Page 12 of Stolen By the Bratva King

But there’s something else shifting in her expression, too. Is it desire? Lust? Blood rushes through my ears as I wait to see whether she’ll agree to my conditions.

She’s smart, I can see that. I’ve only just met her. I know she’ll make the right choice.

5

Hazel

“Ican tell you’re thinking about it.” David’s eyes are flint and steel as they stare into my soul, making my heart pound.

“What exactly will it entail? You said I would have to stay with you?” I ask.

“For now, it’s safer,” he explains, shifting his weight and leaning back in his chair. “Especially after those gun dealers who got away have seen your face. If they see you on the street, well let’s just say, they won’t be letting you slip through their fingers a second time.”

My heart slams against my ribcage. “You mean they might try to hurt me again? Kill me?”

“Oh, they won’ttry. Theywill.”

My willpower turns to ashes. I sit back, digesting this information.

David’s expression softens and he leans forward as if he wants to cradle my hands in his. Part of me wonders if I might just let him get away with it.

“You don’thaveto do anything.” The hardness in his features dissolves even more.

It seems like a cruel joke from the universe. Why do I have to be attracted to a man involved in and surrounded by so much crime and bloodshed? He’s so beautiful, and that’s a crime in itself. He keeps giving me that piercing stare that makes me feel like my insides are melting.

I look away because I don’t want him to have that kind of power over me. The problem with David, even though I’ve known him all of five minutes, is that he knows his power affects everyone around him, and gender roles have nothing to do with it.

“Well, if Ididagree to your terms?” I hate to sound desperate, but if I want the story, David is going to make me earn the right to get it. And I certainly don’t want to be wiped off the map by those gun thugs. I would be paranoid and looking over my shoulder every time I had to leave my apartment.

“You’ll have to stay with me,” he says as casually as if stating the weather forecast.

“Stay with you, in your house.” I let the words marinate in the air between us.

“That’s right.” He continues giving me that intense stare down again.

I release a deep breath I don’t even realize I’m holding. “Why is that necessary?”

He shrugs, placing his pen down on his desk. His eyes finally leave mine. “If you want a full, immersive experience, you need to be there all the time. Besides, like I said, your life might depend on it, until I can find a solution to that problem.”

“Does finding a solution involve killing people?”

His smile is harmless on the surface, but like the sleek black ocean in the dead of night, it’s icy cold underneath. “Don’t trouble yourself with the details. It doesn’t suit you.”

But living in a crime boss’s house apparentlydoesseem to fit me.

I straighten my spine. “Immersive experience?”

When his eyes flicker up to meet mine, his expression is serious. “If you want to know what my life is like, you have to be there to understand it. If you want the real story, there’s only one way to do it without getting yourself killed.”

My cheeks burn and I wring my hands in my lap. “I understand, but the threats are unnerving.”

“I’m not trying to scare you. I’m just trying to be truthful.”

I close my eyes and inhale a sharp breath. “Okay.”

“So, is that a yes?”

I gnaw on my bottom lip, contemplating his offer. It’s dangerous, yes, but so is going out there on my own when those other gangsters are still roaming the streets, probably looking for me so they can shut me up for good about what I saw.

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