Page 80 of Brutal Bratva King

I can see she is going to talk, so I wait patiently for her to get her thoughts together.

“That guy that Rodion beat up—“ she looks at me and her eyes are thick with worry.

“Yes?”

“He’s been contacting me nonstop since that night. I gave him my number before—well—you know, before things got crazy. He’s been stalking me and even though I’ve asked him to leave me alone, he won’t.”

I stare at her in shock. This is so much worse than I thought it was. I thought she was just stressed about the whole getting drunk thing—or embarrassed—but she is actually in real trouble and she’s been going through it all by herself.

“Honey, this isreallyserious. This isn’t something you should keep to yourself. If some asshole is bothering you, we have to stop him and make it clear he is messing with the wrong girl,” my voice is tight with concern for her.

“I don’t want my brothers to be angry,” she huffs.

“Why would they be angry if he is the one who won’t leave you alone?”

“Because I was irresponsible that night—and it’s my fault this is happening.”

I shake my head. “No, sweetie. You might have been irresponsible—but if you’ve made it clear to him that you want him to back off and he isn’t doing that—that’s on him. That’s not your fault at all.”

She bites the inside of her cheek, filled with nervous tension.

“I’ll talk to Rodion, ok? If you want me to—but either way—we can’t just leave this.”

She nods. “Will you? Because I’m too scared to face my brother. He can be so mean when he’s angry.”

I chuckle. “I know. He can seem really daunting—but he has the biggest, softest heart when it comes to the people he loves.”

Chapter 25 - Rodion

It’s been a long morning already, it’s not even lunchtime yet, and all I want is to go home to Anya.

There have been truckloads of shipments arriving this week and it’s a massive process to unload them and make sure they are organized correctly for how they need to be shipped out.

The key to a successful business is planning ahead with every step you take.

It makes things so much more efficient in the long run.

Today though, I am constantly distracted with thoughts of my beautiful wife waiting for me at home—but that’s how it is most days lately. My life has become less oriented around work andonlywork and more oriented around creating a good life for my gorgeous wife and our little baby, who is on the way. I’ve started to learn how much more fulfilling life is when you have someone to love—and who loves you back just as fiercely.

I’m so much happier—as though this has given my life a whole new purpose. She’s given my life meaning.

Anya is also teaching me to be less controlling—to rather trust the universe that everything does turn out just how it’s meant to turn out. I’m trying not to be so hard on my brothers and Ruslana. They need to learn things for themselves. I can’t keep track of their every movement and every choice.

The floor manager's voice grabs my attention from across the warehouse.

“Rodion, where do you want these containers?”

“Put them at the back of the warehouse. We only need to ship those out next week,” I shout back to him. He waves his hand in the air and nods his acknowledgment.

I sigh, turning to observe the rest of the organized chaos around me.

I can’t believe it’s only eleven. Still a long day ahead.

My phone vibrates in my pocket.

Anya’s name flashes across the screen and immediately I’m smiling. I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have a woman as beautiful and caring as her to call my own.

“Hello, princess,” I say happily, the phone pressed against my ear.

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