Stolen by the Mob Boss : A Russian Mafia Romance (Bratva Hitman) by Nicole Fox (first color ebook reader txt) 📕

slide up close to Lucy. She puts her bookmark in the novel she’s reading and slips down next to me. Her arm drapes over my chest and she looks up at me.

“Can I ask you a question?” she wonders.

“Go for it.”

“If you weren’t doing the work you do now, what would you be doing with your life?”

It’s a tough question. I almost can’t imagine a life without this. Without the pain and struggle that I went through because of my uncles. I don’t know if I’d even like the man I might be if circumstances were different. But for Lucy’s sake, I don’t get into all of that. Instead, I say,

“I’d like to do something less stressful, that’s for sure.”

She cracks a smile and brushes a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Like what?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug. “Maybe something with security. Something where I’m not trying to get into restricted areas but instead trying to keep people out. Something where I can protect people.”

I’ve never realized what makes that fantasy life sound so enticing, but I think I’ve cracked the code. If I worked for security, I wouldn’t be harming anyone. I’d be protecting them, same as I did for Lucy. Same as I wish I could’ve done for my family. It’s a natural instinct in me. It’s the reason I don’t hurt women or children. Everything in my bones says to keep them safe, out of harm’s way.

“I can never predict what you’re going to say next,” she says, shaking her head.

“What does that mean?”

“I just thought you’d want to do something dangerous, like be a police officer or something. Maybe even a firefighter. But here you are, wanting the calm, safe job. Not that there’s anything wrong with it,” she says.

“What about you? What would you do?”

There’s a long silence between us, but I don’t fill it with wasted talk. I let her think, watching the thoughts swirl in her head. She gets this pursed up look about her lips, and her eyes narrow.

Finally, she says, “I’d like to be a teacher.”

“Wow,” I say. “Why a teacher? You have a special thing for not getting paid what you deserve?”

Lucy cracks a smile and shoves my shoulder. “No, smartass. I just ... My mom was a teacher. She said that it was the best work in the world. She taught younger kids with special needs, and I remember her coming home, always eager to tell me all the progress she’d made with her students. When she worked there, she knew her place in the world.”

I try to envision Lucy as a schoolteacher and I can totally see it. She has that gentle side to her where she could easily teach children how to be kind to each other and not bite.

“Would you want to teach younger kids, too?” I ask.

“Maybe. I get attached easily, though, and since I love kids, it might be hard not to be sad whenever they have to go to a new class at the end of the year.” She smiles fondly at the thought.

“Why not have kids of your own? That way you don’t have to get attached to those.”

She scrunches her face up. “I couldn’t be a mother right now.”

“Why not?”

“Well,” she shrugs. “For starters, I have Nana. I’m supposed to take care of her, and a kid would only complicate that. Plus, there’s the whole problem with having a kid. I’d need someone there for me as well. Someone to help take care of the baby with me.”

She looks at me in a way that says she’s talking about me, and I swallow hard. Fuck no. We can’t be having this conversation tonight. We can’t be doing this. I’ve let it go far enough with thoughts of our future together, but adding kids to the equation? That’s where I draw the line.

I pull her close and steal a kiss from her. It’s the only thing I can think to do to stop her from talking anymore. She doesn’t seem to mind the gesture.

For a long time, we lie like that, just kissing, working our tongues together. There’s no rush to go further. I let the pleasure of being with Lucy take over, simply enjoying her touch on me.

When our kiss breaks, she cuddles up next to me again, breathless. “Sorry about making things weird. I just ... I’ve always wanted a family.”

That hits me in the heart harder than it should. Of course she’d want to start a family of her own. She’d want something she never had growing up. She’d want to give her kids everything she dreamed of when she was a little girl.

“Don’t apologize,” I say seriously. “We’re all allowed to have fantasies. We’re allowed to daydream.”

“I guess,” she says. A bashful smile tugs at her lips. “You know, you’re one of the few guys I’ve met that didn’t run screaming when I brought that up.”

“Did you happen to tell all those other guys your backstory?” I ask, eyebrow quirked up.

“No,” she admits. “But I usually don’t have time to. They’re out the door in five-point-six seconds after I mention anything long-term.”

“That’s how guys are,” I say.

“Is that how you are?”

I swallow hard, debating if I want to admit this. Her sincere eyes stay aimed at me. Fuck it. I’ll tell her.

“I’ve never thought about having a relationship like that. In my mind, I’ll end up alone. I can’t put anyone in jeopardy. Not in this line of work.”

She props herself up on one arm and looks at me closely. “So you’ve never just thought about what it would be like to have a family and not be doing what you do for work?”

“No,” I say. She doesn’t know about Mr. X. She doesn’t know that because of the information he has, I’ll always be his employee. The only way to get out of a contract like that is if he dies, and the bastard seems healthy enough to keep kicking for years to come.

“You should,” she