Page 62 of The Bratva Bosses' Nanny

“You don’t know anything, Emma. Anything about why this is happening. And you’re willing to let your sister be killed for it.”

“It’s not like you gave me any choice! I had no idea about any of this. And you are the one who put me here. You’re responsible for this, not me!” Emma’s voice rises, fiery and defiant.

Hearing Emma so fierce, so independent, stirs something inside me. She doesn’t need our protection right now. I almost smile, feeling a sense of pride in her strength.

Then Emma continues, “You have to tell me where Maria is, and they’ll let you walk away, Kate.”

“What are they going to do with Maria?” Kate’s voice trembles slightly.

“You know what,” Emma says, a hint of coldness in her tone.

“No! You can’t let this happen. All she ever wanted is her goddamn daughter! The daughter of the father they killed!” Kate’s voice is a mix of desperation and anger.

Emma’s voice cuts through the tension. “You’re acting like Maria is innocent! She’s the reason Sergey is dead, isn’t she?”

Kate doesn’t respond immediately. The silence is telling. Could it be? We killed Sergey, but could this have been Maria’s game all along?

Finally, Kate exhales heavily before speaking. “Maria, when I met her, she was a mess. A desperate mess. Pregnant with Alina, still with Sergey. Then she gave birth, and everything changed, Emma. Maria had to leave him, but Sergey wouldn’t let her keep the kid.”

Emma’s tone is incredulous. “So, she came to you, asking for help. And you let her marry your dad, huh? Have you any idea just how messed up this is, Kate?”

Kate’s voice is tinged with resignation. “She had no other choice. Look, I know you’re listening,” she says, clearly addressing us now. “Just let Alina go. We go our separate ways, okay. Alina wants her mother, and her mother wants her daughter.”

Things are never that simple. I find myself wishing, just for a moment, that they could be. I think of Dmitri and Aleksandr in the car, each lost in their own thoughts. Dmitri, still as a statue, Aleksandr, almost at the end of his pack of Marlboros, staring out the window, as hard to read as always.

There was a time when life was simpler, less entangled in the web of deceit and power plays.

Dmitri suddenly opens the car door, stepping out for some fresh air. His movements are deliberate.

I watch him lean against the car, looking up at the sky, perhaps searching for a moment of peace amid the chaos. And there’s Aleksandr, his gaze now fixed on the burning cigarette between his fingers, as if it holds some answer to the dilemma we face.

It’s as if we’re all just pausing for a moment, breathing, silently wondering how the hell we got here. We were just a few hard-up men looking to make good for ourselves, caught in a mix of other people’s life choices. Now we’re struggling with the decisions of others and with their lives in our hands. Where does it end? Who knows?

“Okay, Emma, you win.” Kate’s voice suddenly breaks the silence. “I’ll tell you where Maria is.”

Emma pauses for a moment before answering. “No tricks?”

Kate exhales heavily on the other side of the line. “No tricks.”

Chapter 24: No Promises

Emma

I’ve lost track of time. It feels like hours have passed since I last saw the inside of that room, where my sister, Kate, sat tied to a chair, her fate hanging in the balance. I’m back in my own space now, a small, nondescript room the Bratva have provided for me. It’s been two days since that intense confrontation, and the weight of everything I’ve learned still presses heavily on me.

I sit on the edge of the bed, my mind replaying the events. Kate’s desperate plea for Alina’s freedom, the revelation of Maria’s manipulation and Sergey’s death, it’s all a tangled web I’m somehow caught in the middle of. I can’t shake the feeling of being a pawn in a game much larger than myself.

The door creaks open, and I look up to see Aleksandr entering. His presence brings a sense of comfort, yet also a reminder of the complex world I’m now a part of. “How are you holding up?”

I manage a small, tired smile. “It’s a lot to process. I never imagined my life would take such a turn.”

Aleksandr sits beside me, his body language open, inviting me to share more. “It never occurred to you your family might be capable of such things? That there was a dark side you never knew about?”

I feel the weight of those words, the bitterness in his tone. That’s the thing about Aleksandr, he can’t always hold it in. He doesn’t have to say it, but I feel the accusation. I am part of this dark family, now. A part I had never imagined.

“What happened to you, Aleksandr? What turned you into this cold-hearted man?”

I expect some protest, some attempt to brush it off as no big deal. I expect a quip, or some other distraction.

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