Page 3 of The Bratva's Hostage Bride

What I want is to gag. How brazen is this guy?

“Uh, no thanks. I’m fine.”

“Aw, come on, just a little rub,” he is becoming leery, and I want to vomit in my mouth.

Meryl must be paying attention because she calls Devon over, who comes to stand between me and the guy.

“Are you harassing my baby cousin? What are you, seventy? That’s gross, dude.” She puts her hands on her hips.

“Maybe you’d like a rub,” he says, standing up to her. Unfortunately for him, my cousin is about three feet taller than him and all muscle. She crosses her arms.

“I’m going to call security if you don’t stop harassing us. See those guys over there talking to my other cousins,” she motions to where some good-looking guys are flirting with Flora and Jenny, “those are the caliber of guys we are looking for tonight. So goodbye before I call the cops.”

He sneers at her. “You think you’re so hot. You people are nothing.”

“No, we’re everything. You are a creepy nobody hitting on a twenty-two-year-old somebody.” For a moment, I’m rather proud of Devon. Maybe she does like me after all.

After he leaves, she turns to me. “Don’t be scared to defend yourself. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there.”

I blush. “Thanks, Dev.”

“Until then, stick with us. We’ll protect you.” She gives me a small smile, and I realize my perception of her might be a bit off. She is a hard ass, but she cares a lot about me.

The good-looking guys have friends who join them, and they come over to speak to Devon. Meryl is clearly uncomfortable, and I join her. “Let’s just focus on our slots.”

“More drinks,” Devon declares.

I look at Meryl, and she nods. “Don’t worry, Devon will take care of us.”

I glance at Devon, who’s flirting with a tall man with a strange accent that I can’t quite place. I turn back to the slot machine and play my game.

The machine lights up and starts going ding ding ding, and then the slots start rolling fast.

“Hey, you hit a bonus spin,” Meryl squeals. Momentarily, all eyes are on me, and everyone comes to stand next to me.

Devon puts a hand on my shoulder and smiles down at me. “Come on, bonus spins.”

We watch, entranced, and as the spinning slows, the machine dings again.

“You won a thousand dollars,” Meryl squeals.

I look up at Devon, who holds up her drink, “Next round is on Hannah.”

I smile and laugh, cashing out and following everyone, including the good-looking boys, to the bar, where we order another round of drinks before we try a different section of slots.

Everyone is riled up by my win, and everyone wants to win a little something. Meryl and I are still uncomfortable with the group of guys who randomly joined our group, but we blend into the middle of the group so we can avoid them.

Chapter 2 - Luka

“There were some good races tonight,” I say to Arseny, sitting beside me. The two young women who came with me are down near the track, waiting for the last race to end.

“Who do you think is going to win?” Arseny asks, sipping a beer.

“Probably Tony.” It isn’t really a question. Tony is my driver, and he’s the best, at least so far.

“Meh, that’s the safe bet,” Arseny says as he stands. “Are you coming to Afantasy?”

“Maybe later, I’m going to check the casino first. Did you like what I renamed it?”

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