Bratva Prince (Bratva Series Book 2)

Someone was attacking. I had no idea who. I had no idea why. All I knew was there was a small force currently making its way through my house, and they weren’t here with peaceful intentions.

From what I could see on the cameras, they were all wearing black jumpsuits. No masks. Some had guns, others had knives, machetes or axes. I wasn’t sure how many of them there were, or how’d they had managed to get all the way up to the house without an alarm being raised. That was all shit I’d have to figure out later. Right now, I needed to eliminate the threat and find my family. Make sure they weren’t hurt.

As I walked out of Drea’s room, I quickly pulled out my phone and fired off a text in our WhatsApp group chat that held all of our soldiers. It was one character. Just the explosion emoji. That was all that was needed. Every one of our men knew what that message meant. It meant we were under attack, and we needed reinforcements. It would take roughly ten to fifteen minutes before anyone would arrive. I needed to clear as much of the house as I could before then.

I took slow, measured steps down the hallway, my gun up, eyes sweeping over everything as I listened out for the tiniest noise. So far, everything was coming from downstairs. There were hollers and whoops. People cheering followed by loud banging, like they were trashing the place. There was screaming and crying. People calling out for help.

We had three maids that permanently lived at the house, as well as a few that rotated in and out on a day-to-day basis. Someone was obviously hurt. It made me grind my teeth together. These fuckers were going to pay big time.

Creaking reached my ears. Someone was walking up the stairs. I plastered my back to the wall and dropped to one knee, taking aim. I leaned around the corner. Two assailants, both armed with guns. I waited, lined up the shot and fired.

The first guy’s head exploded, the bullets ripping through his forehead and out the back of his skull, spraying blood all over the wall. I moved an inch to the right and fired again. The second guy dropped just like the first.

Bullets smashed into the wall I was using as cover and I jerked back. Shit. There was someone else there, but they weren’t in my line of sight. I’d have to move to get a clear shot.

The gunfire suddenly stopped, the click, click, click that followed telling me they were out of bullets. Now was my time to strike before they were able to reload.

I went to move when the door to my right opened, making me pause. Dayton walked out, his head darting side to side in alarm, like he wasn’t sure what was going on. What all the noise was about.

Another pair of those stupid fucking headphones hung around his neck, which was probably why he hadn’t heard what was going on until right then.

The world slowed around me. Dayton was right in the line of fire. If he didn’t move before whoever was on the stairs reloaded, he’d end up dead.

I ran for him at the same time a new stream of bullets unleashed. I dove, tackling Dayton to the ground in the doorway. Pain flared from my arm, but the intensity of it told me it wasn’t serious. More than likely just a graze.

Dayton screamed as wood rained down all over us, bullets shredding through the door like it was made of paper.

“Stay low!” I barked, trying to shuffle him further into the room. “Move it!”

Dayton army crawled along the floor, me staying close behind. “What’s going on?!” he yelled.

I didn’t bother answering. The events taking place were pretty self explanatory. We were under fucking attack. I didn’t need to clarify that for him.

The gunfire stopped. My ears rang inside my head, the sudden silence disorienting. “Under the bed. Go, now,” I whispered harshly.

Dayton didn’t hesitate. He crawled under.

I ran for cover. We had only minutes at best before whoever was shooting came looking for us.

Sure enough, not even forty-five seconds later, I heard them. Three different voices whispering to each other. Three didn’t make me nervous, but I’d have to be smart, dispose of them quickly before they had the chance to use their numbers against me.

The broken wood crunched under their feet as they cautiously stepped into the room. I took deep, quiet breaths, my hands tightening around my MG3 machine gun as I peeked around the side of the couch.

Three men dressed in black jumpsuits began to spread out into the room. One had a gun, the other two an axe and machete. They weren’t wearing masks so I could see their faces, but I still wasn’t sure who they were. Something to be figured out later.

I needed to take the guy with the gun out first. He was the biggest threat. I stayed low, moving around the couch as the men moved further and further into the room, so I ended up behind them instead of in front.

I jumped up and let loose a spray of bullets, hitting two of them in the back, but the third managed to dive out of the way just in time, taking cover behind the bed. Dayton’s screams could be heard over the gunfire and I lifted my finger off the trigger. I didn’t want to risk hitting him.

The guy jumped to his feet and threw his axe. I turned my body to the side, the axe scraping across the top of my bulletproof vest as it whistled past me and buried itself deep into the wall.

Fuck. That was a close one.

The guy charged me, picking up the dropped machete off the floor at the same time. He swung hard and I brought my gun up to block, sparks flying at the contact. I kicked him in the chest and he flew back.

I dove on him before he had the chance to get back up, wrapping my legs around his arm in an arm bar. I squeezed, putting unrelenting pressure on his arm and the bone snapped. He screamed, his legs kicking out wildly.

I pulled a knife from my ankle holster and stabbed him in the head. The screaming stopped and all the fight vanished from him.

I rolled to my feet, tugging on the strap around my shoulder until my machine gun was back in my hands.

“Dayton, let’s go,” I grunted, taking out the magazine and replacing it with another. He slowly crawled out from underneath the bed, his eyes red and puffy, tears streaming down his face. His eyes landed on the knife sticking out of the guy’s head and he vomited.

I walked over to the bedside table, putting a bullet in the other two guys’ heads on the way. I had to ensure they were dead before I left, otherwise I ran the risk of them coming up on me from behind. When I pushed the button underneath the bedside table, the bookshelf on the right opened, revealing the safe room behind it.

There was one in each room of the house. When my father built this house for my mother, he built in a few extra things; trap doors in the floor, hidden passageways in the walls and safe rooms. He was paranoid before my mother was murdered. Her death just exacerbated that trait.

I put the code into the keypad and the door unlocked. I pushed it open and gestured for Dayton. His eyes were wide as he took in the room, much like Drea’s had been. “Don’t come out until I come for you, you hear me?” I said, shoving him inside. “Don’t open this door for anyone you don’t know. Stay. Here.” I didn’t wait for him to say anything. I didn’t have the time. I walked out, shutting the heavy metal door behind me.

I rushed out of the room, keeping my gun up as I moved through the hallway and down the stairs. I stepped cautiously, picking where to place my feet with each step. I knew this house better than anyone. I knew where all the kinks were, knew where to step so the staircase didn’t creak. So I could move silently, stealthy.

I reached the foyer and paused, listening carefully. I had a clear view of the lounge to my right and it was empty. I went left, moving into the dayroom. I fired on the first fucker I saw. He was bent over the body of one of our soldiers, ramming a knife into his gut with a sadistic smile on his face.

Someone came running in from the hallway, swinging an axe at my stomach. I used my gun to block, pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the shoulder. He cried out in pain, dropping the axe. I yanked out the blade, flipped it into a reverse grip and slashed it across his throat.

My instincts screamed at me to move and that’s when I heard the footsteps behind me. I pivoted to the side, narrowly missing the thrust of a knife. I kicked the blade away and it clattered to the ground.

He backed up a step, putting his fists up. “You’re a big fucker aren’t you?” he laughed, dancing on the balls of his feet like some prime time boxer. “I take you down and all the boys will think I’m the man. So let’s go big boy. Show me whatchu got. But I promise you, I know some moves. I’m a black belt in karate and I’ve been known to dabble in MMA. Come on, let’s get it on.”

I pulled out one of the handguns from my chest holster, aiming it right at his head. His eyes widened in shock. Did he really think we were going to have some big macho showdown? He’d broken into my house with a gang of armed men. Like fuck I was playing this game.

“You talk too much.” Was all I said before I shot him clean between the eyes.

As he dropped, someone else walked in from the entrance that led into the kitchen. The machine gun in his hands made me curse.

I spun and ran for the lounge room. He opened fire and I dropped, skidding on my knees as I grabbed the wall and used it to fling myself around the corner. Without losing speed I jumped to my feet and darted for the mirror. Pressing my hand to the reflective surface, it popped open and I squeezed inside, just managing to hide myself in the hidden passageway before the guy with the machine gun followed behind me.

I held my breath as he walked past, the two-way mirror giving me the ability to see out but not allowing him to see in.

There was no way anyone was killing me in my own goddamn house. I knew this place like it was the back of my hand. For years, Father would surprise my siblings and I at all times of the day and night with drills where we had to work our way through the house and outside while dispatching anyone we came across. We’d use the hidden trap doors and passageways to our advantage, which is exactly why he had them built in the first place. If someone decided to attack us, we would have the upper hand.

Once the guy with the machine gun walked past, I slipped out silently and sneaked up behind him. My hand slapped over his mouth, silencing his scream as I rammed my knife into his back. It went under his rib cage, through his lung and into his heart. He slumped against me and I lowered him to the ground.

Quickly checking over his weapons, I decided what was worth taking and what wasn’t before moving on. I swept the rest of the downstairs area, coming across the dead bodies of our guards and one of our maids. She mustn’t have been able to get to the safe room in time.

I moved through the kitchen, my eyes sweeping outside through the glass sliding doors as I moved fast and proficiently. Someone came running at me from the left and I shot him in the chest. Another guy charged me from the right, his fist flying towards my face. I reared back, avoiding the blow, and smashed the butt of my gun into his nose. He cried out in pain, falling back. I shot him in the heart.

Pain shot up my spine as someone tackled me from behind. I flew forward, crashing into the kitchen table with a grunt, the weight of another body holding me pinned.

I swung an elbow back, connecting hard and pushed away from the table, turning quickly to face my new opponent.

A nasty gash cut through his eyebrow, blood pouring down his eye. He picked himself up and stared me down. He had balls, I’ll give him that.

I aimed my machine gun and fired.

Nothing happened.

Fucking out of bullets. Should have kept count.

I unclipped the strap around my shoulder and let the gun fall to the ground. I only had enough room to pack one extra clip for it, so with no more bullets it was nothing but dead weight.

The man charged me, throwing a vicious right hook. I ducked under his swing, wrapped an arm around his and flipped him onto his back, stabbing him in the chest the moment he slammed into the ground.

Someone ran in from the right. I yanked my knife out of one body and impaled it into another, hurling the blade across the room and into the guy’s throat.

Pain exploded in my shoulder. I growled, my teeth grinding as I felt a blade slice through my skin. I kicked out behind me, smashing my foot into the guy’s knee and forcing him back.

I ignored the pain coursing through my body and went after the little fucker. I ran, faked left and spun right, coming up behind him to wrap my arms around his neck. I lifted him off the ground, his legs kicking out in panic as I squeezed.

The click of a gun being loaded made me stiffen.

“Let him go!” someone yelled.

I glanced over my shoulder. Standing in the entranceway to the kitchen was a guy holding a shotgun, the barrel pointed right at me. His eyes darted around the room, taking in all the death and carnage, and he swallowed nervously. The gun shook in his hands.

I slowly turned to face him, lowering the guy in my arms so his feet touched the floor. I kept my grip tight around his neck, just giving him enough to draw breath.

“I said let my brother go!” the guy with the shotgun screamed, pointing the weapon at me aggressively.

Brother? That worked to my advantage.

I used the guy in front of me as cover, curling my body inwards so I hid as much as was possible behind his smaller frame. I needed a second to think about my next move. Based on the way the shotgun trembled in his hands, Nervous Nelly wasn’t a confident shooter. If he was, he likely would have tried to take me out already. But it was clear he was afraid of hitting his brother too, so he was resorting to posturing and threatening.

The guy in my arms wheezed, his face no doubt turning purple from the lack of oxygen. All it would take is one tight squeeze and he’d be dead.

“You-you let him go or I swear I’ll shoot you!” Nervous Nelly shrieked, his shotgun shaking through the air so much I was afraid it might accidentally go off. “I’m going to give you until the count of three before I blow your fucking brains out! One! Two! Thr—” his words cut off abruptly as he cried out in pain, dropping to his knees.

Standing behind him was Drea, her hair drenched in blood, a truly dark and savage look on her face. Two curved blades were in her hands, the same ones from up in the safe room she was meant to be inside. She was splattered head to toe in blood. On her face, arms, all over her clothes. She looked like a vicious little attack dog. Bloody and brutal.

She leapt onto Nervous Nelly’s back and rammed her blades into his chest over and over again, stabbing him all over in quick, deep punctures like a woman possessed with a need for death.

The guy in my arms screamed and cried. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he flailed against me.

I snapped his neck and dropped him to the ground. I marched towards her. “I told you to stay in the safe room.”

“I think what you meant to say—” she exhaled heavily, pushing a strand of bloodied hair out of her face as she straightened from Nervous Nelly’s dead and mangled body. “—was thank you.”

I gripped her by the hips and lifted her off the ground, bringing her to eye level. Her feet dangled loosely in the air. She didn’t fight me, her hands curling around mine as best they could with the weapons in her hands.

I smashed my lips to hers in a brutally punishing kiss, pushing my tongue deep into her mouth. I groaned at the feel of her, the taste of her. She was so unbelievably sweet. I kissed her like I couldn’t survive without her, like she was my everything. Because she was.

I bit her bottom lip before pulling back. “Thank you,” I murmured, placing soft, little kisses over her lips. “Thank you, malyshka.”

She gave me a beaming smile. Then her eyes widened in shock. “Fuck, Aleksandr! You’ve got a knife in your shoulder!”

Did I?

I turned my head, seeing the hilt of blade sticking out of me. Oh, that’s right. That fucker stabbed me. I’d completely forgotten about it. Adrenaline did a lot to mask pain.

I hefted Drea up higher, wrapping her legs around my waist. “Pull it out.”

“What?! Are you crazy? We need to leave it in there and get you to a doctor!”

I repositioned her on my hip, reached back and yanked it out myself. I hissed through my teeth at the pain, throwing the knife away. It clattered on the ground.

“Aleksandr!” She climbed over me, her stomach digging into my other shoulder as she leaned around to get a good look.

“Relax. It’s a flesh wound. I’ll be fine.”

“Maldito idiota.” You fucking idiot, she chastised, pulling back and shaking her head.

“Aw, isn’t this sweet?”

My whole body stiffened at the deep, baritone voice that filled the air. I slowly lowered Drea back to the ground, keeping her body close to mine as I turned to face the new threat.

Recognition flared through me the moment I laid eyes on him. It was the man I’d seen in the café with Rayna. I’d recognise that long, scraggly mop of hair anywhere. Men swarmed into the room a moment later. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Where the fuck were they all coming from?

They surrounded us, forming a loose circle around Drea and I. They each held a weapon of some sort in their hands—a knife, axe, machete, pipe, crowbar, baseball bat. The only one with a gun was Scraggly Hair.

I sized up my options, trying to figure a way out of this mess. My brain ran a mile a minute going through all the different scenarios. I had three knives and two handguns left. Drea had a knife in each hand. Maybe she had other weapons hidden on her, I wasn’t sure.

The odds were stacked against us either way.

Scraggly Hair rested his AK-47 on his shoulder, a taunting look on his face. “Take him alive,” he said, pointing directly at me. “Kill the bitch.”

That’s going to cost you your tongue.

One of the men laughed, licking his dirty lips. “I want to fuck her first.”

“Since when does a woman need to be alive for you to fuck her?” the guy on his left chuckled.

“Good point. Dibs on her body.”

I kept tight control on the anger thundering through me at their words. Getting pissed off would do nothing but hinder me and help them. I had to keep calm, even though I wanted nothing more than to smash their fucking faces in for even thinking about touching Drea.

All in good time.

“Get them,” Scraggly Hair ordered.

When they ran towards us, I front kicked a guy in the chest and then rear kicked another one with the same leg in a fast double touch. I whipped out my gun and managed to get two shots off before someone whacked it away. My body went into autopilot, attacking and defending as knives, baseball bats and axes came swinging towards me.

Drea darted around like the Flash, using her small stature and quick speed to dart in and out, slicing and dicing. She never let herself get too close, maintaining a safe distance away from whoever she was attacking as she ducked and weaved, her curved blades carving into flesh as she ran past.

I threw an uppercut and the man’s head snapped back. Drea ran past and kicked him in the stomach. Then she was off again, running circles around me, lashing out at anyone coming at me from behind. She stayed close, ducking under my leg when I threw a kick, or crouching under my arm when I threw a punch. She was like a snake, her movements swift and fluid as she bent her body like a contortionist to work around my strikes.

I blocked a kick to the head, yanked out a knife and stabbed him in the thigh and then the chest in two quick blows. I spun, hurling the blade through the air. It sank deep into another man’s throat, his body flying back from the force of the blow.

A fist came flying towards Drea’s face. I gripped it in my palm and twisted it. He cried out in pain. Drea sliced her knife across his stomach and I headbutted him.

We worked in tandem with each other, like we’d done this a thousand times before when in reality, this was the first time we’d ever fought alongside each other. You wouldn’t know it by looking at us though. Drea and I were perfectly in sync, feeding off one another and using our strengths to cover each other’s weaknesses.

Drea threw both her knives, impaling one of the blades deep into one man’s chest and the other into another man’s leg. She looked over her shoulder and winked at me.

Of course the woman would be enjoying herself.

She tapped her back and it only took me a second to understand what she wanted.

I gripped the back of her shirt tightly and spun her through the air. Her foot smashed into a man’s face as she hollered a war cry, blood and teeth flying.

Someone rammed into me with the force of a car. Drea’s shirt slipped through my fingers as I smacked into the wall. Swift punches to my kidneys made me grunt out pained breaths. My eyes widened when I saw a fist from another attacker coming right for my face. I yanked my head to the left and the fist went into the wall right where my head was a second ago.

I was still being pinned to the wall by the man who tackled me, his fists driving into my ribs and making pain explode inside my body as the other man wrenched his arm out of the wall and prepared to hit me again.

A knife burst through his forehead, the tip of the blade staring me right in the face as blood splattered all over me. As he fell I glimpsed Drea in the background, her hand still hovering in the air from when she’d thrown the blade.

Panic set in when I saw someone creep up behind her. I wrapped myself around the man who was holding me to the wall and spun us to the floor in a quick Jiu Jitsu move, holding him in a Rear Triangle Chokehold, my legs curled around his neck. I yanked out my last knife from my ankle holster and sent it flying. The blade whistled through the air and lodged itself firmly in the shoulder of the man sneaking up behind Drea.

I twisted my legs, breaking the man’s neck. I got to my feet, fists up and eyes running across the room for the next attacker, but there was none. All that was left was Scraggly Hair, his eyes burning with rage as his gaze swept across the dead and bloody bodies of his men on the floor.

He pointed his machine gun right at me. “I don’t give a fuck if he wants you alive, I’m gonna fucking kill you,” he hissed, pulling the bolt back and arming the weapon.

He?

Drea moved to my side and I pulled her behind me, using my body to shield her from Scraggly Hair’s line of fire. She tried to fight me on it, but I kept my grip on her forearm tight and unrelenting.

He was too far away to try charging him. I’d be dead before I even made it one step. The look on his face was one filled with anger and vengeance. He wanted me dead. Fine. But I had to think of a way to give Drea a fighting chance.

“I’m going to shoot you and then fuck your woman on your dead fucking corpse,” Scraggly Hair threatened, the gun shaking in his hands from how enraged he was. “Maybe I’ll keep you alive so you can watch first, huh? Watch her take a real man’s dick. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He tried to look around me to see Drea, but I stood taller, not allowing his eyes to even glimpse her.

The hilt of a blade hit my palm. Drea passed me one of her knives. I gripped it tightly. I just needed one opening.

“Yeah, we’re gonna have a good time,” Scraggly Hair continued, unzipping his pants. “I think a bullet to the stomach should do it. It’ll take you a few minutes to die from that, so you can writhe in agony while you watch me fuck—”

Bang!

Scraggly Hair choked, his eyes shooting wide open as blood seeped out from the centre of his chest. He looked down in disbelief, his body swaying before he fell face first onto the ground.

Behind him stood Dayton, a handgun shaking in his hands, smoke billowing upwards from the barrel. His face was frozen in shock, his eyes plastered firmly to the man he’d just killed.

Did no one in the house fucking listen?

I couldn’t be too angry though. He did just save my life.

Drea stepped out from behind me, taking in the scene quickly. “Go Dayton!” she cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

The smallest hint of a smile touched Dayton’s lips.

“Yes, yes, good job,” I said, rolling my eyes as I walked towards him. “Now, give me that thing before you—” my words died as a knife plunged straight through Dayton’s throat.

Shock paralysed me. For a moment I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. All I could do was stand there, my eyes wide as I took in what just happened. All I could see was the look of pure pain on Dayton’s face before he fell to his knees. I ran for him, catching him before he hit the floor. Drea went after the guy who’d stabbed him while I held Dayton in my arms, looking down at him in disbelief.

What the fuck just happened?

The blade went right through his larynx. Blood poured out of the hole in his throat quickly, forming a puddle around us.

Fuck. FUCK!

My hands shook as I tried to figure out what to do. How to save him, even though I knew it couldn’t be done. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes, his mouth opening and closing like he was trying to speak.

“It’s alright kid. You’re going to be fine. Try not to talk.” I ripped fabric from the sleeve of my shirt and tried to apply pressure to the wound, but it was hard. The harder I pressed, the more he choked.

Blood seeped out of his mouth, spilling down his chin. “I…don’t…want…to…die,” he cried softly, each word a struggle to get past his lips.

My heart fractured. “You’re not going to die. You hear me? You’ll be fine. It’s okay. I-I’ll fix this.”

How? How can you fix this?

Nik and Lukyan appeared, bloody and bruised, helping Drea carry the guy who’d stabbed Dayton. I briefly noticed Tatiana was there, too.

“Fuck,” Lukyan exhaled, looking down at Dayton.

“Call the doc,” I barked. The fabric I held to his wound was completely drenched in blood. There was too much blood. I couldn’t contain it.

Nik’s eyes darted from my hands to my face. “Zander.” He knew what I knew. What I was refusing to allow myself to believe. There was no saving him.

“Call!” I roared, my anger climbing. It was building higher and higher, the pressure getting too much to hold back.

Dayton gripped the front of my shirt like a newborn clinging to their mother, tears streaming down his face. “Please,” he choked out, “…hurts,” he gasped. His breathing turned into painful pants, small whimpers falling out of his mouth. His eyes were wide, his body trembling. I’d never seen him so scared before. He was looking to me to save him. To make it all better. To make the pain disappear. To protect him.

Guilt, pain and anguish gripped me hard, squeezing my heart. I felt helpless, like I’d failed him.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I repeated it over and over again, like the more I said it the more chance I had of it being true.

Dayton’s cries never eased. He cried right up until the moment he took his last breath.