Page 9 of Rebellion

How stubborn he was.

“Sofia, I am not kidding around, I?—”

“Oleg? Are you in here?”

Sofia spun, slightly alarmed at the sound of her cousin’s voice. Aleksandr Anisimov was the head of the Bratva. He was also the man who had taken care of her when her father died. She’d been seventeen and terrified. But Sacha had been livingwith them for several years by that point. And he’d made it clear that he would always take care of her.

They were family, more like brother and sister than cousins.

But a part of her was still scared that his love for her could be broken. That the affection he gave her in private would turn to disgust.

To hatred.

That couldn’t happen.

Her breathing grew more rapid.

Losing Sacha wasn’t an option. He was her world.

He’d even opened this restaurant for her.

Sure, he used the secret back room for meetings, which often included the leaders of some of the most powerful gangs in San Antonio. Meetings she wasn’t privy to, meetings she was supposed to ignore, to pretend they never happened.

But she knew the way these things worked. She’d grown up the Princess of the Bratva. Sofia knew how to keep secrets. How to hide what she really thought or felt.

Although both her father and Sacha had shielded her from the harsher side of what they did.

Maybe they’d shielded her too well. Perhaps if she’d had a few more street smarts, she wouldn’t have gotten herself into the predicament she was now in.

Crap.

What would Sacha think if he found her in here with Colm?

He liked Colm... at least he didn’t seem to hate him. But Colm wasn’t Russian. He wasn’t in the family.

So she knew he wouldn’t be considered an appropriate partner for her.

Before she could figure out what to do, Sacha opened the door to the storeroom and walked in. Sacha was a handsome man. Not as broad as Colm, but just as tall. He had dark hair andeyes. One of his lady friends had once described his eyes as cold as the pits of hell.

She hadn’t lasted long.

And she obviously never got the Sacha that Sofia did. The one who could be kind and warm. But she understood that he couldn’t show that side of himself to just anyone.

The reason she got that side of him was because he trusted her.

A trust you betrayed . . .

Her breathing came in sharp pants again.

Sacha came to a sudden stop as he spotted Colm, and his gaze narrowed in on the large Scot.

But Colm never moved his gaze off her.

Risky move if he wanted to get out of here alive.

“What’s going on in here?” Sacha demanded.

Say something.

---