Page 29 of Baby for the Bratva

“Broke a few laws. I’m sure there would be a lengthy prison sentence waiting for me if I went back any time soon,” he replies casually.

I lean forward, forgetting entirely about the wine menu as I become engrossed in his story. “What laws did you break?”

“Drug trafficking laws,” he says with a thin smirk. “But I got out before they caught me. I try to live a little cleaner these days. Once you get your hands dirty, it’s hard to wash everything off.”

The fact that he just casually admitted to drug trafficking is both disturbing and fascinating. I knew I’d be opening an interesting can of worms when I dug into his personal life, but this is so juicy I’m already thinking of how I’m going to tell Molly. She loves some good gossip, and this little tidbit from Yuri is juicy.

I should probably feel guilty about spilling Yuri’s secrets, but he told me like it meant nothing to him. It can’t be that big of a deal.

“Alright,” he says, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. He lays his palms down on the table. “I’ve told you something about me. Now you will tell me something about you.”

“Sounds fair,” I say, trying to think of something interesting, yet not too personal, to tell him.

But he beats me to it with a question. “Who’s the guy?”

I frown, thinking he’s talking about someone in the room at first. I look over my shoulder. “What guy?”

“Your guy. The guy who broke your heart.”

Blood rushes to my face and I feel static in my feet. My mouth is dry when I speak. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re a woman with a past. I can tell because you don’t trust me, and the only reason you don’t trust me is because someone broke your heart. Tell me I’m wrong.”

I don’t like that he’s making such drastic accusations that also happen to be right. Either he’s playing it fast and loose with his comments and hoping he’s right, or he’s fantastic at reading people. I’m not sure which possibility bothers me the most.

“You’re not exactly wrong,” I say, speaking slowly. “But… you’re making a lot of assumptions.”

“Which are all correct.”

I want to knock that smug look off his face. This was supposed to be a cute little lunch, not an opportunity to tear me to pieces.

“So what if I’ve had a relationship before? Everyone has,” I say, crossing my arms.

He shrugs. “I didn’t say there was anything wrong with that. It’s normal.”

I nod. “Right.”

“So, what’s his name?”

God, I can’t believe he’s still going on about this. Why does he care, anyway? It’s not like knowing about my ex is going to get him in my pants. If anything, talking about Tyler is only going to turn me off more than I already am.

“His name is…” I begin, but then the waiter shows up with his hands clasped together and an expectant smile on his face.

Lovely. We can talk about wine instead.

“Had enough time to look at the menu?” he asks, looking at me, then at Yuri.

Yuri looks at me, and I sink deeper into my seat. I haven’t even looked at the menu. “Um, I’ll have what he’s having,” I say.

Yuri chuckles. “So, that’ll be two of the sparkling wine from Abrau-Durso.”

“Excellent choice,” the waiter says, and I detect a slight Russian accent in his voice. Who isn’t Russian on this cruise ship?

The moment the waiter leaves, Yuri leans forward, his eyes bright blue in the candlelight. “What’s his name?”

I groan. “Seriously?”

“You were about to tell me.”

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