Chapter 42
“That’s my woman, the love of my life, and you can’t fucking marry her! She belongs with me! Mila, don’t do this!”
There. I’ve said my piece. Now, regardless of what happens, I’ll know I left everything on the table, and there’s no room for regret. Except I’m in the middle of this goddamn church with hundreds of people staring at me, and…guns?
Oh, fuck me. I’ve barged into a giant Russian Bratva wedding uninvited? But why weren’t there guards at the door? I didn’t see a soul outside. I just walked right in.
Maybe I should apologize? Ask to speak to Mila privately? That’s it, I’ll just beg her to hear me out one-on-one, then…
The world goes hazy as smoke fills the chapel. My ears are ringing, and it’s fucking pandemonium in here. Gunshots, explosions, and general sounds of destruction rattle the glass of the windows, and I drop to the ground behind a pew.
My instinct is to hide, not fight, and as a bloody body falls over the pew next to me, bile rises in my throat. I’m not making it out of here alive. And Mila…
Fuck! Mila!
I scramble for the far end of the pew, avoiding the aisle where the most action seems to be, based on the screaming. I have to get to her, but I’m fighting upstream from the crowd heading for the exits. And stepping over more bodies every minute.
The smoke is clearing now, and I focus on the front of the church, hoping to steal a glimpse of a puffy white gown. Or maybe she’s escaped already, and I can at least rest easy or die happy knowing she’s safer than here.
Before I can decide whether to try to get closer to the altar or to cross and make sure I haven’t missed Mila on the other side of the aisle, I see her.
She’s in white, but it’s not the poofy gown from earlier.
Only the bodice remains, ripped and stained with blood that doesn’t appear to be hers. At least not with the way she’s moving.
She’s terrifying. Her bodice may be white, but she’s wearing black tights strapped with knives.
Either she knew something was bound to happen today or she’s always prepared.
Knowing her, it’s probably both. Moving closer to the front pew, she’s evading capture and leaving chaos in her wake. Nobody’s shooting at her, though.
They’re sure as shit still shooting at me, and I duck as a bullet passes close enough that the wall where it hits sends debris into my face. Something’s in my eye, and I fall to the ground as the sound of the fighting escalates. Fuck, I’m not sure how I can get out of here.
“Get up, solnyshko!”
I can barely see, but only one person has ever called me that. My savior wrenches me up from the ground and immediately lays into me.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Were you planning to lie on the ground and die? I know how strong you are. Even if your eye doesn’t work, your legs do. Up!”
The sniffle escapes before I can help it, but I’m just so goddamn happy. That’s my woman. If she thinks I can get up, I can.
“Do not cry right now, Thatcher.” She moves us toward a side door I hadn’t seen, hidden behind a recess near the front of the church.
“Well, pardon me for being happy to be rescued by the love of my life minutes after I found out she was marrying someone else! What the actual fuck, Mila?”
“You have to be fucking kidding me.” She drops my arm to reload her handgun, then shoots someone blocking us at point-blank range. Lifting me over the body like a toy, we continue. “This is really not the time to—”
“I think it’s the perfect time. I fly to Russia thinking there’s no way the—”
I’m interrupted by an idiot who thinks it’s a good idea to try to engage me in hand-to-hand combat. Mila deftly parries his knife away from me, then adds one of her own to his heart, kicking him away and pulling me again.
“It’s a ruse, solnyshko. Fucking hell. You think all this is happening because you interrupted the wedding? No, these are my men taking out the head of the snake once and for all. It was planned, and the marriage was never going to be legal, so for God’s sake, let’s move.”
“You don’t—”
She shuts me up with a harsh, hot kiss, reclaiming me as thoroughly as if we were standing at the altar ourselves.
“I love you too, by the way. Now please, please follow my lead so I can get you out of here.”
“Me? You mean us, right?”
“This is my fight, solnyshko. Mine and Misha’s and Ivan’s. Blanche is somewhere with a machine gun, fighting for our side of the family. Teddy’s here too, hopefully sticking close to Misha. I’m not going anywhere.”
We stand for a tense few seconds, and I feel like I’m on the verge of a breakdown.
I just got her back, and she loves me. Me!
And now she wants to stay in the midst of this battle…
I want to kidnap her. Hide her away from the world so she’s safe.
But that’s not Mila. People should be hiding from her.
“I’m not leaving you,” I whisper. As much as I wish my voice was stronger right now, I’m terrified. “I refuse to leave you, even if I can’t necessarily help.”
The flash of indecision in her eyes makes me think she might force me to leave, but finally she sighs and pulls me back toward the front of the church. She plops me down behind the altar, unleashing a hidden latch and pointing at the door she’s just opened in the side.
“This is bulletproof and fireproof, so please stay in here. I’ll come for you, Thatcher, I swear. Promise me you’ll stay?”
“How the hell did he manage to fall asleep in there?”
“Well, I imagine it was pretty muffled, and he had a long flight.”
“Yeah, party foul, by the way, man. Leaving him with no explanation at all? Poor Sunshine.”
“Hey, you gave me barely any warning! My pregnant wife was my main concern, not that I don’t love Thatcher like a brother, but—”
“I can see why you’re so smitten with him, dear. He’s a fine specimen. Ivan, he reminds me of our pool boy, don’t you think? Just with less hair down there—”
“Wake up, solnyshko. Float out of your dreams and come back to me.”
That voice, not grating like the others, makes me want to try to open my eyes. My neck hurts, and I don’t know where I am…am I naked?
Fully awake now, I try to stand, only to whack my head on the top of whatever oven of a box I’m in. I can see Mila through a small door, though, so I do my best to crawl through, basking in her smile and the fresh air once I’m out.
I plop down on my back, stretching all my muscles that have been bunched up for what must have been hours, and remember where I am. Shit, I slept through the entire end of the battle? Based on Mila, Teddy, Misha, Ivan, and Blanche all staring down at me, things must have gone in our favor.
Everyone seems to be holding back laughter, though, and Blanche’s eyes are focused far south of my own.
A breeze tickles a very sensitive spot just as Teddy speaks up.
“Thatch, brother. Why the hell are you naked?”