Page 32 of Caught By the Bratva Beast

“I don't think you've ever done anything stupid a day in your life beyond going to Russia with a man you didn't know.”

“If I seem to remember your phrasing, you told me to run away with a hot piece of ass for a week.”

Aesha gathers her coffee and stands up, walking with me to the door of the cafe. “I might have encouraged you, but now that you're so upset, I don't think it was worth it.”

“I'm a big girl, I'll be fine. One more day of moping. And then I'm going to forget that Maxim ever existed, I promise.”

Aesha smiles and pulls me into a tight hug with one arm. “If you need another girls’ night let me know. Tell your uncle I say hi.”

“Will do.”

I hug her back before turning and walking in the opposite direction, straight for the car that's already waiting for me.

***

A few hours later, the doorbell rings. I pull myself off the couch, abandoning the magazine I’m reading, and head for the door.

A pit of dread opens in my stomach at having to tell Uncle Nicolo that I haven't gathered the Bratva secrets he was looking for. I haven't gained any information that's going to help us take down their empire.

Everything I went to Russia to accomplish has been for nothing. I don't think he's going to take too kindly to that.

As I open the front door, I've got an apology on the tip of my tongue, but it dies when I see Maxim standing there. He's wearing a dark shirt, a leather moto-jacket hanging open over it, his dark jeans are tucked into a pair of motorcycle boots, and he still has sunglasses perched on his nose.

He looks like he stepped straight out of the pages of a magazine.

Every rational thought I've ever had flees as I stare at him, trying to figure out how I got a man as put together and sure of himself as him to be standing outside my door.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, stumbling over my words slightly.

He puts his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I'd like to come in.”

As he stands there, there's a strange energy that radiates off him. The hair on the back of my neck stands up, little bumps rising along my arms. He is not in his charming, suave mode, today he is here in his mafia business mode. Shit, has he found out more about me?

For the first time since I've met him, I get a distinct feeling that I should do what he says without fighting.

I step to the side, holding the door open a little wider. “Come in please.”

He strides into the apartment like he owns the place, sliding the jacket from his shoulders and showing off the dark floral tattoos that cover his arms. The flowers he's got inked are the same ones that span the fields of his property in Russia.

I follow him into the living room but seeing him sitting on my couch seems like such a strange thing. I never thought that he would be in my apartment.

Maxim kicks his feet up on the white coffee table, the heels of his boots leaving scuff marks and making my eyes twitch. “We need to talk.”

“Does it have anything to do with you showing up here unannounced after ignoring me for the last ten days?”

“I was wondering if you would notice my absence.”

“Most men don't take a woman to a foreign country, rush her out after they've only been there two days, and then spend the next ten ignoring her.”

“Is it really ignoring you if you only ever sent one ice-cold message? Should I be the only one reaching out and making an effort? If you wanted to talk to me, you could have. You chose not to. I chose to respect that decision.”

“Is this all because I didn’t want to sleep with you?”

He shoves the sunglasses on top of his head, hazel eyes flaring with anger as his breathing gets heavier. “What the fuck do you think you're talking about? You think that I didn’t have important things to do. That I chose on purpose not to talk to you because I was fucking annoyed because you didn't sleep with me? Please have a little more faith in me than that.”

“Seemed rather convenient,” I say. “I stopped what we had going on in the forest that night. Then you were telling me we're getting back on a plane in the morning.”

“If I wanted sex, I could have chosen anybody else to come with me. You're not the only woman I know. There are plenty of women who would have willingly shared my bed.”

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