Page 36 of Bratva Queen

Her breath staggered and she wiped her tears. I stood up to hold her shoulders and look into her eyes.

“And this is why I am so terrified of touching you. Not because I would get a shot to the head, but because he would kill you, Isabel. And I can’t live with that. I can’t lose you.”

She shook her head angrily. “Don’t say that! It only makes it hurt more!”

“But I need you to understand, Isa, baby!” I pleaded, bending at the knees to force her to look into my eyes. “I want you to refuse his proposal. I want it more than anything! I want to take you right this very second and run away with you! Have a real life together somewhere else!”

“So why can’t we do that?” she cried.

“Because not only will he find us, but he’ll find your mama. He’ll find my brother. Your friend, Essie?”

“Essa,” she sniffed.

“He’ll use them; he’ll hurt them. He’ll use every single person you’ve ever loved against you. But if we stop this right now, if we keep our heads down, we can avoid that. We can live a life where at least we’ll be around each other, right?”

She pulled in a deep, shuddering breath, struggling to come to terms with it all.

“I promise you, I will always be there to protect you. But I can only love you from behind the bratva mask,” I said in a soft, though stern voice. “From the shadows. That’s the only way we’ll be able to stay alive.”

She sighed, beginning to reluctantly nod her head. I nodded, my eyes jumping between hers to make sure that she’d grasped everything I’d said.

“Okay. Get your things, and tomorrow, you tell him yes, okay?”

She pulled in another deep breath and pushed it out in a sigh, her voice so very small as she replied, “Okay.”

Chapter14

Aleksei

“Just as I expected,priyatel’, she said yes!”

Stepan smirked proudly, and I smiled as genuinely as I possibly could. “How could she say no? To a king like you?” I said it in a teasing, flattering way, though of course, my words held a much darker meaning. “She’d be crazy.”

I watched him inspect the product that had recently been packed for distribution. He opened a small bag, tasted it on the tip of his finger, then nodded with a shrug. “Seems like the same great shit as usual. You see? I told you we could trust this guy.” He popped a fresh little bag into his coat pocket, then picked up his handgun that lay on the table and holstered it in his coat. “Boys, send it out.”

A group of Koslov bratva soldiers who waited patiently at the side of the room—a new location, this time an old abandoned house—quickly gathered up the product into separate larger bags, to be delivered to certain distributors around the city.

I was still staying at Stepan’s rental house near Isabel’s apartment, though he insisted that very soon we would all be relocating back to Moscow. It was his decision, I knew that much, but I wondered how Isabel felt about it. Would we move her mother with us?

Just the thought of her had me on edge when I was with Stepan. Becausebozhe moi… I stepped so close to the edge. I almost let myself fall, right into her arms, right into her fucking velvet sanctuary that got so goddamn wet when I… I shuddered at the thought, grinding my teeth together. It sounded crass to so desperately want to have been inside her, but in my mind, I thought of it in the best, most fucking beautiful way.

During that moment, I wasn’t feeling proud about getting her on her back, or disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to be inside her. All I could think about was hearing her moan my name, about making her feel the best she’d ever felt in her entire life. If I had pushed into her, my only thought would have been about whether or not she liked it, wanted more, wanted me.

Fuck, I was lost for this woman. But not stupidly lost; I still had the mind to get myself under control and, essentially, save both of our lives.

I was careful; before I ever knew she was going to come around, I had already checked for hidden cameras. There were none. It was my job—I had some experience in the Koslov security team back in Moscow—to know how to look for cameras, bugs, recording devices hidden in lampshades, coats, handbags, and the like. Besides, by that point, the product had been moved to its new location, so I knew there was no reason for anyone to be watching that house.

Isa was intelligent about it as well. As she’d said, she knew what she had to do. And she’d now done it—accepted Stepan—and understood the position she was in. Because once he’d seen her at that club, there was no going back.

But I’d had enough dwelling on what could or couldn’t be. I just wanted to focus on the future and try to be around as much as possible so that I could keep an eye on Stepan and make sure he didn’t lay a violent hand on her again. It was a painful realization that I couldn’t have complete control over the situation, and that they would be spending a lot of the time alone. All I could do was my best to try and make things work.

It wasn’t long after Isabel had said yes to Stepan that he began his arrangements to return to his home city. For him, that didn’t mean booking flights and ending rental agreements, it meant hiring the right man to represent him here in Belarus, to continue the drug business he’d so lovingly set up. Dima, the supplier, was more than happy to stretch out his business too, of course. He would meet Stepan in Moscow to discuss new ventures there as well.

Of course, Stepan already had many business ventures in Moscow—certain ones my brother got himself involved in long ago—but he was so happy with this new shit, he was eager to invite Dima out to Moscow as well.

* * *

I stoodat the side of the large entertainment lounge in the Koslov Moscow mansion, watching the guests chime with laughter and murmur with conversation.

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