Page 63 of Reclaimed By My Ex’s Bratva Brother

Before I could react, the man beside me moved. Varlam stepped over the threshold and went straight to her. I followed him out, feeling like I didn't belong.

"I'm fine." He crouched down and gripped her shoulders, voice low. "Are you? Does your chest hurt?"

She shook her head. The tears fell harder.

"Mr. Petrov, we're very sorry. The malfunction's been temporarily fixed." The lead technician's voice came out tight. "We'll seal this elevator immediately and run full diagnostics. Once the control system's completely restored, it'll be back in service."

Varlam nodded, expression unchanged.

"This young lady rushed down from upstairs when she heard about the malfunction. When she learned the car had dropped, she knelt here crying. We tried to convince her to leave, but she wouldn't move."

Varlam looked down at Brinny's bare feet. Her heels were scraped raw. I watched him worry over her, and my stomach cramped.

"You're not well. How could you come out here on your own?" Varlam's brows drew together. There was no reproach in his voice, only the concern he could no longer conceal.

"I was so worried about you." She could barely breathe through the crying. "They said the elevator fell. I thought... I thought I'd never see you again."

"Your feet are hurt." Varlam sighed like he didn't know what to do with her. "Don't move. I'll take you back and treat them."

He slid one arm under her knees, the other around her waist, and lifted her. The movement was careful—not like picking up a grown woman, more like cradling something fragile that couldn't be bumped. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

I watched them walk away again. This time hurt worse than the last. Because I knew his promise hadn't been fake. When the elevator dropped, he'd thrown his body over mine without hesitation. He'd looked me in the eye and said he'd get me out. He'd kissed me gently and told me not to be afraid.

He cared about me. At least for those few minutes, he must have cared.

But the second Brinny showed up, he became someone else. One look from her and this man who didn't give a damn about anyone would soften his voice, drop everything. All his hard edges folded away for her—probably an instinct he'd developed years ago. And I was just an accident that stumbled into his life. They had a whole history I wasn't part of.

My chest felt like it was splitting open.

"Miss, it's over now." One of the maintenance workers studied my face and hesitated. "You look pretty shaken up. Maybe you should rest."

"I'm fine." I forced a smile at the maintenance worker and turned toward the stairs.

My knees were weak. I almost fell. The worker caught my arm. I straightened immediately, unwilling to let more strangers see me like this. I needed to wash the tear tracks off my face, wash away the warmth of Varlam's mouth on mine. Better yet, scrub out that damned promise of his from my brain and send it down the drain too.

I climbed several flights of stairs. By the time I reached the top floor, a strange calm had settled over me.

Getting to the bathroom meant passing his office. I planned to slip by quickly, but the door wasn't fully closed.

"It's just a little scrape. Doesn't hurt." Brinny's soft voice drifted through the gap, pinning my feet to the floor.

"Why weren't you wearing shoes?" Varlam's voice came out low.

I couldn't see his expression, only caught a corner of the couch through the crack in the door.

She sat on the couch. He knelt in front of her, holding her foot while he treated the wound.

"I forgot. When I heard the elevator malfunctioned and dropped to the seventeenth floor, I just ran. I was so worried about you. I only wanted to see you as fast as I could."

"Don't do that again," he said.

It sounded like a reprimand, but all I heard was indulgence. My stomach turned sour.

She murmured agreement, then sighed.

"Thank God you're okay. Otherwise I wouldn't know what to do." She paused like something occurred to her. "You always protect me like this. Even your second-in-command treats me with respect. Varlam, you always do these things quietly."

My breath stopped. I wanted to leave, but my feet wouldn't obey. Like if I didn't hear the answer, I wouldn't have to accept it.