”
I turned and walked back toward Nikolai, my brothers following close behind me. As I got closer, I saw the white-knuckled grip on his gun, the tension in his hard expression, the pulsing vein on his neck.
Without hesitation, I took his hand.
His fingers crushed mine immediately, holding on like I might vanish, like I’d been gone for an eternity as he pulled me into him and kissed me.
“They’ll help,” I whispered softly against his lips.
“Ahem.” Liam cleared his throat.
Nikolai’s eyes reluctantly left mine to settle on my brothers. “Will they?”
Matt stepped forward, his hand outstretched. “Matteo Battaglia.”
“I know who you are.” Nikolai’s voice was flat, his gaze dropping to his hand before climbing back to my brother’s face.
“Be nice,” I nudged Nikolai, watching as he released an almost imperceptible sigh and shook Matt’s hand.
“Nikolai Volkov.”
It was like asking a pair of kids to make up after a fight in the sand pit. Petulant little mobsters.
“I know you came to take her from me.” Nikolai started.
“She’s our sister. There was no scenario where we wouldn’t come for her.”
“She’s mine. There’s also no scenario where I’m allowing her to leave my sight. Any attempt to change that and what I did to Viktor will look merciful.”
“You hurt her, we come back and bury you in your own house.” Matt’s voice was as deadly as his stare.
“Noted.” Why did I sense some growing respect?
“My brother, Liam.” Matt gestured to his right, while the rest of the men approached. “Max. James. Jimmy.”
At Jimmy’s name, Nikolai’s entire body went rigid. His eyes locked onto Jimmy, the rumbling in his chest filling my ears.
“Jimmy.” The way he said his name made my stomach drop. “I think my bullets have had the pleasure of meeting you before.”
“Watch it,” Jimmy warned.
“You failed so completely, I walked out of your own city with her slung over my shoulder." Nikolai’s arm tightened around my waist. “And now you’re here. Playing hero.”
“We were trying to save her from a monster,” Jimmy replied, his voice tight with restrained rage.
“Trying.” Nikolai’s smile was cruel and taunting. “Meanwhile, I was keeping her safe. Keeping her warm. Keeping her in my bed.”
“Nikolai,” I warned, squeezing his fingers that were still laced with mine. But I knew what he was doing. He was jealous because I cared about Jimmy, and this was him asserting his territory.
I should hate it, being treated like a piece of property, but for some reason, this obsession of his, this need to tell the whole room that I’m his, to be the object of such possessiveness made my core flutter and my pussy pulse.
Nikolai ignored my weak warning, his eyes still on Jimmy. “Tell me something. Does it bother you? Knowing that now that you’re finally here, she’s choosing to stay in my bed?”
“And just because you coerced her into doing that, you think she’s what, your girlfriend?” Jimmy mocked, and every muscle in Nikolai’s huge body tensed.
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
My stomach dropped; those words stinging so much more than I would ever imagine they could. I swallowed dryly, fighting against my urge to push away from his tight grip. But then Nikolai continued.
“Girlfriend suggests it’s temporary, and I don’t want to get your hopes up. She’s mine, utterly and completely. She’s my everything. And you're nothing.”
“You son of a bitch.” Jimmy started forward, but Liam grabbed his arm.
“Enough.” Matt’s voice cut through the tension. “We’re not going to fight. Our mission was to keep Adrianne safe, and if that means a truce and a momentary alliance with the Bratva, that’s what we’re doing. Got it?”
“Yes, Don Battaglia.” Jimmy replied between gritted teeth.
The animosity was thick enough to taste.
“Your father’s forces,” Matt said, clearly forcing the conversation forward. “What do we know?”
Nikolai’s gaze swept over all of them one more time before he nodded. “Come. We’ll discuss this properly in my office.”
While Adrik directed my brother and his men to his office, Nikolai turned me to face him, cupping my face and kissing me once again.
His tongue swept over mine in lingering strokes meant to brand, leaving me lightheaded when he pulled back.
“I want you in my bed, Babochka.”
“I’m not leaving you alone with them.”
“Yes, you are. I won’t be able to focus on the plan if I’m focusing on you. On keeping you out of their reach. I promise you I won’t kill any of your brothers.”
“I’m not dumb. I see right through that wording of yours. I’ll leave you to it, but not before you promise me not to harm any of them. Including Jimmy.”
Nikolai exhaled, rolling his eyes before consenting, “Okay, fine. As long as they behave, they’ll be unharmed.”
“Promise?”
He pulled me against him, bruising my lips with his demanding kiss before whispering, “I promise.”