Page 10 of Caught By the Bratva Beast

“I think you’re doing the best you can.”

The picture I’m looking at is of me and my father from the day before he died. I had just turned fifteen and we were strolling through Rome before flying back home later that night.

He was shot and left for dead the next evening.

Aesha gets up and hands me the ice cream carton. “You need this more than I do right now. The anniversary is tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.” I shove the spoon into the chocolate, spooning some into my mouth. “Happy twenty-second birthday to me, I guess.”

“We’re going to have fun tonight. You don’t have to go out. There won’t be any playing arm candy to men. We’re going to lounge on the sofa and have a movie night, and then you’re going to spend the rest of the night having a fun time.”

I follow her out of the dressing room and to the massive couch, flopping into it, trying to lose myself in the forest green cushions. “Nicolo called to wish me a happy birthday this morning.”

“How’s he doing today? I know he and Aaron were close.”

“Good. Given the circumstances. I think he’s been staying busy and trying not to think about what tomorrow will bring. I mean, I don’t think he ever thought that he was going to spend a couple of years caring for me after his best friend died.”

“Well, Nicolo did the best he could.”

“I know.” I stare out the wide windows at the sun setting outside, trying to hold back the tears burning behind my eyelashes. “I just wish that things were better in that year before the murder. Me and Dad were fighting so much, and I spent most of those days acting like a spoiled brat when I should’ve been trying to connect with him more.”

“You were a teenager.” Aesha sits down beside me, one arm looping over my shoulders. “You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“I don’t know. We fought that morning about Italy, and then I went to school and didn’t think about him again until I came home and found him dead.” I shake her off and hand her the ice cream back, pulling my knees to my chest and holding them in place.

Aesha rubs my back, putting the carton on the table and reaching for the box of tissues there instead. “Here, dry the tears. We can feel as miserable as you want, but I’m not going to let you spend the rest of the night with horribly puffy eyes.”

Laughing, I take the offering and dry my eyes. “Thank you for coming over tonight.”

“Hon, I booked the day off tomorrow just so I could spend some time with you.”

I lean into her, before hauling the cream blanket off the back of the couch. Aesha drapes it over us. She leans forward and snags the remote from the coffee table as my phone starts to buzz.

“No!” She grabs the phone from the cushion and holds it out of my reach. “It’s your birthday and you’re not working tonight. No way. I’m not letting it happen.”

“It could be Nicolo.”

Aesha groans but slaps the phone into my palm. “Fine, but if it’s not, you need to lock that thing away.”

“I agree. It’s just going to be me and you until tomorrow night.”

Sliding my thumb across the screen, I look down at the message, half-expecting one of my clients to be reaching out.

Instead, it’s from an unknown number.

We’re going to have some fun together.

I don’t know who sent the message, but I don’t have to wonder for long.

It’s not Japan, but I promise you an enjoyable time. Friday night. Guerro’s. 8pm.

Aesha snatches the phone from me. “That smile on your face is an I’m getting laid smile.”

“I’m not going to get laid. It’s just this guy I met at a party. He thinks that we’re going to go out together.”

“Hold on.” Aesha kneels on the couch beside me, bouncing as she hands me back the cell. “This guy isn’t another client. He just met you at a party and wants to go on another date with you. You have to go out with him. This could be the beginning of your love story.”

“This isn’t the start of any story. He just wants what he can’t have. Same as any other guy.”

---