The War (Bratva Blood #2) - S.R. Jones Page 0,92

looks soft. Big doe eyes, clouds of pale blonde hair, and a petite figure. She’s not soft, though. Deep down she’s got a core of steel within her. It’s a core of steel I don’t know if Cassie has. I think Cassie is soft. Vulnerable to the harshness of the world. That’s okay, though, because I’ll be her steel. I once told her, hard protects soft. Now I’m going to prove it to her every day.

I’m nervous and excited as the clock strikes four. I want to show her what she means to me, and I know that for Cassie designer clothes or fine jewels won’t work. One day soon I’ll be buying her diamonds, on a ring. I’m going to propose to this girl in the next couple of months. First, though, I want her grandparents here with us, so we can all celebrate together. For now, this gift is the best thing I can think of giving her. A rescue dog that needs a loving home.

That’s my woman. That’s who I love. Someone who will be more touched to take in a needy creature than to get thousands of euros worth of clothes or jewels.

I look over to where she’s sitting in the shade, chatting with Violet.

The two of them get on well, which is a relief. I imagine for a brief moment bringing Liza here, and I shudder. What did I ever see in all those vacuous women?

My phone buzzes, and I glance at it to see a text from Michael. He’s got an interview, it says, with one of London’s top investment banks. I smile. Typing back, I tell him I’m proud.

He and Lucia delayed the wedding. They decided they wanted to wait and get married after the baby is born. He swears they’re still in love and happy, but they want to take it slow. Make sure it’s right. I don’t think Bianchi senior was too happy, but I don’t care what that fucker thinks so long as he treats Michael right. The day he stops, Michael has a place here.

The buzzer sounds from inside the house, telling us someone is at the gate. Andrius grins at me, and he and I set off down the drive. He’s packing, of course. One of us always is, and there’s now an armed guard at the gate twenty-four-seven.

Cassie eyes me curiously as I walk by her, and I shrug. “Delivery,” I say.

When we reach the gate, the pet taxi is idling, the driver chatting to Maurice, the guard on patrol this afternoon.

We chat for a while, and then the man opens the back of the air-conditioned van and hands me a lead. On the other end of it is the most beautiful dog. Gulliver. So named because of his travels.

He was found in Romania but with a collar from Bulgaria. When the rescue called the number on the collar, they were told the person who had lived there was dead. They didn’t know anything about a dog. So Gulliver stayed in Romania while he received treatment for malnutrition and other health issues.

You’d never know his hard start looking at him now. He’s a beauty. Only two years old too. He jumps down out of the van easily and greets me with a whole body wiggle.

“She’s going to cry; you realize that, right?” Andrius says.

“Yeah, she is. But good crying I can deal with.”

We head back up the drive, Gulliver dancing by my side as I walk toward the woman I love.

When Cassie sees us, the happiness in her face is worth all the money in the world.

She stares at Gulliver, her eyes wide. She claps her hand over her mouth and comes over to me. “Who is this?” she asks, her eyes alight with excitement.

“Don’t you recognize him?” I ask. She probably doesn’t now because he looks so different compared to the wretch she saw on Facebook.

She frowns. “No, but he’s beautiful. Is he … is he staying here?”

“Baby, this is Gulliver. The dog from the Romanian rescue you wanted to give a home to.”

She makes an odd sound, a cross between a sob and a laugh, and then she bends down and opens her arms. “Gulliver? Is that you? Oh, you look amazing. Come and say hello, boy.”

I let go of his lead, and he runs up to Cassie as if she’s his long lost mother. He wiggles around her, his tail thumping, his tongue lolling out, and she hugs him to her. Sure enough as she holds him, she starts to cry.

Violet comes over, and Gulliver leaves Cassie for a moment to go and say hello to her.

Cassie throws her arms around me and gives me a wet kiss. “Konstantin Silvanov, this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much. Thank you.” She hugs me, and she’s all warm, and glowing, and happy.

She’s my sunshine, and I’m never letting her go.

Epilogue Part Two

Bohdan

I stare at the image on the screen in front of me. Outside it’s bright and sunny. The guys are around the pool. I love it here. I love that Konstantin let me come stay with him, Cassie, Violet, and Andrius. As if I’m family. The business isn’t up and running yet. Reece comes and goes, but I stay with them, helping out with the plans as best I can.

Joyful laughter reaches me, and normally it would warm my heart, but today it doesn’t. Today that sunny, happy outside world seems a million miles away, not just through the kitchen door. I’m watching the cameras I’ve had set up in Dasha’s house, courtesy of Damen and a fuck-ton of begging and pleading on my part for him to find someone to do this for me.

On the screen in front of me is Dasha. Tiny, petite, red-haired Dasha. She’s on the floor. The piece of shit who is her husband is dragging her over hard, uneven stone in their kitchen by her gorgeous red hair. She’s crying out in pain, and I wince as if I’m being dragged over those stones myself.

Her husband is Jasper Felix. He’s her manager and her abuser. I get no satisfaction in knowing my gut instincts were right. The man is a monster.

He aims a half-assed kick at her naked buttocks and leaves the room. “Get cleaned up, showered, and presentable; we have guests this evening.” With those words, he leaves her alone.

She curls in on herself and sobs quietly.

That sound. My God. It tears me apart.

I’ve spent so many years hating her, I’d forgotten how much I loved her. I don’t know what I want with her. Whether I want to punish her, absolve her, despise her, or love her, but I know I want to save her from this.

I had a long talk with K last night. Told him all about Dasha and me. The whole sordid story. He was surprised I don’t want to leave her to her fate. The thing is, I can’t. Somehow this girl is part of me. Always has been, if I’m being honest. Every woman I fucked, I imagined Dasha watching with pain in her eyes. Every kill I made, Dasha was there, fear etched on her face.

When I counted my money, I imagined her wide eyed and impressed with what I’d made of myself.

Her damn ghostly presence influenced every fucking thing I did. She’s been a passenger in my life all these years, and now? Now, I’m about to come crashing back into hers.

It seems there have been threats made against her recently. Threats that may, or may not, have originated from me. Those threats have her husband beside himself. It seems no one gets to threaten his little cash cow except for him.

Dasha, the world-famous ballerina, of legendary beauty and extraordinary grace. The girl who came from nothing to wow the richest in the world. Her story is a fairy tale, only her prince charming turned into the frog.

I’ve been monitoring her and her husband’s communications with the help Damen gave me. The piece of shit is trying to find some help to defend against these threats. Help that someone in his close circle will provide when they give him the name of an excellent close protection firm. The most highly trained soldiers in the world, they will tell him. They aren’t truly operational yet, but I know the man who runs it. Let me talk to him, see if he can spare someone.

Of course, that someone will be me.

I’m about to save Dasha from her hell, but I don’t know if I’ll simply be plunging us both into a new one.

Thank you so much for reading. To read Bohdan’s story and see more of K, Cassie, Andrius, and Violet, as well as Gulliver, you can pre-order The God, Bohdan’s book. Info here: https://skyejonesauthor.com/

MORE BOOKS BY SR JONES

RAW HEROES SERIES

RAW

HARD

FAST

DEEP

RAW HEROES BOX SET

BRATVA VOWS SERIES

THE TRAP

THE GIFT

THE HIT

MAFIA VOWS SERIES

THE CONTRACT

THE DEBT

THE PROMISE

THE PLEDGE

THE BETRAYAL

BRATVA BLOOD SERIES

THE SOLDIER

THE KING

THE WAR