Page 40 of The Bratva Bosses' Nanny

“I’ll have Henry pick one for you,” he offers as if it’s the simplest solution.

“Who’s Henry?” I’m still reeling from the last few minutes.

“My driver. What size are you?”

“I don’t know. I guess small?” I say, unsure.

He smiles, that infuriatingly charming smile, and his eyes flicker down before meeting mine again. “Are you sure? Because those aren’t small,” he points to my breasts.

Heat floods my face, and I’m sure I’m the color of Zoe’s hair. I’m speechless, caught between embarrassment and the sudden urge to laugh. Only Aleksandr could shift the mood from intensely intimate to teasingly casual in a heartbeat.

“Well, I. I. You can’t just—”

He cuts off my stammering with another chuckle, and there’s a twinkle in his eye that’s all mischief. “Relax, Emma. We’ll find something that fits.”

I cross my arms over my chest, suddenly conscious of my body in a way I hadn’t been before. “And what if I don’t want to swim?”

“Then you can sit poolside and watch. Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two.”

“Watch you, you mean?” I arch an eyebrow.

He steps closer. “Who else?”

I swallow with difficulty, his proximity sending my pulse into overdrive. “I’m not a voyeur,” I protest, but the protest is weak, and we both know it.

“No?” His voice is a low rumble, and I’m acutely aware of how little space is left between us. “We’ll see about that.”

He turns to leave, and I’m left standing there, a cocktail of anticipation and nerves. I’m in over my head, and the worst part is, I’m not sure I want to be anywhere else.

I should probably go check on Alina. I turn towards the door, finally releasing the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Oh boy.

Checking on Alina is my excuse, but I know it’s also my lifeline back to normalcy, back to a role I understand—caring for that sweet little girl, away from the complicated web of attraction and danger that surrounds her guardians. But as I pause outside her room, listening for any sound she’s awake, I know that ‘normal’ is a ship that’s long since sailed.

Chapter 16: Submerged in Secrets

Aleksandr

The next morning barrels in, no pause button in sight.

Michael and Kate Madden. My tech team scoured the digital world for dirt on them. But what comes up is squeaky clean, the kind of perfect that doesn’t sit right with me. Too perfect. A family like that, with money oozing from their pores? There’s got to be a crack somewhere, and I’ll find it.

If you looked me up, you’d find jack shit. That’s how we operate—organized, discreet, untouchable. The Bratva isn’t some street gang; we’re a well-oiled machine. Infiltration. Immunity. Size. We’ve got it all.

Thank God for my team. They make the police look like amateurs, not that we can’t get our hands dirty with a bribe or two. But with these guys, I don’t need to. They’ll dig up everything, leave no stone unturned. And so far, Emma’s story checks out. Not that I doubted her—I trust her, completely.

Nikolai and Dmitri didn’t bat an eye when I told them. But something’s off. There’s a stench of something rotten in this too-perfect picture.

“Find out about Michael Madden’s wife. Also, about this beauty salon.” I instruct my team.

I leave our ‘office’—the facade for our laundering operation. No shabby laundromat or cliché casino for us. We went high-end, a tech company now valued in the billions. All thanks to the meticulous work of our lawyers and some legal bullshit.

I can’t shake the feeling we’re missing a piece, a vital clue. But what? I lean back in my chair, trying to put the pieces together.

Grace. She turned her back on us, sold us out. But the story’s too neat, the edges too clean. Someone paid her off, sure, but for what? Just internal communications? That’s small fry for the risk involved. And the timeline—it all went down right around when Emma came into the picture. Coincidence?

It’s not adding up, and I hate it when things don’t add up.

If there’s something lurking beneath the polished surface of that place, I’ll drag it into the light. And if Kate’s involved, if she’s part of this mess? Well, Emma’s going to have a lot more to deal with than just a few swimming lessons.

---