Page 43 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

I moved without thinking, roaring like a bull as I pushed people out of the way to get to them.

Clearly, I was the asshole ex who had missed out. He thought I was her past. I would never be Daisy's past.

She was mine.

She would always be mine.

And I wasn’t going to share her with some slick wannabe.

Daisy turned her head a second before I reached her. "Ilya." I saw her lips form my name as she slid off her stool and tried to position her body between me and my prey. "What are you doing here?"

"Ilya Popovitch is your ex?" were the only words out of the man’s throat before I plowed my fist straight into his perfect white veneers.

Chapter Sixteen

Daisy

One second I was laughing at what Jac was saying, and the next Ilya was there, coming towards us like a bull in a china shop. I didn’t even have a chance to react properly before his fist had made contact with Jac's teeth and shattered them. Blood sprayed, hitting my shocked face.

"Ilya, no!" I tried to get in between them again, but I was too slow. Either that, or Ilya was too quick. Like a man possessed, he didn’t let up. Over and over again, his fist made contact with the other man’s face, and when Jac sagged backwards against the bar, Ilya fisted his collar and yanked him back to his feet, smashing his head into his with a sickening crunch of bone.

This time, when Jac's legs buckled, Ilya let him drop to the ground. Groaning, he curled up into a ball, desperately trying to protect himself.

Uselessly, because the kicks Ilya was aiming at him were brutal.

I heard the sound of ribs breaking even over the sound of the screaming patrons who were running towards the doors.

"Ilya, stop." Finally, I managed to grab his arm without him throwing me off like an annoying fly. "Please, Ilya, you’re going to kill him."

Slowly, Ilya turned to me. His eyes nothing more than blue fire. "Good."

His tone made me flinch involuntarily.

Just then, someone stepped between us, forcing my hand to my side again. "Someone called the cops," one of Ilya's men said gruffly, giving me a side-eye that screamed that this was all my fault. "We need to get you out of here."

Ilya's shoulders moved up and down as he panted. "Let them come." Finally, he blinked. And it was like he saw me for the first time. His eyes raked across my face and narrowed. "Are you hurt?"

Confusion pinched my eyebrows together. "No, why—"

His hand lashed out; his thumb brushed against my cheek and came back red with blood.

"Oh." I knew blood had hit me, but that looked like a lot. "It’s not mine."

Ilya's attention turned back to the groaning man at his feet. "Good."

The threat of violence was back on his face. "Yeah," he seemed to be talking to the man on the floor. "I am her ex. Although 'ex' is—" His toe nudged at the grinding ribs under him, and a groan of pain fell from Jac's lips. "I’ll let you live this time, but you so much as look at her again and I’ll break every bone in your body. Daisy is mine, and she will always be mine. Is that understood?"

I wanted to smack him upside the head. Ilya had said so himself. I was his ex. He didn’t get to beat up every guy who looked in my direction.

"I am not—" I began to say.

"Go home, Daisy."

"This is my night off, and—"

He turned to me angrily. "I said go home, now. Your night off is over. I want you gone before the police arrive."

Feet planted firmly apart, I lifted my chin defiantly. "Maybe I want to watch you get carted away in handcuffs."