Page 21 of The Bratva's Nanny

He grabbed her hand, and led her down the long corridor.

“Is everything okay?” Alix asked.

Dmitry rounded the corridor and came to a stop at a picture of his father. He flicked it open, to show the electrical panel he had installed.

“Dmitry?”

“If ever you hear the alarm or a siren, even gunshots, I want you to grab Sofia and bring her here.” He told her the code, and the doors slid open.

He stepped inside but Alix wouldn’t cross into the room.

“I don’t like this.”

“There’s food and water inside for a couple of days,” Dmitry said. “Providing you ration yourselves, you should be fine. No one would stick around.”

“Why are you showing me this?” Alix asked.

“For your and Sofia’s safety. You know I’m not a good man. You know I have many enemies. A lot of people who would like to see me dead. I’m not going to pretend they wouldn’t. They’re going to come for me, Alix. There is no safer place than this. I need you to learn the layout of this house, because there are secret passages that will get you to safety.”

She stepped into the room but he noticed how her arms wrapped around herself as if she was trying to ward off a bad omen. He didn’t want to scare her, but this was the life he led. It wasn’t a good one and he had to make sure she and his daughter were always prepared. There were constant threats on his life.

Dmitry opened the safe, giving her the combination. “You’ll find some money and passports. I’ll have one made for you, and it will go in here. It’ll be a different identity, obviously. But everything to start a new life will be here. Credit cards, with all the relevant information. Everything has been set up.”

“You’re scaring me,” she said.

He took a step toward her and cupped her face. “I shouldn’t have brought you here, I know that. It was selfish of me to do so, but I did it anyway. I should have left you to your old life.”

Tears glistened in her eyes.

“There is always a cost for getting what you want. This is mine.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’ll need you to take care of my daughter if anything happens to me.”

“I don’t like this,” she said through gritted teeth.

“I know. There’s not a whole lot to like about any of this.” He kissed her again, a little surprised that she didn’t fight him. “I’ll teach you the layout of the house. How to move from here, to get you to the garage where a car will be waiting.”

She shook her head. “You’re making it sound like you’ll be dead.”

“There’s a chance I will be.”

“Dmitry, what is going on? Why are you saying this? Why are you doing this?”

“To protect you and my daughter. I see that you love her.”

“You know I do,” Alix said.

“Good, because if something was to happen to me, then you will be the one to take care of her. I’m going to trust you with her.”

****

“I’m going to trust you with her.”

Alix couldn’t stop thinking about those words, over and over again. They kept going around in her mind, over the next week. Dmitry stayed true to his word and forced her to remember every single detail of the house. There was also a test, which took place late at night.

Gone were the kisses or the sweet touches. No, Dmitry slapped her ass in the middle of the night to test her. She had no choice but to carry a large teddy bear that he had purchased to the secure room. Even with the lights out, which he liked to do. From there, she had to lock the three of them in—herself, Dmitry, and the oversized teddy. She also had to remember the combination to the safe, and then, from there she had to try to get out of the house, possibly undetected. There had been a few times men had been waiting.

This had resulted in Dmitry training her. Not in hand-to-hand combat, but in shooting. In the basement of his home, Dmitry had a target practice. They did not use loaded guns, but soft pelts, and the targets were pieces of paper.

Alix hated to admit that she sucked big time at practice. Each time she fired the gun, even though it wasn’t a real gun, she closed her eyes.

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