Page 83 of Trapped By the Bratva
I winced. “I didn’t intend to worry you. I thought I could come and pay her to leave, and that would be that.”
“No. You’re too damn good to ever see the bad in anyone. She wouldn’t ever stop trying to get what she can from you.”
I glanced over my shoulder as she was taken away by the cops. “No. I think I’m finally done with her. For good.” She deserved to be arrested and charged for all her wrongdoings. I’d never recoup the damages from how she’d treated me and abused me for so long, but I didn’t need closure with her. Simply knowing I wouldn’t have to see her ever again was plenty.
Dmitri struggled once we were outside, though. He continued to glance at the car where Avilov was pushed into the backseat. He seemed to need that sense of closure, and I wondered if he would resent not being able to kill the man.
Another Valkov soldier led the way to a car, and I stayed plastered to Dmitri’s side all the way there. He was bitter, so quiet and angry, and I didn’t know what to say.
Sorry that I made you worry and rush after me?
I figured he’d bring backup when he did.
It’s not my fault that my sister got the Avilovs involved.
She followed me and snooped. I never told her anything.
I have no clue what Sergei meant when he saw me arrive.
I guessed that he and Avilov had teamed up to get me away from the Valkovs, but those details weren’t anything that I had to know right now.
Don’t be mad that you can’t kill that man. He’s done. He’s gone.
I wanted him to be relieved and happy, free to just be with me.
But he remained gloomy and annoyed the whole drive back to the house. With every minute that passed, I grew more worried about telling him that I was pregnant. It weighed on me, more so in this car ride because the guard driving wore a cologne that nauseated me.
He’d already said he wanted to wait to have kids, while I didn’t.
Now, we might be facing that sort of a future sooner rather than later.
And I can’t tell whether you’ll be mentally ready to actually accept me in your life now that your chance of seeking revenge is gone.
28
DMITRI
As soon as we got back to the mansion, I led Hannah to my room. She was quiet, maybe too quiet, but so was I.
I needed a moment or two to process all that had happened.
Her going off without any concern about her safety… Didn’t she realize how important she was to me? It was a grave issue for her to be so relaxed with her security.
Then her willingness to pay off her sister. When would she get it that Melissa didn’t care about her? I had to make her see reason and not let her get in the position to be taken advantage of ever again.
And Avilov. A lingering pang of disappointment bothered me, but it wasn’t so much of an obsession as an afterthought.
It was over.
I wished I could’ve paid him back in kind for what he’d done, but it wouldn’t erase the fact that it had happened.
I glanced at Hannah as I opened the door to my room, curious why she was so skittish now. It had to be a lot for her to accept. She’d witnessed my brother shoot a man dead. She faced off with her sister, realizing—once again—that the bitch had manipulated her.
Hannah wanted to be loved and to belong. To matter. I’d never forget how she’d told me that one day how she figured she didn’t matter. I hated the thought of her feeling so unworthy, and I vowed to remind her that she was from the moment I woke up until the second I fell asleep.
She was giving up her former life to start one with me, and I understood that it would take time. The process of becoming my partner wasn’t a simple shift. And I hoped she would want to stay regardless of all the troubles and danger.
“You can’t do that,” I said, caging her against the closed door.
