Savage Bratva War

Chapter 1

Cara

I’m filled with a tidal wave of relief when I finally hear Dmitri return around three in the morning.

When he told me that he had to go investigate a casino on fire, dread churned in my stomach. All I could think about was something going wrong and losing him.

The love of my life.

The father of my baby.

I take a deep breath as my hand rests on my stomach, my eyes staring up at the ceiling above me as I lay in bed.

I can’t sleep. How can I after what I just found out?

Of course, a part of me knew deep down that I was pregnant, but the test confirmed it. I’m carrying Dmitri’s child, and I need to tell him. Now that I know, I can’t bring myself to hide the truth from him.

But my stomach still twists with nervousness at the thought.

What if he gets angry? What if he doesn’t even want children? What if this breaks us apart?

Dmitri should know, even if that means the end of us. If I have to, I’ll just have to do this alone.

Then another scarier thought occurs to me, the thought that really guts me: what if what they did to me cost us the baby?

When the early morning sunlight finally streams through the windows of the penthouse and I hear Dmitri making coffee in the kitchen, I get out of bed and wrap my silky robe around me. There’s no point in waiting any longer.

I walk out of the bedroom and down the hallway, my bare feet quietly moving over the polished wood.

Dmitri still hears me and looks over his shoulder when I walk into the living room. “Did I wake you?”

I shake my head. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Dmitri frowns. “I’m sorry. I’ll make you a cup of coffee.”

“No, thank you,” I tell him. My stomach turns at the smell, which is…new.

Dmitri’s brow furrows in confusion, but he nods and fixes his own cup of coffee. “The casino was destroyed last night.”

“I’m sorry,” I say as I slowly move around the kitchen island toward him.

Dmitri shakes his head as he stirs sugar into his coffee. “Wasn’t my loss, but it seems more and more like someone is waging war against the Bratva.”

“The Italians?”

“Maybe it wasn’t only Italians,” Dmitri says. “You’re sure you heard other accents?”

“I can’t place them, but they didn’t all sound like Italians,” I tell him.

Dmitri hums under his breath in thought. “I’ll probably call Andrei today and see if we can find any more information on what happened last night. Maybe we’ll find a lead.”

He doesn’t sound all that confident.

“Dmitri…” My throat tightens. “I need to tell you something.”

Dmitri’s eyes meet mine. “What is it, milaya?”

I lose my voice as I stare at him, tension winding around my throat. God, why can’t I just say it?

Suddenly, there’s loud pounding on the front door, along with agitated voices outside.

“What the hell?” Dmitri grits out as he abandons his coffee to hurry to the front door. He yanks it open just as I make it to the foyer, revealing Luca shoving off Mark and Denis. “Luca?”

The Italian turns to Dmitri, his eyes red and wide. “It’s my sister—Elena. Paolo took her!” His voice cracks and my lips part in shock.

“Come in,” Dmitri replies as he motions for Luca to get inside before shutting the door. “What the fuck happened?”

“Elena was at a nightclub last night in New York City with some friends. They said two masked men grabbed her and threw her into a van!” Luca explains in a rush, his voice shaking.

“I just got a photo of her tied up with the message Give yourself up or lose her from a number that I don’t recognize. ”

“Give me the number. I’ll have my guys look into it,” Dmitri tells him as he takes his phone out.

Luca hands over his device with the message conversation pulled up. “It’s Paolo. I know it’s him. He’s trying to fuck with me now that Enrico is dead!”

Dmitri fires off a text message to one of his men before handing Luca his phone back. “We’ll get her back.”

“You’ll help me?” Luca breathes out, his eyes glistening.

Dmitri places his hand on Luca’s shoulder. “You helped me save Cara. Of course I’ll help you save your sister.”

Luca nods, relief written all across his face. “I didn’t have anyone else to turn to. My sister is the only one I’m close to in my family. I don’t know where the hell he would even take her!”

“I’ll get us a private plane to New York City and bring some of my men. Wheels up in an hour,” Dmitri tells him before turning to me. “I’ll have Mark and Denis stay here.”

I immediately shake my head as my throat tightens. “Don’t leave me behind. I-I can’t be so far away from you again.”

Dmitri frowns like he can see the fear in my eyes. He then lets out a sigh and nods. “Fine. You’ll come, but you won’t get close to any danger, and you’ll be guarded at all times.”

I nod, my heart thundering in my chest. I can’t bear the thought of being over 2,000 miles away from him. I’m not ready for that kind of distance yet.

“Let me make some calls. We’ll think of a plan on the way,” Dmitri says before hurrying to his office, leaving Luca and me behind.

I walk over to Luca and gently place my hand on his arm, seeing the fear and concern glistening in his eyes. “What’s her name? Elena?”

“Elena,” Luca confirms with a bittersweet smile. “She’s my little sister. Even when everyone else turned their backs on me, she didn’t. She secretly kept in contact with me, but…I guess Paolo found out.”

I rub his arm, hoping that we can find her before it’s too late. If Elena is being treated anything like I was, she isn’t doing well right now. “We’ll find her. Is there anyone in your family that might not be loyal to Paolo?”

Luca scoffs. “They’re all afraid of him. So many of them turned on me when he ordered it. They won’t go against him.”

“Think of someone. Anyone who might be willing to feed you some information,” I urge him.

“I have a cousin who gives me updates every once in a while, but she can’t get access to anything like this.” Luca sighs.

“Who else? Who cares about your sister enough to betray Paolo?” I question him. It sounds like he has a big family. There must be someone.

Pain ripples across Luca’s face as his eyes meet mine. “Our mamma.”

“They turned your own mother against you?” I ask him.

“She’s always been scared of them. They were awful to her,” Luca replies. “But they’ve kept her close. Not because they care but because they treat her like a servant. Cook, clean, run errands.”

“She might have overheard something,” I say.

Luca nods before frowning. “I doubt she’ll talk to me, though.”

“We have to try,” I tell him. “Maybe she will for Elena.”

Dmitri steps out of his office with a leather bag hanging on his shoulder. “We need to head out now. The plane will be ready for us soon.”

“We’re ready,” I say as I give Luca a small nod. My eyes meet Dmitri’s. “We might have the beginnings of a plan.”

After an almost five-hour flight, we finally land in New York City just past noon.

Dmitri, Luca, Isaak, Ivan, Mark, and I file out of the private plane and split up into two rented SUVs before heading into the city.

“My cousin passed a message to my mamma telling her to make up an excuse to go to the store. She’ll be at one of the small corner stores that my family owns,” Luca reports from the passenger’s seat.

“Is that smart? Won’t there be other family members there?” Dmitri asks.

“Maybe just another cousin or two,” Luca says. “But if she sides with us, they will too. Hopefully.”

Dmitri’s face stiffens with uncertainty, but we’re already here. We have to keep going.

The two SUVs make their way through the city and park down the street from the small store.

“Let me come. I can keep her talking. I can… be useful,” I tell Dmitri.

Dmitri narrows his eyes, looking like he wants to argue.

“Bring her. Cara is around Elena’s age. She might soften my mamma’s heart,” Luca tells him.

Dmitri looks like he wants to shoot Luca, but he finally nods. “At the first sign of trouble, you will run. Understand?”

I nod quickly, not wanting him to change his mind. If I can, I want to help. Luca risked his life to save me. Dmitri said he gave him the list that had Enrico’s name on it, the first real lead they had which helped them find me.

Together, the six of us leave the SUVs and enter the store through the private back entrance, stepping into a small hallway at the back of the store.

“Stay here. I’ll get her,” Luca says, gesturing for us to stay put before sneaking out of the hallway. A gasp tears through the air a minute later, followed by the sound of struggling and rapid footsteps.

Luca stumbles into the hallway with his hand secured over the mouth of an older Italian woman with short, slightly graying hair and a thin figure. “Stop, Mamma! Just listen to me!”

She finally quits thrashing around, but her eyes are narrowed. “Luca!”

Luca motions for her to be quieter. “I’m here to rescue Elena. I know that you heard what Paolo did!”

His mom’s eyes immediately start watering, but her body remains stiff and guarded, especially as she spots us.

“They’re friends,” Luca assures her. “They’re here to help me find her. Don’t you want Elena back safe?”

“Of course I do!” his mom snaps, voice full of emotion. “I can’t believe this. You can’t be here!”

“Paolo wants me to turn myself in, but he’ll kill me and her both. I need your help if I’m going to save Elena,” Luca urges her. “You must’ve heard something about her.”

His mom swallows hard as she warily looks behind her. “No, I haven’t.”

I frown and begin to lose hope.

“But I clean. I hear things. I know where he keeps his prisoners,” she says, sounding pained.

Luca steps closer to her and takes her hands, making her tense up even more. “Tell me. Please, Mamma.”

A tear breaks from her eyes as she gazes at her son. I can see the love in her eyes that she has for him, but I can see the fear too. Paolo and Enrico have done a number on her.

“The abandoned liquor store. The one he owns. There’s a basement,” she says in a hushed voice. “He keeps prisoners down there, but I don’t know how many guards are there.”

Luca kisses her on the cheek. “I’ll save her. I’ll bring her back to you.”