Bratva Bride (Bratva Series Book 1)

“Yoo-hoooo,” Vincenzo sang, knocking repeatedly on the door. “Is it safe to come in or are you two still humping like bunnies?”

Arturo rolled his eyes and got to his feet, tucking himself back in his pants and doing up his belt. I pulled my underwear back up and stood on shaky legs, my tattered clothing falling away from my body.

Now that we were no longer going at each other, I took the time to look around the room. We were in a large bedroom, easily three sizes bigger than my room back in Vegas. There was a certain dark vibe emanating from the space, like something you’d feel if you were standing in the middle of the devil’s den. It had a king size four poster bed with luxurious black sheets and dark ebony furniture scattered throughout.

The enticing spicy scent lacing the air made it clear that it was Arturo’s bedroom. Well, my room now too. My suitcases were sitting right next to the bed.

Dressed in nothing but a bra and underwear, I stared down at my ruined clothes and pursed my lips, glancing back to Arturo.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “You asked for it.”

“I’m pretty sure I specifically asked you not to do it,” I snarked, glaring.

He raised a brow. “Careful with that attitude kotenok, or we’ll be right back on that floor, and I’ll fuck it out of you.”

My eyes lit up with excitement. “Promise?”

He took a step toward me, a dark look on his face and the door burst open.

Vincenzo strolled in and froze when he saw me, a low, long whistle coming out of his mouth. I wasn’t the overly shy type but standing in front of my brother-in-law basically naked made me a little uncomfortable.

Arturo shielded me with his body, scowling at his younger brother. “Turn around,” he snapped, eyes hard.

Vincenzo rolled his eyes and gave us his back. “No need to get all pissy, we’re all family here, right Illayana?” He peaked over his shoulder.

“Move another muscle and I’ll cut your eyes out Vin, I swear to God,” Arturo warned, and Vincenzo spun back around quickly.

Arturo led me over to a walk-in closet and pulled out a black silk buttoned up shirt. “Put this on,” he barked.

I arched an eyebrow. “Don’t get snippy with me. It’s your fault I’ve got no clothes.”

“Put. It. On,” he growled, impatience dripping from him.

“Alright, alright.” I quickly slipped the fabric over my skin. Even though he was taller than me, the shirt barely covered the goods, coming to a stop mid thigh.

“Is the coast clear now? Can I turn around?” Vincenzo asked.

Arturo responded by coming over and lightly pushing him in the back. “What do you want?”

I moved to my suitcases and started sifting through them to find something more appropriate to wear as Vincenzo spoke.

“Thought you’d wanna know I just got a call from Mario; he caught some little shit selling on our territory again. He decided to leave him be and tail him. He followed him to a drop house on the edge of the city and it was being guarded by Franco’s men.”

Arturo growled. “Are you sure?”

Vincenzo came over with an iPad and handed it to his brother. Arturo flicked through the images on the screen. “These are the photos Mario managed to get of the men. I cross-referenced them with the information I’ve been able to gather so far on Franco and there’s a few matches. One of them-” Vincenzo leaned over and clicked the iPad. “-this guy, is one of Franco’s Capos, Benito.”

I pulled out a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt, setting them on the bed. I came over to Arturo’s side and glanced down at the screen.

Benito was a beefy guy, with huge thick shoulders. He had short dark hair, light olive skin and a paedophile moustache.

Darkness flashed in Arturo’s mix-matched eyes. “Call the men, we’re moving our plans up. I want them here and ready in thirty minutes.”

Vincenzo blinked. “You wanna hit them during the day? You sure that’s wise? We don’t have anyone in Chicago PD, so we’ve got no one to cover for us.”

“Then we better be long gone before the cops arrive.” Arturo handed the iPad back and flicked his head to the side. “Go on.”

His brother nodded. “Leave it with me.” And then he left.

I looked at Arturo. His body was tight, tension rolling off him in waves as he stared off into space. His jaw was clenched, hands balled into fists at his side.

“Hey,” I whispered, running my fingers through his hair. “You okay?”

He took a deep breath and exhaled, some of the tension seeping away. “I will be once I put that fucker Franco in his place.”

“He’s been stepping into your territory a lot?”

“Yes, we’ve been killing off his dealers every time we find them selling in our territory, but dealers are a dime a dozen. There’s always people out there willing to sell drugs for a little extra cash.

I took his hand and sat him on the bed, moving behind him to massage his shoulders. He groaned and leaned into the touch. “What’s your plan?” I asked, loving the feel of all that hard, toned muscle beneath my fingers.

“We’re going to hit him where it hurts. Vin’s done some research and found out which of his businesses make the most cash. Of course, we’re talking legal tender here, not the shit he makes under the table. But by taking out his legitimate businesses, it’ll be harder for him to launder his money.”

Smart. It would be a real ‘fuck you’ to the asshole.

“Have you met him? Franco?” I asked, moving a little lower. His muscles flexed under my hand.

“No, and I don’t fucking want to, not unless I’m about to slit his throat.” He cracked his neck. “He’s smart, intuitive. He’s managed to do more damage in the week that he’s been Don than Nero did during his whole leadership.”

“I’ve noticed he’s a lot more organised than Nero was.”

Arturo glanced over his shoulder at me, his brows raised.

I smiled. “We’ve been keeping a close eye on him, too. The work he did on that MC gang in Chicago?” I blew out a whistle. “Gotta admire the guy’s style.”

Arturo grunted, turning back around. Tension still rippled from him and I wanted desperately to make it disappear, but I didn’t know how.

I sighed. “About Gabriella-”

He groaned, his head falling forward. “Illayana-”

“No, just hear me out. I understand where you’re coming from, that if you’re not seen protecting your people it could be bad for you. But you need to understand that if she keeps acting the way she’s acting, I’m going to put her in her place. I’m just warning you.”

He stood and loomed over me. He gripped my face, slipping his fingers into my hair and tilted my head back until I was staring right into his eyes. “I love when you get all bloodthirsty,” he murmured against my lips.

I smiled. “Good, because that’s 99% of my personality.”

He chuckled and nipped my bottom lip before pulling back. “Come on, get dressed. We’ve got to get moving. It’s time Franco realised who he’s fucking with.”

When we pulled up in front of Trattoria’s, the restaurant owned by Franco, my heart pounded so hard with excitement and adrenaline I could barely sit still.

Arturo was planning this offensive attack as retaliation for all the shit that the Outfit had pulled in his territory. One of which was the murder of one of his Capos, Gabriella’s father and several of their dealers. He was after blood, and he wasn’t going to leave until he got it.

On my left, Lukyan pulled out his gun and checked the chamber. Adrian did the same, an evil look on his face.

“Alright, listen up,” Arturo barked, demanding the attention of everyone in the car. His voice rang through the small space as well as in the earpiece in my ear, and all eight of us looked at Arturo, listening intently. “This is a quick in and out, no fucking around. We need to be long gone before the cops show up. When you get inside, light the fucking place up. This is Franco’s main restaurant, everyone inside is one of his so I don’t give a fuck what happens to them. But I want at least one left alive. We enter through the front and leave out the back, where another car will be waiting to take us away.”

A laptop sat in Arturo’s lap, showing a surveillance feed of inside the restaurant. There were about twenty patrons inside – all men, with a few women as waitstaff. I took a second to familiarise myself with the layout. It was basic; filled with circular tables and a long bar that ran the length of the entire side wall. In the back was a kitchen and there was a restroom tucked away on the right.

Arturo put his phone to his ear. “Vin, are you ready?”

Vincenzo was a few blocks away, prepared to hit one of Franco’s strip clubs at the same time we hit the restaurant. His orders were a little different. The place was a front for where Franco made his drugs. Vincenzo was to break in and set the entire place on fire, torching every ounce of it.

It was late afternoon. There were a few people walking down the streets heading for their destinations without a clue of what was about to happen. It made me twitchy. Pulling something like this in broad daylight with witnesses was risky, but I guess that’s why Arturo wanted to do it. Franco would not be expecting it. And Arturo wanted to make a stand, show him that he wasn’t going to hide and just take the disrespect that Franco was giving him.

Arturo hung up after Vincenzo responded and leveled his gaze on Lukyan and Adrian. “You two are to stay by her side the whole time, got it?”

Lukyan glared. “You’re not the boss of me, man.”

Arturo punched him in the face, breaking his nose.

“Ow! Fuck!” Lukyan cried, cupping his now-bleeding nose.

“I’m not in the mood for your attitude, Lukyan. Either you listen to my orders, or you can fuck off and I’ll get someone else to watch her back. You hear me?”

Lukyan scowled, blood dripping down his chin. “Loud and clear,” he spat, eyes burning with anger. “Asshole,” he muttered under his breath.

Arturo looked at Adrian. “We going to have the same problem?”

Adrian shook his head. He was a firm believer in the proper chain of command. He would follow Arturo’s orders to a tee. Unless it was something compromising my safety. Then all bets were off.

“I don’t need them to guard me, Arturo. I’m fine,” I said, adjusting my grip on my gun.

Arturo just stared at me, darkness vibrating from him.

Alrighty then.

“On my count. Three…two…one…move.”

We sprang out of the car and covered the few metres to the restaurant in seconds. The second we stepped through, gunfire rained. Men shouted, reaching for their weapons and ducking under cover. Women cried, running for their lives. It was complete and utter mayhem, and I loved it.

Lukyan and Adrian stayed glued to my side as we manoeuvred our way over to a table and flipped it over, using it to shield our bodies. I jumped up, took aim and fired, clipping a guy in the shoulder a few feet away. There was movement to my right and I swerved, catching sight of someone hiding beneath a table, a gun in his hand.

“Adrian, on your right.”

Adrian swivelled and fired twice without missing a beat. We moved, staying low in a tight formation with Lukyan in front, me in the middle and Adrian taking up the rear. Furniture and broken glass laid on the path before us, making it harder to move as we made our way towards the back. Every now and then we’d pop off shots at people in our line of sight. Some would hit their target, some would miss.

The noise was deafening, the constant bang, bang, bang of bullets being fired ringing in my ears. The cries of people screaming in pain were coming at me from all sides, bombarding my senses.

Someone rammed into me from the left, knocking me down. My gun flew across the ground and I cursed. The heavy weight of a body fell on top of me and I swung hard, punching him in the centre of his chest with all my strength before he could do anything else. He grunted and recoiled back slightly but stayed straddling my thighs, leaning over me. I locked my fingers around his wrist, sat up over his shoulder, reached under his arm with my other hand and held on tight to my own wrist. I reared back, locked his elbow to my body and twisted, breaking his arm.

He screamed and I let him go, rolling backwards to land on my haunches. A foot came flying towards my face and I just barely managed to get my forearm up to block it. The power of the blow was devastating, pain flaring through me, but I ignored it and grunted, shoving him back. I plucked a knife from my waist and flung it like a throwing star. It hit him in the throat and he tumbled to the ground.

I spun, looking for my brother. Lukyan was on his back a few feet from me, wrestling with someone who was trying to drive a knife into his chest. Blood poured from a cut on his forehead and his face strained as he tried to gain the upper hand. I leapt over broken furniture and dead bodies and delivered a solid roundhouse kick to the guy’s face, smashing his nose and breaking a few of his teeth. He fell back, a cry of pain falling from his lips, and Lukyan took advantage, grabbing the knife and ramming it into the guy’s heart.

His eyes found mine and he nodded his thanks.

A hand gripped my shoulder and I turned, bringing my knee up at the same time to knee them in the gut but they blocked me, almost anticipating the blow.

Adrian smirked. “Gotta move faster than that malen’kiy (little one), if you want to get one over on me.” He was breathing hard, splattered with blood, but other than that he seemed okay.

I smiled. “Sorry, it’s the adrenaline of the fight.” I moved back and scanned my surroundings.

The fight was over. The once beautiful and elegant restaurant was now completely destroyed, with pieces of broken furniture all over the place and bullet holes through the walls. Blood seeped out of the lifeless bodies littering the floor, pools of it beginning to form around me.

I checked the time on my watch. Six minutes. All this destruction had only taken six minutes.

“Where’s Arturo?” I asked, slightly breathless.

Adrian pointed back towards the kitchen and I looked up to find Arturo’s eyes already on me. Relief flashed across his face and he beckoned me towards him with a flick of his fingers.

I headed his way, taking long, deep breaths to recentre myself. Adrenaline still pumped through my body, my heart thumping like mad, and I worked to slow it down.

In and out. In and out.

When I stepped into the kitchen, Arturo marched over to me and kissed me, his eyes blazing with the rage of battle. He gripped me hard and lifted me off my feet, deepening the kiss, his tongue stroking against mine. His taste exploded on my senses and I moaned, loving the feel of him on me.

Someone coughed and I pulled back, my mind foggy. Arturo ran his tongue over my lips once more before putting me back down on the ground.

No words were said. There was no need. He was happy to see me unharmed.

I was surprised he even wanted me to come on this mission. And when I said that to him before we left, he just smirked at me and said, “People need to see my Queen in action.”

He grabbed my hand and led me over to a man on his knees, surrounded by cooking utensils and food scraps. His clothes were torn and his face dripped with blood as he glared at us.

Arturo walked right over and rammed the butt of his gun into the guy’s face. His head flung back and he cried out. Vincenzo was right there, keeping a solid grip on his arm so he didn’t fall on his back.

“Two minutes,” Vincenzo said, looking at his watch.

Arturo lowered to his haunches until he was eye level with the only man left alive from the Outfit. “I want you to deliver a message to Franco for me,” he said darkly, danger and violence dripping from him. “Tell him the King and Queen of La Cosa Nostra are only just getting started.”