Page 73 of Obsession of the Bratva

He raised his weapon, but I shot him twice before he could pull the trigger or even comprehend what was happening. Once in the chest. Once in the face. The bullet sliced right through his heart and brain and his body collapsed before me.

I kept staring at him, breathing hard. I wanted to keep shooting. I wanted to destroy everything. I wanted to make sure no one remained standing. If they had hurt my Vera, I was going to find every single one of them and kill them. I was going to make sure they suffered.

Because Vera was bleeding. Because she was lying unconscious on my floor. Because someone had dared to touch what was mine.

“Nico.” Viktor stepped beside me. “They’re contained. The situation outside is under control, and the breach has been managed. Most of their men have been dealt with.”

I looked around, realizing the attack was over. Bodies littered the safe room and the corridor, and probably the rest of the house, including the gardens. Smoke drifted through the damaged doorway, and several of our guards and soldiers were also injured. Two were dead. But the attackers were finished.

Every single one.

“Adrian?” I asked Viktor, hoping to God he was dead. I had never wanted another person dead more than I wanted Adrian.

“He escaped,” Viktor sighed. “He was shot in the leg and immediately turned around and ran away. I spotted him.”

The bastard was still alive. The information made me want to tear the entire city apart, but the good thing was that it also meant that I would be the one to kill him. I wanted to look him in the eyes before strangling him to death.

“It’s okay. We will find him,” I replied, my focus returning to Vera. I turned back toward her and immediately dropped beside her again. “Get the medical team here now.”

“They’re already on the way.”

Viktor nodded once and then disappeared. I looked down at her, and the world narrowed again. Not completely, but just enough. Enough to make everything else feel distant and unimportant. She looked pale. Too pale. A lock of dark hair had fallen across her face. Without thinking, I brushed it away. The movement felt strangely intimate amidst the blood and destruction.

Almost absurd.

My chest tightened. Just a few hours earlier, we’d been arguing. She had been in my arms. A few hours earlier, she’d looked at me and told me she didn’t want to leave. I still hadn’t figured out what to do with any of that information. I still hadn’t figured out why hearing it had shaken me so badly. Now none of it seemed complicated. Only terrifying. Because for one horrible moment, I’d thought she was dead. And that feeling, that single second, had nearly destroyed me.

“Wake up, Vera. Please.”

I scooped her unconscious body in my arms and carried her out of the safehouse and back towards the master bedroom. Everyone around me was already securing the safehouse, and bodies were being picked up. My men were trained enough to clean up the situation within minutes, so I wasn’t worried about anything. I knew the situation was under control, except for Vera.

“Nico,” Viktor’s voice reached me just as I placed Vera on the bed. “The medical team is here.”

“Bring them in.”

They had arrived six minutes later, but it had felt like an eternity anyway. Every second. Every fucking second felt like Vera was being dragged away from me. I needed her to get better, and I needed her to get better soon. The lead physician knelt beside Vera immediately while his team began taking out supplies from medical bags. They were all mafia doctors and didn’t even bat an eyelash at the bloodbath around us.

“Move,” the old man commanded, his gaze on Vera.

I didn’t, and he finally looked up at me. Carefully. Very carefully.

“Mr. Romanov, I need room to work. I know you are worried, but you know you need me.”

I stared at him as he held my gaze. To his credit, he didn’t flinch. He had probably spent a long time dealing with hot-headed idiots like me who were refusing to move from beside their girlfriends or wives. He remained unfazed by my death stare, and I had to give in. Eventually I stepped back. Only two steps. No more.

The examination began. I watched closely as he checked her blood pressure, her pulse, her neurological response, and finally the wound assessment. I winced as they tore off her sleeve to expose the bullet graze, and I realized her entire arm was coated with blood. The doctors worked efficiently and professionally, but I hated every second of waiting.

Finally, he looked up at me. “The bullet grazed her upper arm. It passed through, so the injury is minor, but she has lost a lot of blood. Despite that, she is going to be fine.”

The words hit like air returning to my lungs.

“Are you absolutely certain, doctor? Do we need to arrange blood?”

“No, no. She’s lost blood, but not enough to threaten her life. Her body will be able to make its own blood once she is all patched up and better again.”

I looked at Vera, who was still unconscious and frighteningly still. “When will she wake up?”

“It can be a few hours.”