Page 9 of Brooklyn Bratva

“Your father’s a good man. He made a good life for you.”

I felt my cheeks heat again, embarrassed that Ivan was the one defending the man who’d done so much for me, even if I wasn’t being serious. I hated to think he’d see me as ungrateful. My irritations with Dad mostly came from the fact that he’d dragged me away from Brooklyn, away from the few memories I had of my mom, and away from everything that seemed exciting in the world. Mostly Ivan himself.

“I know. He really likes it there. He’s doing great. The school really values him. And our house is pretty sweet. I mean, it’s just him rattling around in it, but it’s nice when I’m back for the holidays.”

“You prefer to live in the city?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Not Manhattan. I like Brooklyn, I guess. I mean it’s pretty safe, crime’s low thanks to the dedicated police officers.” My smile glinted and I glanced up at him again.

Ivan scoffed, shaking his head at me.

“We do our best. Scum like that shouldn’t be around here.” His jaw rippled as he clenched it, and I could see how much the incident bothered him.

“Well, I feel very protected right now.” My eyes lingered on his lips and I had to force myself to look away before I did something stupid like try and kiss him. I could only imagine how awful it would be when he pushed me away and I wasn’t brave enough to risk that he wouldn’t.

Ivan stopped walking and turned to face me. His hand slipped under my chin and he tilted my head higher so I couldn’t hide from his eyes any longer. “I will always keep you safe.”

He sounded so damn sincere, I forgot how to breathe. My heart was thundering so hard in my ears the sounds of the city dulled down to nothing. All I could do was nod mutely. For a minute, I thought Ivan was going to lean down and claim my mouth with his own.

And then my phone rang, and we sprang apart.

My head was spinning as I checked the display, hands shaking from the unexpected surge of adrenaline. Had that really happened? Was Ivan really just looking at me like he wanted to devour me?

I blinked, forcing myself to focus as I picked up the phone.

“Hi, Dad.”

Of course it was my father. Right when the man of my dreams nearly kisses me, my Dad’s sixth sense must have kicked in and he had to call me right this second.

“Becca! Are you there yet? Did you meet Ivan?”

Before I could answer, Ivan’s hand tugged my cell right out of my grip. His eyes weren’t so focused on mine any longer, no doubt because of Dad’s excellent timing and I felt the loss. My heart squeezed painfully with the thought that even though he was attracted to me, Ivan’s friendship with my father, his loyalty to him, might be too much of a barrier for this to ever happen between us. It was a reality I’d never considered in my fantasies.

I watched him turn away from me, striding a few paces away, one hand deep in his pocket.

“Hey Joe.” I watched Ivan’s smile pull in as my Dad said something to him on the other end of the line, but there was a sense of strain at the corners of his eyes. “You can relax. She’s here. We’re going to get something to eat. She’ll call you back later. Stop being overprotective. She’s with me now.”

He met my eyes across the space he’d put between us, and I swallowed hard. Those words burned into me and I didn’t hear another thing he said to my dad. That was all I wanted. To be with Ivan, under the protection of his strong, muscular arms. I didn’t need anyone else if I was with him.

He hit the end call button.

And that was that.

I shook my head on a slow smile.

“Don’t you think that was kinda rude?”

“He needs to loosen the apron strings.”

I scoffed a laugh of my own, shaking my head at him again because I knew no one but him could get away with suggesting that to my Dad.

“To be fair, I did just get mugged.”

“And I just saved you. No harm, no foul. You don’t want to give the guy an aneurysm. He needs to let you stand on your own two feet.”

Amen. I could have kissed him. Dad had been overprotective of me since forever, and all I wanted was a chance to figure out the next step in my life without him checking up on me every five seconds.

Ivan handed me my phone back. “Put that away before it gets you into any more trouble.”

This time I had to pick up my pace to keep up with him as he stalked off down the street, towards the boardwalk. The weight of my bag, packed with everything I thought I’d need for the month, didn’t even seem to register.

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