Page 46 of Nanny for the Bratva Daddies

17

DANIIL

Awelcome pain burns through my arms and across my shoulders while I hold the weights above my head. Taking a breath, I lower them slowly until the bar is an inch above my chest and the pain swells to a hot throb; then I raise it once more.

Nothing clears my mind like time in the gym and with Fyodor away, without my protection, I need it more than ever. He has a good team with him, men I trained myself, but concern still sits in my chest each day he’s absent.

Fyodor had been clear, though.

I need you here, protecting Dariya and Naomi.

So I’m here.

Another rep is complete, and the metal bar clatters loudly against the supports while I place it safely back above me. Tension bites at my muscles and I groan, sitting up slowly. The tired ache in my arms and shoulders bleeds down my back, following the sweat trickling down my spine. I reach for my towel and drag it over my face, forcing a few slower breaths to even out my panting.

Then the air shifts and I freeze.

Someone is here.

Dropping the towel, Naomi stands in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes fixed on me. I can barely contain my smile at the sight of her while I ruffle the towel through my damp hair.

“Something wrong with Dariya?”

“No.” Naomi pushes up from the doorframe. “She’s in her lessons. But I had a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Who is he?”

I flash her a frown and reach between my legs for the bottle of water resting on the floor.

“Ivan Shinsky. You mentioned him again as the reason Fyodor was away, as if I was supposed to know who he is, but I’ve never heard of him. Am I supposed to know?”

My head tilts as I watch her come closer, distracted by the sexy sway of her full hips. She’s not from this world, so my name-dropping wouldn’t have been familiar to her at all.

“No. You don’t know him. We have a history, so I’m not sure it’s even my place.” Fyodor is the one with the information, and thinking of Ivan causes my gut to twist painfully. Wiping the sweat from my face, I put on my sunglasses to hide the scarring around my eye and uncap the water.

“Please?” Naomi sounds so endearing, and the cute way her brow lifts when she asks is hard to resist.

Scratch that, it’s impossible. I never thought I would be the kind of guy who couldn’t say no to a woman.

“Ivan…” His name is bitter in my mouth, and I wash it away with a mouthful of cold water. “He’s the head of the Shinsky family, in the same way Fyodor is the head of this family. Only Ivan is an old power since he never had any children. He never married to carry on his legacy either. He’s all selfish power, and the twisted fucker deals in the skin trade.”

Naomi chews on her lower lip. “The skin trade?”

“People.” My gut tightens. “Anything from getting people into the country to…slavery, forced prostitution, that kind of thing.”

Naomi pales so much that her red lips almost look like a bruise. “Oh my?—”

“Don’t worry,” I interrupt, waving a hand. “Many families have never dealt in such things, Fyodor included. Those that did have been moving away from it for years onto more profitable things. Ivan has no shame though.”

Again, I wash away the taste of his name with a mouthful of water and rise. Removing the weights from the bar is a good distraction as I talk.

“He lacks sense and morals and believes he deserves to be on top, leading, with the heads of each family bowing down to him. Unfortunately, there are a few families that agree with him, driven by fear or greed. Zasha mentioned him once and while no one likes to deal with a man so old and backward, Fyodor is following all the old laws to set up a meeting.”

“The old laws?” Naomi steps closer.

Right. It’s too easy to forget that she’s clueless about this world.

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