Page 68 of Use Me, Daddy

“He’s part of the Russian Bratva,” I said finally.

Her eyes widened and her face paled a little. “Like themafia? Amy, what the hell? Are you serious?”

I nodded, my voice dropping. “I didn’t know at first. He didn’t tell me right away, but… yeah. He’s part of it. And it’s not just him—it’s his brothers too. They’re powerful, Zoey. Like,scarypowerful.”

“Holy shit,” she breathed, setting her cracker down. “And you’re working for him too?”

“I’m not just working for him,” I admitted, my voice trembling slightly. “It’s more than that. I… I’m involved with him.”

Zoey’s mouth fell open, her expression a mix of shock and disbelief. “You’redatinga mafia boss?”

“It’s not that simple,” I said quickly. “He’s… he’s not what you’d think. Yes, he’s dangerous, but he’s also very protective.”

She stared at me for a moment, then grabbed her wineglass and took a long sip. “Okay. Like, how dangerous are we talking?”

I glanced down at my hands, my mind flashing to the Orlovs and the chaos they’d brought to the gallery. “There’s another family—the Orlovs. They’re trying to move in on Aleksei’s territory, and they’re not playing around. They sent men to one of the auctions. They cut the power, tried to steal some of the pieces. It was… it was bad, Zoey. Really bad.”

She set her glass down carefully. “And you were there for all of this?”

“Yeah,” I said softly. “I saw things I can’t unsee. Aleksei’s men—they handled it, but it was terrifying…” I trailed off, my stomach tightening at the thought.

Zoey reached over, grabbing my hand. “Amy, this is serious. Are you sure you’re safe with him?”

I met her gaze, my chest tightening.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I feel safer with him than I do without him. He’s… he’s not just some criminal, Zoey. He’s smart, calculated. And he cares about me. I know that much.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “You’re insane, you know that? But I guess I can’t judge. If you’re happy—or at least not dead—I’ll take it.”

I laughed, the sound shaky but real. “Thanks, Zoey. I needed that.”

She raised her glass, a small smile tugging at her lips. “To surviving mob bosses and insane life choices.”

I clinked my glass against hers, taking a sip. Zoey’s expression was still caught somewhere between shock and fascination, and I knew I wasn’t off the hook yet. I could tell by the glint in her eye that she wasn’t going to stop until she had the whole story.

I was going to have to tell her everything.

“Okay, so… I don’t know anything about the Morozovs or the Orlovs for that matter,” Zoey began, twirling her wineglass between her fingers. “But there’s this one guy who comes into the gallery I work at.”

“Yeah?” I prompted, curiosity piqued despite myself.

She leaned in conspiratorially, her eyes lighting up. “He’s Italian, hot as sin, and buys everything in cash. And when I say everything, I mean he drops five figures on the regular, like it’s pocket change.”

“That’s… suspicious,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Right? Everyone in the gallery whispers about him. He’s probably mafia too. Like, it’s basically common knowledge in the art world.” She took a sip of wine, her grin turning wicked. “But honestly? He’s the kind of guy I’d do unspeakable things with if he asked. I mean, come on. He’s got that dark, broody thing going on, all confidence and mystery. Total panty-dropper.”

I rolled my eyes, laughing despite myself. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Hey, I’m just saying, maybe he could help you. Maybe you could drop Aleksei’s name, see if there’s any overlap in the whole mafia social scene?”

“Zoey, I’m not about to waltz into your gallery and start talking Bratva business with some random guy,” I said, though a small part of me filed away the information for later.

“Fair,” she said, shrugging. “But I mean, keep it in your back pocket. Just in case.”

The conversation lulled for a moment, and I took the opportunity to snag another bite of cheese from the charcuterie board.

“So…” she said, drawing the word out as her grin returned. “How good is Aleksei in bed?”

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