Page 75 of Brooklyn Bratva

With each mile between us, I realized even more clearly that I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was being with him.

As much as Ivan had scared me, and as far past the line as he’d gone, it felt like he was part of me, and it hurt to think everything we had could be torn down so easily.

What could I do? If I refused to go, Dad would have gotten Ivan in trouble, or Ivan would have stopped him from doing anything at all. I knew my man had a code, but I didn’t trust that Maxim operated under the same one, and with the pair of them riled up from their victory and just a little drunk, I couldn’t risked it. But Max had been the one pointing the gun, and it had been Ivan who’d called him off.

I didn’t like to think about how far Ivan might have gone to keep me, but deep down I knew he’d come not far from killing my own father!

I was the one who walked away, so why did I feel so shitty that he hadn’t stopped me right then and there and point blank refused to let me go?

The stupid part of me that doubted his feelings for me was rearing its ugly head.

Dad’s phone had been ringing off the hook and he’d cancelled every single call that came through. Ivan’s number barely had time to flash up on the screen. But I knew it was him. Who else would Dad ignore so vehemently?

“How could you let this happen, Becca? I thought I brought you up to have more self-respect.”

I stared out of the window, looking towards the distance and let his words float over me. I had all the self-respect I needed. I knew my heart and my mind; just because it wasn’t what my dad wanted for me, that didn’t make it wrong.

“I love him. I don’t know why that’s so hard for you to understand.”

“Maybe because he’s some kind of criminal and he’s been duping us both with this bullshit Good Cop act for years!”

I let out a breath, at the point of tearing my hair out. Dad wasn’t wrong, but what did it matter in this day and age, when life was so much about taking what you could get, if the ways and means he took things weren’t what society over here had in mind. “It’s not bullshit, Dad. He’s a good guy.”

“Becca, wake up, he wipes out the people who don’t agree with him. They were swapping stories about whacking people for crying out loud.”

My expression hardened. “No. He doesn’t. He does what he has to to protect the people he loves, and sometimes that takes more than burying your head in the sand or writing an article about the injustice of it all! You wouldn’t understand.”

“Don’t you dare tell me I don’t understand. Everything I’ve done has been to protect you and give you the best life possible. And now you’re going to do this with your life? What about all your plans – being a doctor, settling down?”

“It’s not your job to protect me anymore. All I’m doing is falling in love, and trying to start a life with a man you’ve spent half my life telling me was one of the best guys you know. I want you to be happy for us, not fight us the whole way. I’m not giving up my plans, Dad, and Ivan would never ask me to.”

“Becca, honey, you’re delusional. He’ll drop you in a second, as soon as he’s done with you. I’m sorry I even introduced you to him. I never should have trusted him.”

“Why? Because you think he’s one of those Russians you always warned me to keep away from? Well he isn’t. He’s better than them. He owns them. And the people he works for, they’re like no one you’ve ever known. He let you walk away with me. You wouldn’t be able to tell anybody anything before they shut you up permanently.”

“Listen to yourself! This is the life you want?”

I glared at him across the car, feeling all the hurt and confusion bubble up inside me. “I just want to be with him, Dad. Everything he’s done, is for his mom. That’s the only reason he ever got involved with them. I believe that. I do. But he’s going to protect himself if you threaten him. And you said you were going to the cops. Never mind him, the Bratva isn’t going to let you destroy him. You can’t hold that against him. It’s out of his control.”

Dad shook his head. “I can’t listen to this. You think he cares about you? You wait and see what happens. I bet he stops calling. I give it a week.”

I swallowed hard. “I’m not staying here that long. I’m going to be with him Dad. You’re the one who’s going to get left out.”

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