Page 86 of Brooklyn Bratva

I kissed her hard, knowing that if that had gone wrong, I might never have seen her again. The thought made me want to hit something.

She rested her forehead against mine, looking long into my eyes.

“I never want to lose you, Ivan.”

“I never want to lose you either.”

My arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close as we turned to walk along the street, back towards the boardwalk, patrol car long forgotten.

“Let’s go home?”

“Absolutely. But there’s something I’ve got to do first.” One way or another, Joe was going to have to change his mind, because Becca had to be mine and I wasn’t going to waste another minute.

CHAPTER 45

Ivan

Standing outside Mama’s apartment after a long walk, I dialed Joe’s number and counted the rings, hoping this time he’d pick up. After everything else today, the one thing I was sure of was that Becca and I only worked as a team. Joe needed to deal with that, because I wasn’t holding off on anything with her for a single moment longer.

I didn’t expect the front door to open, and I looked behind me, caught off guard by the vibrating buzz that timed exactly with the ringing in my ear.

My eyebrows darted up, surprised to see him. But there he was, arms folded across his chest like he’d been waiting for the pair of us to come home.

“I thought you were in Albany.”

Becca shook her head, eyes pleading as she looked towards her father.

“He drove me back this morning. He was waiting here in case Mama came back. I thought he’d have gone back by now. Dad, please be nice. If you want to have another go, you can but wait until tomorrow.”

I was fully ready to walk away from him. Tonight was mine and Becca’s and no one was getting in the way of that.

“No.” Joe looked down at his feet. “I want to apologize.”

“You do?” Becca’s face lit up, happiness flooding across her features. I let the coiled tension ease out of my muscles. I was just as surprised as she was.

Joe’s jaw slackened and he almost visibly sagged at Becca’s reaction.

“Yes. I saw what you did on the news. With that guy with the kid at the subway station. I’m sorry. It came up on TV – I saw everything. I was wrong about what I said. You’re a decent guy, Ivan. You always have been. I can see that. You haven’t changed one bit.”

“I told you, didn’t I Dad?”

Joe let out a heavy sigh. “You did. I just didn’t think I could believe it. With… the other side of him, and all.”

Becca shook her head. “Dad. There’s only one side to Ivan. He’s the same whether or not he’s working as a cop. You’ll see. That’s why I love him.”

Right then, I knew that Becca understood me in a way I’d never dared hoped for. The only thing that drove me was my moral code. I did what I had to to protect my own, and I’d done that for as long as I’d been alive. There was nothing anyone could do to change that. And Becca wasn’t going to try.

I pulled her into me, claiming her mouth in a possessive kiss, not giving a damn about what Joe thought of it. Seeing me kissing her was something he was going to have to get used to.

Becca

Dad cleared his throat after a minute, and I pulled away from Ivan, feeling just as starry-eyed as I always did when he kissed me. It was always so difficult to stop when it felt so right to be with him, but it was definitely weird to know Dad was watching.

I looked over at him a little awkwardly, as Ivan’s hand settled around my waist.

“I’m going to have to get used to that.”

“Yes,” said Ivan. “You are.”

I bit my lip, feeling a swell of love for him at his uncompromising tone. Nothing was going to get between us ever again.

For a moment I thought Dad might say something, but then he just swallowed it down.

“Anyway. Come in. I’ve got some chili on the stove. I didn’t know when you’d be back, but I figured you’d be hungry. And Mrs. K and your… uh, friend, seem to think I did the right thing.”

Inside, the warm cooking smells relaxed me more than anything else. Finally, there was no more tension and no more worries. Dad had resigned himself so quickly that it felt like he must have hit his head, or maybe I was dreaming. But it was fine by me. Ivan rescuing that little girl wasn’t the whole story, but it didn’t matter if it got Dad to remember who his friend was underneath.

Max held up a hand in a static wave of greeting from a seat at the kitchen table, barely looking up from his computer, and Mama crossed the room, pulling me in against her bosom for a fierce hug.

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