Page 18 of The Bratva's Nanny

“You are mine, Alix. From tonight, you belong to me. You sleep in my bed. Your body is mine and you take care of my daughter. You are my lover and my nanny.”

Alix took a deep breath. “I … I can’t sleep with you.”

“You will.”

He would give her time to get over her anger at him. Dmitry had fucked up. He knew that. He’d win her over. He didn’t know how at that moment, but he would do it.

The women returned to take back their plates, and then came back into the dining room with dessert.

Alix kept looking toward him.

Dmitry didn’t know what to do next. This was new territory to him. He was used to killing people, not apologizing or making it up to people. Alix hadn’t betrayed him, but part of him knew she would. He’d hurt her or upset her, and she’d want to retaliate. That was how his world worked. Someone might approach her with an offer of money or a position. Either way, he would keep an eye on her, and when that happened, he’d be ready.

There was no way he would fall for this woman, even though he craved her touch almost as much as her smile. He wouldn’t allow her to get too close. Dmitry was a master at keeping people at a distance and spotting those who would hurt him.

After dessert, he walked with Alix back to their room. The clothes she once owned had been ruined. He’d already dealt with the men who took his instructions too far. They were no longer working at his home, but had been sent out onto the streets to deal with the threat directly. Dmitry had told them to do a thorough check, not to damage anything as they did. The idiots.

Alix wore one of his shirts to bed, and as she climbed in, she curled up as far away from him as possible. Dmitry wasn’t having that. She didn’t want his touch, and that was fine, but he wasn’t going to allow her to create a distance between them.

****

Alix didn’t want to forgive Dmitry easily. He had hurt her. But, his confessions about the people were around him, including his wife, had been hard to ignore. She felt for him.

He didn’t trust everyone at the house—not a single guard, chef, or cleaner. He didn’t believe they would protect his family. She also knew he didn’t trust her, even though she had just sworn to him that she would be loyal. There was no way her loyalty would be easily bought. She didn’t care about money or wealth.

Staring at Sofia as the little girl wriggled on the grass, Alix smiled. Dmitry thought he had a free pass because of this girl. The truth was, she couldn’t hold a grudge, not for long. Not after knowing Dmitry had spent his life constantly looking over his shoulder, never trusting anyone. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the life he’d been living.

Nibbling her lip, she couldn’t help but look toward the house, wondering if Dmitry was in his office. He hadn’t been there that morning when she woke up. Sofia had been. The little girl had nightmares again, and had come in search of them. Alix didn’t know what to do, but Sofia hadn’t asked questions as to why Alix had been in her daddy’s bed.

“Alix, catch me,” Sofia said.

She had just enough time to hold her arms out as Sofia threw herself into her arms. She chuckled as she swung Sofia up in the air, and then slowly brought her down toward the ground.

“Again!”

Lifting her back up into the air, she swooped her up in the sky, then brought her back down.

“Again.”

Alix chuckled as she did this multiple times, ignoring the ache in her elbows.

“Can I help?” Dmitry asked.

“Daddy! Yes, higher.”

She let Sofia go and the little girl ran to her father’s arms. Alix tried not to look at the thickness of his arms as he gripped Sofia and lifted her up to the sky. He had wrapped those arms around her last night, pulling her close.

She didn’t want to be thinking about all the things he could do to her. His hands in particular. She already had bruises on her hips from where he held her in place as he took her. She loved being with him.

Watching him now with his daughter, she had to wonder why his wife did it. Yes, Dmitry was cold. His smiles were few and far between. He rarely talked. He certainly never divulged how he was feeling. Even as he told her the truth about his life, or some truth about his life last night over dinner, he’d not shown any emotion. He had simply been stating facts. Cold, hard facts. Like he was reading from a newspaper or something as mundane. She had no idea if it was even possible to reach out to him. To show him there were people who cared. Was it possible to allow herself to fall for him? To feel love?

Sofia’s giggles pushed those thoughts away. Alix had never felt love and she didn’t anticipate ever feeling it. There had only been lust in her life before, and it was something she could completely understand.

She glanced down at her wrist, but the watch she normally wore had been broken. Alix didn’t want to interrupt the father/daughter time, so she started to walk back to the house.

“Where are you going, Alix?” Dmitry asked.

She turned toward him. “I wanted to see if it was lunchtime.”

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