Page 22 of The Bratva's Bounty

Biting my bottom lip, I let out a deep groaning as I vigorously rubbed her clit with my hand to keep her on that edge of mind-shattering pleasure. "Fuck, that's it,zhizn moya, don't stop." I only pulled my hand away to deliver a few slaps to her twitching cunt, making her moan and gush with each impact. "Come on, one more for me," I practically begged as I put my mouth andtongue back to work, pushing her until her body tensed under me one last time and her rush of juices filled my eager mouth.

"Oh, fuck…" Nicole's body shook with her sob as she came crashing down.

Quickly, I stood up and grabbed her. Holding her tightly, I stroked her hair while whispering sweet nothings to her in Russian. "Thank you." I pressed a tender kiss against her forehead.

Once she felt steady, I let go to put her back together. "God, you're going to make it impossible for me to get rid of you if that's what you can do." Nicole chuckled dryly with a lopsided smile.

"Then don't get rid of me," I quickly remarked, holding back the wince that wounded my heart.

Giggling, Nicole scratched the back of my head, making me groan internally and roll my eyes. "Well, you're certainly going to make it impossible," she teased. "I just… Things are kind of complicated with me right now, and I don't want to drag you into my mess." A tired sigh dragged out of her slumping shoulders.

"Does it have to do with your parents?" Probably a stupid question, but I had to make sure.

Nicole chuckled dryly and nodded her head before flashing me a flat smile. "But it's my mess to deal with, so don't try to butt in." Her voice hardened a little, but I could hear the exhaustion behind it.

"No." Cupping her face, I looked at her tenderly and smiled defiantly. "Your problems are mine too,zhizn moya."

Pressing my lips against hers, I held the passionate kiss for a while before breaking it with a deep breath. "We'll make it through everything together." Kissing her forehead, I kept my lips against her for a few seconds as I breathed in her citrusy and earthy scent of wood and fresh soil.

"I will take care of you, Nicole."

Chapter 12

Nicole

~2 weeks later~

"Girl, shouldn't you be laying around in bed with your husband at your beck and call?" I chuckled as I watched Angel walk around the living room.

Rolling her eyes at me, Angel quickly flipped me off before sitting on the couch across from me. "I'm pregnant, not invalid." Exhaling heavily, she rests her hands on her growing stomach. "Besides, moving around is good for my hips and will make birth easier. But also, I'm only barely six months along, so not like I need bed rest or anything when everything is completely fine." And leave it to her to argue for her independence.

Not wanting to get into it with her, I let the subject drop with a shake of my head. "How is everything, though? Am I going to need to bury a bomb into Nikolai any time soon?" I joked, chuckling dryly with a wary look at my friend.

With a reassuring smile, Angel waved her hand at me while chuckling, "Nikolai and I are perfectly fine, like always." Looking at me for a second, she opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it with a shake ofher head. "What about you and your mystery man? What's going to happen there?"

Sighing sadly, I leaned back in my seat and sipped at my glass of water. "What has to happen…" I replied in a dying voice.

Frowning at me disapprovingly, Angel scoffed and shook her head. "You are way too stubborn, you know that?" Scoffing again, she muttered something under her breath about me being stupid. "Seriously, just let me take care of your stupid parents. They're not just a pain in the ass to you, but they are to the bratva as well. They've been stonewalling us at every chance, and I've just about had it with them." Her hands clenched at her arms, which sat loosely wrapped above her stomach.

"They're the only part left of Lady Qing's who hasn't bowed to Nikolai and me, and they're starting to push, which pisses me off," she seethed through a scowl. "I just haven't done anything drastic out of respect for you and your wishes not to harm them, but they arereally, and I meanreally, fucking toeing that line with me."

"Okay, okay." Holding my hands up in defeat, I shrunk back a little from the suffocating anger that rolled off Angel in torrent waves. "I get it. You want them kicked off their pedestal."

Sighing heavily, I took an interest in my nails for a good moment to gather my thoughts. "I want them to get their dues, but I don't want them dead." Or physically hurt, much, but that part was debatable. "I still haven't gotten all I need from them, either."

Well, that was more on me because I was being cautious. Hacking the system I created should have been a cakewalk, but I didn't want to risk giving my location away. I knew for a fact that my parents had people tracking my online footprints, so I've had to limit my presence and time spent with electronic connections to the world. If I weren't so conscious about it all, then shit would have blown to bits by now. Not gonna lie, sometimes I toyed with the idea.

I've nothing to lose, really; my old life died the day I ran away from being my parents' pawn. Relocating with a whole new identity and life would be as easy with my connection to Angel, but a part of me didn't want to uproot whatever stability I had here in Nespin. I didn't want to leave my youngerbrother here, nor did I want to be away from those I considered to be my family.

And I didn't want to leave Lev.

"Well, I know you're trying to lay low or whatever, but you need to do something about your parents, and soon." Angel huffed with a scowl. "They're up to something, and I don't like it."

"I haven't noticed anything suspicious in their accounts," I remarked with a quirked eyebrow and a dip in my voice.

Shaking her head, Angel looked at me with grave seriousness. "They went old school with cold, hard cash, burner phones and smashing them right after use, paper and pen, like really old school." Sighing heavily, she sits up as much as possible. "We've been keeping a close eye on them, and they've been having a lot of meetings not on any books. And whoever they're meeting knows how to give our men the slip."

That wasn't good.