Page 25 of Bound By You

I sigh. He wants to move on from the fact that he is not alert like normal, and it's not even a Sunday.

"It didn't go very well; I might have said some shit about not realizing she knew about the stuff I was doing behind closed doors." The fucker laughs—fucking full-on laughs. I scowl, about to rip him a new one, when suddenly, I hear, "Hmm, babe, what time is it?" and my mouth drops open. Sergi never brings women home; he finds them at the club and fucks them in the corners, but that's it.

What the fuck?

He clears his throat. "It's early,dragotsennyy.Go back to sleep, okay?" Then I hear him kiss her, and then some rustling before there's the click of a door, and he clears his throat again.

He called her precious. I think I'm in shock.

"Al, are you still there?" he asks.

He sounds a lot more alert now.

"Sergi, who the fuck was that?"

He sighs. "Not one word to anyone, not Damian, not Phoebe, and certainly not Sofia; those two women will get into my business, and I won't have that, not right now."

I clear my throat. This must be serious. Don't get me wrong, he and I are best friends, but Damian is, more so than me, and Sergi doesn't want him to know. I can understand the women, though.

"As long as it doesn't harm our family, Sergi, you can trust me."

He sighs again. "Her name is Avery Taylor, and she's twenty-three."

I clear my throat again, shocked.

"How'd you meet?" I want to be sure she's not just a spy, but I’m also curious about my long-time friend and brother.

"The Brew Box. She works five evenings a week, which includes all day on Saturdays. She's currently in medical school. She attends New York Medical University but still has eight months left before she graduates and starts her residency at General."

I stay silent for a few minutes, and he lets me process. In all the years we have known him, he has not had a serious relationship.

"It's serious?" I ask, and he grunts out a yes. "Why the secrecy then? You know we have your back, right?" I say softly, hurt that he has kept a lot from us. I understand about his biological father, which is a head fuck, but this?

But then he shocks the shit out of me when he says quietly, "She doesn't know about the Bratva or Mafia world."

"I'm sorry, what?" I sputter, and he quietly chuckles.

"Yeah, imagine going to get a coffee, pissed that another one of your best friends ran away again without a word, so you have a permanent scowl on your face, and you bump into this shy good girl, and she looks at you like you hung the fucking moon. I swear, Al, I felt like someone hit me in the chest when she spoke to me, all quiet and sweet, so I kept going back on the weekdays when I knew I was in the area. And when a customer was giving her grief, I finally stepped in and spoke to her. We started dating like normal couples, and the more we saw each other, the more I fell, and the harder it was to tell her the truth. We spend every Sunday together before I go to Damian's for dinner."

I sigh. "But she doesn't knowyou, Serg." I don't want to hurt him, but he needs to see how bad this will go if she finds out thetruth. He lied to her. "Brother, she'll think your relationship is a lie. She will be hurt."

He growls low. "I know, Al, fuck me, do I know. Both you and Damian, you both fucked up. You were worse than him, but both your women ran; he only just managed to convince her to give it another go, and you, well, I'm shocked Phoebe hasn't put a bullet in you yet."

I chuckle at that and decide to give him the distraction he so badly wants.

"No, she just put a throwing star to my throat, then side kicked me in my stomach and sent me flying. All that was after she held her gun to my head." He bursts out in laughter, like the proud cousin he is. I shake my head, refusing to mention the split lip, too; he won't ever let me live it down, even if I did deserve it.

He sobers up and says, "I'll tell her soon. I just want more time; I don't want to lose her, and I guess I'll have to tell Damian as well. He'll be pissed that you knew first." I chuckle again, then quiet down, and I heave a sigh when he comes back to my girl. "She'll come around, Al. Just give her time, keep persevering, and when you get home, you can sort out the women who did you dirty. Mindy and Selene purposely sent her the link; they knew a surprise pregnancy and you being with Selene would make her leave. Even though I'm fairly sure she now knows Mindy was lying, you still fucked her sister. She just needs time. And as for Candy, she's still living it up unaware; she thinks you're out of town on business. She cannot access the businesses, so we don't have to be concerned about her just yet, but I'll keep an eye on her, okay?"

I sigh again. "Thanks, brother."

He chuckles. "Anytime. I'm going back to my woman. Talk soon." He hangs up, and I drop my phone on the bedside table, which automatically starts charging on the charging padI plugged in. The screen lights up, and a picture of Phoebe studying in the café where we used to meet, pops up. I took it because of how beautiful she looked, practically glowing. I sigh and lay back, closing my eyes, hoping for sleep to come.

I will get you back, baby. You are bound by me, as I am bound by you.

thirteen

Phoebe

---