Page 68 of Hers to Control

Mia eyes the salad warily but takes a small spoonful. After a moment, her expression brightens. “Thanks, Mellie.”

Mellie beams before turning her attention back to the kitchen. I briefly wonder what Gianna told her cook about Anton’s absence. Whatever it is, obviously the staff received some sort of explanation for the absence of the usually ever-present man.

“What?” Mia asks, and I shake my head.

“Nothing important. I have something to take care of this morning, but I want to introduce you to some friends at lunch. They own a restaurant in the area. If you’re not feeling too nauseous, I want to take you there to meet them.”

Finishing her mouthful of fruit salad, Mia eyes me, obviously surprised. She probably didn’t expect an asshole like me to have any friends, which is fair. I’m not sure I would have bothered to take her out today if I didn’t need to keep her eating and there was nothing better than Maria’s pasta.

“Okay,” Mia draws the word out, obviously not on board yet. “But what about the Russians? You’ve been doing pretty much everything to help me hide, only to take me to a public restaurant now?”

“Gianna will explain. She and Mikhail were talking last night and have a plan for how to deal with his father. She asks that you come to her office whenever you’re finished with breakfast.”

Mia looks at me with an incredulous expression. “You didn’t think that was a priority over getting some toast? You know, thewhole, hey, we have an idea for how to stop the Russians from wanting to kill or torture you?”

The way she stares at me with that stubborn expression of hers has me considering whether I should drag her upstairs for a round of early morning exercise, but I quickly dismiss the idea. Anton’s body won’t deal with itself, and as much as I’d prefer a taste of Mia, I’ve got no intention of letting bodies I killed wait around to be found by someone.

Unlike Mia’s dead father, I don’t intend to let anyone lock me up and keep me away from her.

“I think breakfast first was exactly the right plan. You’re growing my baby. The rest can wait.”

Mia stares at me for a moment, then puts the knife down. Yeah, we’re making definite progress.

I get up and lean down to press a kiss on her mouth. Might as well take advantage while she’s being agreeable. “I’ve got to go now, but I’ll pick you up for lunch.”

Mia

Giving a quick knock on Gianna’s door, I wait for her call to enter. I’m not loving this new dependence on my friend’s goodwill, even if Gianna has been nothing but generous to me. Growing up depending only on myself means that depending on others will probably never feel as comfortable to me as it does for those who grew up knowing what it feels like for others to give a shit about you.

Still, I’m learning.

When Gianna calls me in, I give her a smile.

“Hey, Eric said you wanted me to come by.”

Gianna nods and gets up from behind the desk, nodding at the couch.

“This used to be my father’s office, you know?” she says as she walks over.

I walk over as well and flop down onto the worn and very comfortable couch. “Oh, yeah?” I’m actually more than a little curious to learn more about Gianna’s life. She shared a bit about her family in the past, but until recently, we mostly kept conversations light. Things are changing, though. And maybe I am too. Hard-ass fighter, to hormone-ridden damsel in distress.Ugh.

Not sure I’m fully on board with that analogy, but perhaps allowing a bit more vulnerability into my life isn’t the end of the world. I’m still here, after all. Primarily because I have friends like Gianna and Eric to help. Though Eric doesn’t really fit into the friend category. More like bad-ass lover. I could accept that for now.

“My father used to be in this room dealing with all the things related to running the family, even when I was running most of the property business already, and my uncle took care of the gambling. My father still had his eyes on everything concerningla familia, and he was always the one to deal with our people. Everyone knew he was the one in charge.”

If I hadn’t been watching her closely, I likely would have missed the heaved breath Gianna lets out. It’s silent, a barely noticeable sign of the burden she’s carrying now that her father and uncle are dead.

“Now you do it all alone.”

She nods. “In a manner of speaking, yeah. I have good, loyal people working in Bruno Real Estates who are keeping the day-to-day things going. And after some re-organizing, I got the gambling going again as well. Those are the operations that keep some of my men who prefer the old ways happy and the games make a decent profit still, too. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

I nod. I never expected Gianna to share so much of her organization with me so frankly, even if it had always been an unspoken understanding between us that those things were a part of her life. “Eric said that you and Mikhail had a suggestion that might make his father back off?”

“Perhaps, yes.” Gianna’s smile tells me that this isn’t a sure bet, but she wants me to indulge her, so I nod.

“All right. Tell me.”

“The reason Tsepov senior went after you is two-fold. He wanted to pressure your father and show everyone the consequences of breaking with the Bratva, and he was testing Mikhail.”

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