Page 44 of Reclaimed By My Ex’s Bratva Brother

Widow? My mind raced. The woman looked around Varlam's age. I'd heard Makar mention that his mother was much younger than his father, and after his father died, he'd lived with her. So she couldn't be Varlam's mother... which meant she was Varlam's stepmother. Varlam and Makar weren't really brothers at all.

The woman gestured. Makar and Chloe, standing nearby, came forward. Makar's nose had been treated—still horrifically swollen, but at least not bleeding anymore.

"Varlam, look at this." Camilla stood on her toes, gently touching Makar's nose. "Whatever Makar did, you shouldn't have broken his nose. He's my only son. If he's disfigured, how will he find a suitable match?"

Chloe stood to the side, looking awkward. I suddenly understood why this mother doted on Makar but hadn't attended his wedding to Chloe. Maybe to her, that whole wedding was a joke.

"Didn't this asshole tell you he just tried to force himself on my woman?" Varlam glanced at Makar, who looked down guiltily. "Breaking his nose was letting him off easy."

Camilla's eyes went wide with outrage, like a princess who'd never been defied. Chloe immediately took her arm, soothing her gently.

Chloe's fawning didn't shock me anymore. What shocked me was what Varlam said. He'd called me his woman? My heart nearly jumped out of my throat. If we weren't in front of all these people, I definitely would've screamed.

"Impossible—Briony's just your assistant!" Makar looked up in disbelief.

"So remember her new status." Varlam's cold gaze swept over them in warning. "Anyone who touches her again will end up worse than Makar."

Makar and Chloe's expressions shifted visibly. Even Camilla's face became guarded. After a brief silence, they left.

"You're always rescuing me. I don't even know how to thank you anymore." I found my voice again. "But why'd you say that?"

With his status, he had a million other ways to warn them. But he chose this one. I couldn't help reading into it.

"Because you are mine." He said it like it was obvious.

My heart felt something it never had before.

Chapter Eleven

Varlam

The night the dinner ended, I started hearing more and more discordant voices.

Pavel's remnants were plotting to overthrow me, drag everyone into what they called bloodthirsty violence. I wouldn't let that happen.

If conventional methods could make people submit, I'd give them a chance. If not, I'd make those voices disappear. I'd already killed Pavel, yet they still didn't know when to back down. Time to shut them up.

Over the next few days, I swept through these bastards with brutal efficiency. The world finally went quiet, but remembering what the fuck I'd done at that dinner only made me more irritable. The moment I'd said Briony was my woman, I knew I'd lost control.

I sat in my study, yanked at my collar, leaned back in my chair, thinking that uncomfortable feeling of losing control might ease up. It didn't.

I closed my eyes. Briony's face appeared instantly. She stood under the dinner lights in that apricot dress, blonde hair falling over her shoulders, curves wrapped in fabric. When I'd pulled her close, champagne sweetness mixed with her lemon scent, pressed against my breath, sinking into my lungs.

My body tensed immediately.

"Fuck." I opened my eyes and downed a glass of whiskey.

I shouldn't be like some kid who'd just gotten his first taste of a woman, rock hard in the middle of the night just because I hadn't seen her in a few days. But the body doesn't listen to reason.

My hand moved down my abdomen, imagining that gorgeous body right in front of me. She lay on the bed, legs pressed together, then spread apart by me. Her sex exposed, inviting me inside.

She always did this, drew me closer. But I knew damn well I should keep her at a distance. The thought barely surfaced before my body was already imagining her hands, her lips, the heat when she clenched around me.

I tightened my grip, breathing deepened. I needed Briony now.

The thought made me freeze for a second. I looked down at myself, suddenly finding this whole solo act ridiculous.

She was mine. And she was only minutes away. I wanted her. Why the hell was I sitting here suffering?