Page 33 of Bratva Prince

Every instinct narrowed toward a single objective.Find Sofia.Find her now.One of the attackers broke from cover.Dimitri shot him before the man managed three steps.Another tried to flank, but a Volkov soldier cut him down.

The fight lasted less than two minutes, but it felt like an eternity.Then silence.Smoke drifted across the roadway, and bodies littered the pavement.Nobody moved or fired.One of Dimitri’s men checked the final attacker.Dead, all dead.Good, but still, it wasn’t enough.If something happened to Sofia...

Dimitri lowered his weapon, immediately scanning his surroundings.Where was she?Victor emerged from behind cover.His suit was torn, and blood covered one sleeve.The sight nearly stopped Dimitri’s heart, because he realized Victor was alone.

“Dimitri!”

Victor moved toward him.Relief flashed across the driver’s face.

“Boss, wait!”one of Dimitri’s men called behind him.

Dimitri ignored him.

“Boss, wait until we confirm...”

Dimitri ignored that one as well.

Every survival instinct he’d spent years cultivating vanished.All the rules, protocols and lessons gone at the thought that Sofia was somewhere in the wreckage, and he couldn’t see her.Dimitri sprinted.Someone shouted after him, but he didn’t listen.

The overturned sedan loomed closer.His pulse hammered so violently he could hear it.Please.The thought surprised him.A prayer, and he hadn’t prayed in years.

Please let her be alive.The world narrowed.He could barely focus on the wrecked vehicle, the shattered road and the blood, but then he finally saw her.His wife.For one terrible second his heart stopped.

Sofia lay motionless on the pavement beside the wreck, her dark hair spread across broken asphalt.Blood stained one side of her forehead.Dimitri reached her in seconds, and immediately dropped to one knee.

“Sofia,” he whispered.

There was no response.Panic hit him harder than any gunfight ever had.His hands shook as he reached for her.Victor arrived moments later.

“Boss.”

Dimitri barely heard him.

“Sofia,” he said again, but there was nothing.His chest felt hollow and cold.“No!”

Victor grabbed his shoulder.“Boss!She’s breathing.”

The words took several seconds to register.

Dimitri looked up sharply.“What?”

“She’s breathing,” Victor repeated and crouched beside him.“Concussion maybe.Head injury.But she’s alive.”

Alive.The word echoed through him.A breath escaped him, then another.Relief hit so hard it almost made him dizzy.The fury returned immediately afterward.Hotter than before, and stronger.The Orlovs had shot at her.They forced her car off the road and left her bleeding on asphalt.

If she had died...Dimitri stopped the thought, as he couldn’t bear finishing it.Carefully, he slipped one arm beneath her shoulders, the other beneath her knees.

Sofia felt frighteningly light.So still and vulnerable.Something inside him rebelled against the sight.She wasn’t supposed to look broken or helpless.Not Sofia, never his Sofia.

He lifted her into his arms, her head resting on his chest.The movement drew a faint sound from her.Relief surged through him again.She was okay. Around them, Volkov soldiers secured the scene.

Weapons were collected, bodies identified, and evidence gathered.Dimitri didn’t care.Let Alexei handle the investigation, and the captains take care of the cleanup.His only concern was the woman in his arms.

The driver opened the SUV door, and Dimitri climbed inside.He kept Sofia against him, refusing to let go.The vehicle pulled away from the crash site.As the city disappeared behind them, Dimitri stared down at her pale face.

He clenched his jaw.The rage remained, burning hotter with every passing second.Sergei Orlov had made a mistake.A catastrophic one.The moment Sofia’s terrified voice had cut off over the phone, something fundamental inside Dimitri had shifted.

Now all he could think about was how close he’d come to losing her, and it was far too close.He tightened his hand protectively around hers.Never again.The vow formed silently.Somewhere deep inside, Dimitri knew exactly what would happen next.The Orlov family was going to regret this.