Page 81 of Nanny for the Bratva Daddies

“Where the fuck are you going?” The guard barks at Daniil as if he has any authority over him.

“I’m not staining my favorite pool with the blood of a stinking rat,” Daniil snarls. “Unless you want me to paint the tiles with the pretty insides of your thick skull, you better keep your attention on that fucker, alright?”

“You can’t do this. You have to let me explain. Please, it’s not what you think, I swear. I didn’t do anything, I never said anything. I would never hurt you, I would never hurt any of you!”

Daniil is silent as he drags me away from the pool and toward the garden where we all used to sit together and watch Dariya play. My favorite bench comes into sight beyond the hedges as I’m dragged like a sack of wheat. I can’t catch my feet underneath me with the speed he walks so I’m forced to half hobble, half let myself be dragged through the dirt.

Over Daniil’s shoulder, Fyodor’s head is low as he trudges back into the mansion, and Zasha is left facing down Vladimir and his armed men. There’s no one left at his side to protect him.

Because of me.

Things have crumbled in a matter of minutes and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.

All of them vanish from view when Daniil throws me to the ground. I land with a grunt on the grass, unable to stop weeping. The sickly scent of grass and flowers clouds my lungs like poison. I can’t stand the thought of anything nice right now and nausea pulls at my gut. Pulling myself onto my knees, I tear at the grass with one hand while staring up at Daniil.

“Please,” I gasp. “Please don’t do this!”

My heart pounds so rapidly that there’s nothing but a blur of sensation within my chest. I can barely breathe, and the sobs claw out of my throat, leaving burning in their wake.

Daniil unclips his handgun from his holster and aims it at me, unwavering.

“Is it true?” Daniil asks tightly, and his grip flexes slightly on the gun. “Is it really true that you came here as a spy?”

I want to lie. Spin some tale to try and salvage this, but there’s nothing I can think of within these few seconds that will save me. Grass rips under my fingers, and I twist my hands together in my lap.

“Yes,” I sob. “At first. But, please—it’s not what you think.”

Daniil doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t shoot either, so I snatch these few precious moments to try and explain myself.

“My mother brought me up that way, okay? It was my whole life. Her hatred was my hatred, and her plan was the only thing I knew. Ever since I was a little girl, she taught me how to make people like me to the point that they would tell me their deepest secrets. She taught me how to navigate computers and crack passwords so I could get into places I shouldn’t be, and then she did everything she could to ensure I got this job.”

Daniil’s jaw tightens so hard his teeth grind together.

“B-but I never did, okay? I never did any of the things she wanted me to do because I couldn’t. Please, you have to believe me!”

“What. Did. She. Want.” Daniil can barely get the words past the tension in his jaw.

“She—she wanted records and proof of the business. Anything that could hurt Fyodor’s finances, because without funding, he loses his power. She wanted to know exactly where his territory was and who his allies were so she could destroy him.”

“Did she want you to kill him?”

“No!” My head dips. “She never asked me to do that, but I-I don’t know for sure.”

“I was there.” The gun waves, along with his voice, when I look back up at Daniil. “I sat in those places while you met with her. Fyodor worried for your mother since you were so desperate to see her the night of the snowstorm. But it was all a lie.”

“I never did it.” I’ll say that with my last breath if I have to. “I swear.”

“Why?”

“Because…because I felt trapped. What she wanted me to do felt so easy in the beginning, but then I made a life here. I was going to have the family I’d never had before, and I never wanted to hurt anyone. I started to see where my mother was wrong.”

“Then why didn’t you come clean?” His voice raises and I flinch backward, fearing the gun would go off accidentally if he got any angrier.

“Because I felt forced and stuck! The moment I told the truth, I would lose what I had, but please, you have to understand that I never did anything to hurt anyone. My mother didn’t either. She’s just sore and hurt about old things but I told her she had to move on!”

Daniil’s trembling finally ceases, and once again, I’m staring down the hollow barrel of a gun.

“Please, I told her you’re all decent people and I told her that she needed to make her peace because I love you! I love this family, please. I would never do anything to hurt anyone here. I don’t know what Vladimir’s plan is by getting rid of me, but you have to believe me, please, please!”

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