Page 32 of Baby for the Bratva

“I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll see you tonight. My room. Midnight.” I get up from the table, but I’m only able to take a few steps before she jumps from her seat and grabs my arm.

I turn, expecting her to say something about how I’m moving too fast, or she needs to hear more of what I’m going to do to her, but I get a response I don’t expect at all.

“What about the bill?” she asks.

Quirky little thing. She’s going to make me fall in love if she doesn’t stop with this behavior. I shrug her hand off my arm. “Relax, darling, lunch is on the house today. I’ll see you tonight.” I start walking away again, but then I remember something. I look back at her. “Oh, and don’t bother packing pajamas. I prefer to sleep naked.”

I give her a little wave as I leave, hurrying down the stairs and nearly running out of the restaurant so she doesn’t have the opportunity to catch up to me. I don’t think she’s going to attempt to follow me, but she might be spooked that I left her with the bill, even though I didn’t.

It’s all on me. This whole boat practically belongs to me, though it’s not in my name. That’s just a technicality, but it’s one that makes me safer. In my position, the fewer things that are in my name, the better. It’s a lot harder to track someone down for tax evasion if there’s no paper trail.

I make a hasty retreat to my room, moving some things around in my closet to make room for all the guns. Stella already is a bit suspicious of me, so I’m not taking any risks by leaving guns and ammunition out where she can find them.

The only thing I leave is a small pistol on my side, which I always have on me. No matter where I go, I keep an iron on my hip and a round in the chamber. I can draw and fire in under a second, which has gotten me out of trouble on more than one occasion.

Cruise ships happen to be safer. Nobody is going to blow up a boat in the water with thousands of innocent passengers on board to get to me, and if anyone does sneak on the ship to make an attempt at my life, they’re going to find out very quickly that they’re severely outgunned and outnumbered.

This ship will become a floating coffin for anyone who makes themselves my enemy.

I manage to fit most of my guns into several suitcases that only just fit in my closet. I cover those with a few shirts and sweaters, making it impossible for Stella to find anything she shouldn’t without her making an obvious effort to snoop.

If she does that, then I’ll know that I’m the one who can’t trust her.

Once everything is neat and in order, I give Chekhov a call and tell him not to come to my room tonight. He wants to put someone by the door, but I decline. I’m not ruining this night for anything.

After the cleanup and phone call, it becomes a waiting game. I can’t stay boxed up in my room for so long, so I leave and take a stroll through the shopping mall on the ship. Stella deserves some flowers if she shows up tonight, and I deserve a break.

15

Stella

To go or not to go, that is the question.

“It’ll be a hookup, but if that’s what you want, then go for it,” Molly says as she flips through TV channels on her bed.

“You think it’s a bad idea?” I ask, trying to ease the anxiety that’s growing inside of me. Every time I think of Yuri, his bright blue eyes and his large hands, I think of the way he would fuck me. I know it’s going to be good, but I also feel like it’s going to ruin my life somehow.

I still don’t know him. He’s a stranger, and that makes him all the more dangerous.

“I never said it was a bad idea,” Molly says without looking at me. Her eyes are still glued to the TV. “I just said that you should be aware of what you’re walking into.”

“I should take things slower,” I say, wiping the sweat from my palms onto my thighs. I never sweat this much. It’s worse than I was in the sauna. Could it be a shellfish allergy, or am I really this worked up about Yuri?

“Slow, fast, anywhere in between. It’s still up to you. Don’t let him force you into anything you’re not comfortable with, but also don’t get stuck on feeling guilty about your ex.” Molly turns off the TV and looks at me. “But you already know that. I think you’re just nervous.”

I nod vigorously. Everything she’s said so far has been true. I’m a little stuck on Tyler because being intimate with someone else still feels like betrayal. It doesn’t matter that we’re not dating anymore. It’s been under a week, and I still feel like I’m going to be coming home to him, even though I never will.

Nor do I want to.

Molly pats the bed beside her. “Come here and stop standing there shivering like a leaf. It’s awkward.”

I shuffle over to her bed and sit down on the end of it, looking into my lap. “Everything is happening so fast.”

“Then take it slower. I don’t see what the big deal is,” she says, throwing her hands up. “You are so beautiful, and Yuri is going to wait as long as he has to for you. Believe me, you can turn him down a dozen times over and he’s still going to be following you around, begging you to spend the night with him.”

“You think so?”

“Grow a fucking backbone,” she replies, thumping me hard on the back.

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