Chapter 20 #2
“I love him too,” I quickly add, hoping it might be enough to get my brothers to see reason.
Misha just gives a slow nod while Yuri says, “I thought we explained things to you, Damien.” He looks over at Misha. “I mean, I felt like we made things very clear, don’t you?”
“We did,” Misha says. “Very fucking clear, I thought.”
“If I was just fucking around with her, it would be different,” Damien says.
His thumb brushes my leg where he’s still gripping me, trying to comfort me while my brothers track his every movement.
Misha’s jaw hardens while Yuri’s hand disappears behind his back.
I know Damien sees it, but he doesn’t back down.
“I want to marry her. She’s the only woman I’ve ever been with, and I love her and want to marry her. ”
Misha ignores everything that Damien just said and looks at me. “Go home, Sitka.”
“The hell I will,” I say, gripping Damien even tighter.
Without a word, Yuri pushes off from the tree and starts to circle around us. Damien steps to the side, refusing to let him get behind us, but Misha starts walking in the other direction, the two of them circling us, making it impossible for us to get away.
“What are you going to do?” I ask them, panicking and for the first time in my life, I worry about what my brothers are capable of.
This side of them has never touched me, but it’s about to.
I’m on the receiving end of it now, and it’s terrifying.
I’m not worried they’ll hurt me. They would never do that, but what about Damien?
“Misha,” I say, trying again. “Would you just stop and listen to us? Let’s all go and talk to Mom. She’ll help you understand.”
“Mom knows?” Yuri asks.
“I just told her, and she’s fine with it,” I turn my head, wanting to keep both of them in sight.
I know my words have backfired, when Misha says, “So this has been going on for a while then?”
This time when Yuri takes a step closer, I see the knife in his hand. “You’ve been sneaking around and lying to us this whole time?”
I’m not sure if he’s asking me or Damien, but I ignore everything as I stare at the deadly-looking blade. “Yuri, please put the knife away. I love him, and I swear to you I will never forgive either of you if you hurt one goddamn hair on his head.”
“They’re not going to hurt me,” Damien says, and unlike me, he doesn’t sound scared at all.
Yuri grins and huffs out a laugh. “We’re not? You sure about that?”
“I am,” Damien says. “It’d be an act of war against the most powerful Bratva in America.”
“Second most powerful,” Misha corrects, and then it’s Damien’s turn to snort out a laugh.
“Whatever you say,” he tells them. “It would be war, and it would tear your family apart.”
“Stop talking and come with us,” Yuri says. “We need to talk, just the three of us,” he adds, giving me a pointed look. “Go the fuck home, Sitka.”
When I don’t move, he looks at Damien. “My brother and I are going to get you out of these woods and take you somewhere we can talk. I don’t want to hurt my sister, but if you fight us, there’s no guarantee she won’t get accidentally hurt.”
“Jesus Christ, Yuri,” I yell at him. “If you get that knife anywhere near us, I’m going to scream bloody-fucking murder. Have fun explaining that to dad.”
Misha takes a step closer. “I think when we explain that Damien was just fucking you like a goddamn animal in the woods, he might see things our way.”
“Oh my god, you saw us?” I ask, mortified for so many reasons.
He raises a brow and shakes his head. “No, but you just confirmed it. Go home and let us take care of this.”
Damien’s fingers tighten on my leg before he says, “It’s okay, Sitka. Go home to your mom. I need to talk to your brothers.”
“No,” I start to say, but he whips me around, putting me on my feet in front of him before I can try and stop him. He cups my face and leans in close.
“It’ll be okay. I promise. Just go home and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Proving he really isn’t scared of my brothers, he closes the distance and kisses me. It’s deep and the heat of it helps chase away the chill that’s seeped into my bones.
“Fucking enough,” Misha growls, but Damien takes a second to press his forehead to mine.
“I love you, and I’m going to marry you,” he says while I fist his shirt, refusing to let him go.
“I love you too,” I tell him.
Yuri grabs his arm, but Damien pulls it free. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
The look on Yuri’s face has me clutching Damien tighter, fisting his shirt until my fingers ache.
Turning back to me, Damien says, “Call Max and tell him what’s happened.”
I try to keep him with me, but he grabs onto my hands and gently pulls them away before taking a step towards Yuri. When I try and lunge for Damien, Misha wraps an arm around my waist, holding me in place.
“Let me go!” I yell at him.
“I will in a minute. Just calm down, Sitka.”
I look up at my oldest brother, and the anger I feel shocks me to my core. I’ve never been so mad at him, never felt so betrayed and hurt by him, and whatever he sees in my eyes has him looking away, watching as Yuri and Damien walk down the trail to Misha’s truck.
“I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that,” he says. “We’ve always told you what we’d do if someone dared to touch you.”
“This is different and you know it,” I say. “Damien isn’t some asshole just trying to get into my pants.”
“Maybe,” he says. “We’ll find out soon enough.”
Grabbing my arm, he walks with me out of the woods and then lets me go so he can walk to the truck. I chase after him, but he’s faster and stronger than me, and when he shuts the door in my face, I pound on the door and scream that I’ll never fucking forgive him if he hurts Damien.
He ignores me and drives off. I stare after the black truck, too shocked to do anything else, but seeing Damien get further away from me, sends a rush of terror through me that snaps me back to the present. Grabbing my phone, I call Talia.
As soon as she answers, I say, “They took Damien.”
My voice is shaking and I can barely catch my breath.
“What? Who?” she asks, before quickly hollering for Max.
It’s his voice I hear next. “What happened?”
“My brothers know, and they took him,” I say. “I don’t know where. They just left in Misha’s truck.”
“Fuck,” he growls. “We’ll find him. Just stay where you are.”
Hanging up, I turn on my heels and take off running for the cabin. As soon as I see the light up ahead, I pick up my pace, sprinting for the door. Bran won’t hear me knock, so instead I barge in and start flicking the lights like crazy while I stomp my foot against the wood floorboards.
Bran sits up, looking over the back of the couch to see what the hell is going on, and when he gets a good look at my face, he jumps up and signs, What’s wrong?
I sign as fast as I can, giving him a quick rundown of what’s happened. When I stop, he signs, I’m going to get him. Go to your mom, and I’ll text when I can. He’s going to be okay, Sitka. They won’t kill him.
That doesn’t make me feel better, I sign back, feeling like I’m going to vomit while a thousand different scenarios run through my mind, many of them far worse than death.
I’ll find him, Bran signs again.
Grabbing my hand, he pulls me out of the cabin, running with me back to my house. He lets me go when we get to the garage. Grabbing the bike he’d been using earlier, he starts it up and signs, Go inside and wait. It’ll be okay.
I nod, but I’m not convinced and he knows it. There’s no time for him to try and make me feel better, so he doesn’t. He does exactly what I need him to do and races off down the driveway, not giving a single fuck that the bike isn’t street legal.
In a daze, I run back home to my mom. I scare the hell out of her and Nyx when I barge in through the front door, slamming it behind me while I yell for her to help me.
They both jump up from where they’d been sitting on the couch.
Nyx is at my side in seconds, whining and nudging my thigh with her head.
She doesn’t calm until I drop to the floor and wrap my arms around her, letting her see that I’m alive and unhurt, on the outside at least. The inside is a different matter.
“What’s wrong?” my mom quickly asks, dropping down beside me and cupping my face, forcing me to look at her. “Why are you so muddy? What happened?”
Tears blur my vision when I tell her what happened. “Damien and I took a walk,” I say, refusing to elaborate, “and when we came out Misha and Yuri were waiting for us. They took Damien, Mom.”
“Jesus,” my mom says before standing up to grab her phone. “Does anyone else know?”
“I called Max, and I ran to get Bran before I came here.”
“Okay, good. Max will make sure Ev and Luka know what’s going on, and Bran will keep them in check until your dad can get there.”
“He doesn’t know where they went.” I keep my arm wrapped around Nyx, taking comfort in the feel of her sturdy body against mine. “Will Dad really stop them?”