Sold to the Mob Boss: A Mafia Romance (Lavrin Bratva) Nicole Fox (most popular novels TXT) 📖

a cocky asshole. But he’s right—we’re vastly outnumbered. I just need a distraction.

My eyes scan around the terrace, looking for something, anything that could help us. A few seconds is all we need to turn and make it to the fire escape over the edge of the roof behind me. The mercenary soldiers all have their guns pointed at me as they step slowly closer, but they don’t dare to shoot for fear of striking their leader, who is still caught in my chokehold.

Then I see it.

There’s no time to hesitate. I release my chokehold and kick the leader a few feet forward. One quick pull of my trigger finger is one quick bullet to the back of his head. Before his dead body has even hit the ground, I’m already swiveling up and to the right. I take aim and fire.

My second bullet hits a light, casting a warm glow out over the terrace. I had it specially installed three months ago. It’s a special gas fixture—expensive, and highly flammable.

The shot causes a small explosion. Shards of glass lance outward, and the rush of heat sends a few of the men stumbling backwards. For now, it’s enough.

I turn and grab Annie’s upper arm. We sprint to the edge, where a low wall runs along the border of the roof. I fire a few blind shots over my shoulder, hopefully accurate enough to keep the advancing soldiers at bay for just a moment longer.

“Jump!” I shout.

“What?!”

“Jump over the side of the wall!”

“Are you crazy?” Her eyes are wide like a doe’s.

Before I can answer, a bullet flies through the foliage of the plant and grazes my shoulder. A light spray of blood erupts and I roar in pain.

I turn back to her. “Now!”

The cold rage in my voice is convincing enough. She swallows hard and jumps over the side. I follow. We crash into the metal platform below. I immediately feel a searing pain lance through my knee, but I ignore it. I can’t afford to succumb to pain now. We get to our feet, and race down the stairs. Annie slips and tumbles down a flight of stairs. I reach her, drag her up, and pull her after me.

My knee is screaming at me as we race down the sidewalk. I’m still holding Annie’s hand. We sprint down the wet pavement littered with garbage, across the street, and sprint in front of a passing bus that lays on the horn. On the other side of the road, Annie stops and bends over, hands on her knees, breath coming in ragged, painful gasps.

“We can’t stop. Keep moving.”

She nods in exhaustion and pushes forward. When I glance down, I notice she is barefoot and tracking blood with every step. She must have stepped on broken glass. But she doesn’t complain, just looks to me for direction.

“Do you need me to carry you?”

“No,” she mumbles. “It’ll just slow you down. I’ll keep up.”

We race into the night as fast as we can manage.

***

Finally, nearly three miles away, we come upon a cobblestone building: a Bratva safe house. Annie and I stumble up the steps and I use a keypad to open the door, shoving her in first. When the door is closed, I triple-lock it and head up to the next flight where Annie awaits.

“There’s a change of clothes in the room down the hall. Throw something on, now,” I say.

She nods and races off while I head to the closet in the other end of the house. Throwing open the closet door, I’m met with myriad guns and weapons. I grab some new weapons and start to pack as much ammo as I can into my pockets.

Footsteps pad down the hall towards me. Annie enters. She’s dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. “There should be some women’s shoes in the closet to the left.” She opens the closet door and starts digging. I return to my task, making sure the bullet magazines are all full. God only knows how long it will take Gino’s soldiers to show up. We didn’t exactly make an inconspicuous scene—a limping, bloodied couple in fancy dinner clothes sprinting through the city—and there’s no telling how good Gino’s intel is. If he knows about the safe house, then we need to get the fuck out of here as fast as possible.

I go to tuck a knife in my pocket and the motion sends a sudden lightning bolt of pain piercing through my injured shoulder. I drop the knife and a groan escapes my lips.

Annie is next to me instantly.

“We should take care of that.”

“There’s no time. The only way for anyone to get up to my penthouse is if they had the password to my security system.”

Annie gasps. “That means ...”

I nod.

My blood boils. It means that someone from inside my own circle betrayed me, just like they betrayed my father. The only difference is that I got out alive. When I have time to plan, I will rain hell on everyone involved with this mutiny. But right now, Annie and I need to get to safety. We need to get away from everyone until I can figure out how deep the betrayal goes.

Annie takes off down the hall once more.

As soon as she disappears, a new thought pops into my head. Is she involved? She was different from the other girls, too smart for her own good ... Have I been a fool? Did I buy my own betrayer? The idea makes my blood run cold. I squeeze the gun between trembling hands and raise it.

When she comes back around the corner, I’m going to put a bullet between her eyes.

I hear her footsteps approaching. I release the safety and level the sight. Three, two, one ...

She reappears mid-sentence. “If you aren’t going to let me fix your wounds now, then I was grabbing some supplies to fix them up when we get to wherever ....”

She freezes. The gauze and ointment she was