Chapter 26

I left the bathroom, already thinking about talking to the girls. I had only had one drink, but according to Caleb, I could charge it to Ilya's tab. I was planning to talk to him first, then to them, but...

As soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, I saw a tall figure with long blonde hair entering the bar. He almost had to duck to fit through the door frame. He was accompanied by the other two, and they all looked perfectly fine.

Ilya hadn’t seen me yet, but I figured someone must have told him I was there because his eyes seemed to be scanning the surroundings.

Without thinking, I ran toward him, weaving through people, and threw myself into his arms. Maybe it was an overreaction, causing some murmurs and even squeals around us, but Ilya caught me, holding me by the thighs, and kissed me passionately. He didn’t seem inclined to hide his emotions either.

"Is all this because you missed me, moi rys?" he whispered deliciously, releasing my thighs but putting his arm around my waist and keeping me suspended off the ground.

"Also. But I was worried," I said, not holding back my feelings, burying my head in the curve of his shoulder.

I felt Ilya sigh, pulling me a little tighter against him. It was like he knew he might not have come back.

"It’s okay. I’ll always come back to you."

The emphasis he placed on the words stirred that tight feeling in my chest again. Why the hell was I so sensitive to these things? Why did his words sound more like a definitive promise than something said in a moment of both our vulnerability?

Ilya let me go right after, but we walked to the table, still holding onto each other.

I should have felt more relieved by his presence, but as soon as I glanced to the side, I saw Charlie staring at us, his brow furrowed, sitting at the bar and ordering a beer.

There was something strange about him, but I preferred not to speculate. As far as I knew, he had been a member of the community for some time, worked at the workshop, and had started participating in missions with Hunter. I had no reason to be suspicious. It was just an impression because I was too on edge.

But that feeling kept nagging at me, as I kept seeing him glance at me and Ilya like something was wrong with our being there. He was also drinking too much, which worried me.

The suspicion turned into certainty when I needed to go to the bathroom again and didn’t want to bother anyone to go with me. I was almost at the door when Charlie grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward him.

We were near the bathroom area, which was more secluded, and the bar wasn’t that crowded, so we wouldn’t be seen.

"You dirty Mexican. You and that Russian are ruining our community. Two traitors. Cartel and Bratva united. You can fool our good people who believe you're innocent, but not me."

I tried to pull away, startled by his reaction, but he gripped me harder, even hurting my arm, and pushed me, slamming me against the wall and holding me there, my face pressed to the concrete.

There was a small crack in the wall, with an uneven surface, and I felt my cheek burn, probably from a cut. It wasn’t deep, just superficial, but the heat from a little blood trickling down startled me.

"Have you lost your mind?" I asked, not believing what was happening.

Of course, I wasn’t comfortable with the way he had been looking at us, but I never imagined that was the reason, let alone that it would escalate to extremes.

"No. Everyone here is crazy for believing they’re among friends. I know what Bratva and the Cartel are capable of."

"We're no longer tied to any of that. We’re here for good, to protect ourselves. We don’t want trouble, and we don’t want to hurt you."

"You won’t, because I won’t let you," his voice was threatening enough that I felt my body tremble.

He was about to do something drastic, especially when he spun me around and put me in front of him, my back to him, covering my mouth with his hand. He was about to drag me off to some corner when I managed to react and use one of the techniques Ilya had taught me.

I shifted my body to the side, putting myself in a more advantageous position. With a quick move, I grabbed Charlie's arm with my free hand and applied pressure to his elbow joint. Instinctively, he let out a cry of pain, and I was able to break free.

I ran without looking back, completely forgetting about the bathroom. I heard a male voice, not the crazy one who grabbed me, sounding indignant. Maybe at him, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to reach Ilya.

He saw me running toward him, scared, and quickly stood up, alert. I threw myself into his arms again, but this time, it was a completely different feeling from before. It wasn’t relief, but fear.

Charlie was very, very drunk, and I had the feeling he was about to do something stupid.

"Moi Rys, what happened?" He held me by the arms, pulling me slightly away from him. Of course, he saw the cut on my face. No matter how small it was, it was evidence of what had happened.

His very blue eyes widened, and an expression of hatred quickly formed. One of his hands reached up to the wound, and his brow furrowed.

"Who did this to you?"

I didn’t have time to answer because a commotion broke out.

"Ilya... you don’t even need to ask her."

I only felt Ilya pulling me aside quickly, and then a body fell to the ground. It was Charlie, shoved by someone. When I turned to the commotion, I saw Caleb. He had seen us, no doubt, and brought the crazy guy to us to get his punishment.

Things happened very fast after that. Ilya’s anger drove him to grab Charlie, lifting him off the ground and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of rotten potatoes. People ran after them, probably to watch the spectacle, and I was terrified.

This wasn’t just a bar fight. There was more to Charlie’s decision to stand against us, in the way he had spoken. Like he had a past involving Bratva and the Cartel, and that it would spill over onto us, fueling his anger.

Ilya set Charlie down outside the bar, next to a fountain. Grabbing him by the neck, he pushed his head into the water, keeping it submerged for a while.

"What were you thinking, putting your hands on my woman like that, sukin syn?" I didn’t know what that word meant, but the way he said it, it was definitely an insult.

At any other moment, I might have analyzed how he referred to me more calmly, but I was too scared to think about it.

Charlie struggled, so Ilya pulled him back.

"Do you understand that if you hurt her again, I’ll have to kill you?"

"You Russian bastard!" Charlie spat water everywhere, but Ilya dunked his head again.

Ilya didn’t seem inclined to stop, and I was starting to get nervous. This whole night had been a huge ordeal, and I felt more terrified than I could describe.

I felt hands on my shoulders pulling me, and a soft feminine voice saying:

"Come on, dear. Let’s take care of you."

For a moment, I thought it was Jordana, so I followed.

But it didn’t take long for me to feel a blow to my head and the sensation that the darkness swallowing me would be my companion for a very, very long time.