Unprotected with the Mob Boss: A Dark Mafia Romance (Alekseiev Bratva) by Fox, Nicole (ebook reader online .txt) 📕

A muscle jumps in my jaw. “Angry? No. I understand why she did what she did. I’m certain she thought it was the only way to get out from under his thumb. I can’t say that I’m happy about it, though. She had to know it could have screwed me over and she could have told me she was going to do it, but she was a desperate woman in a desperate situation. I don’t blame her for her choices.”

She looks down at her hand on my chest but doesn’t say anything.

“I need you to know that this is who I am. If somebody hits me, I’m going to hit them back twice as hard to prevent them from doing it again. If somebody tries to fuck with something I care about, I’ll kill them myself and I won’t regret it for a second. I won’t feel sorry for their wives and I won’t cry for their babies. If you can’t handle that, you should leave now.”

She grips my shirt like she might drift away from me by accident.

“I believe you,” she says slowly. “I believe you should have taken your father to court. Spouses are the first suspect in any murder. But I understand why you did what you did. I don’t think this is some evil coming out of you, even when you act like it is. You cared about your mother and that pain caused you to react on instinct. It’s not completely excusable, but it’s understandable.”

Her eyes are soft black silk threatening to suffocate me under their pity. My chest compresses. I need anything but this emotional bullshit.

“If you want more practice, we should start on a new lesson.” I cup her cheek, my thumb brushing against the edge of her mouth. “I’d like to see if you were bluffing about your mouth during our phone conversation.”

She smiles slowly, the edges of her lips pushing against my thumb.

Fucking priceless.

16

Allison

Sitting alone in Lev’s dining room with a variety of Thai dishes spread out in front of me should make me feel isolated. Lev left to talk to Mariya’s Revenge board members about the advertising for the new orange cream vodka and I should resent him for it. I should be running for my life after what he told me about the man in the grocery store.

But I’m dancing in the afterglow.

It’s like I made a deal with the devil for unadulterated happiness and he granted my wish. Twice in the last hour.

As I eat some jasmine rice, my phone starts to vibrate near my bowl.

Dad.

My hand lingers over my phone. Reality is threatening to take down my fantasy life, but I could never abandon my parents for a dream.

There’s only one more ring left before it goes to voice mail.

At the last second, I tap on Answer and bring the phone up to my ear.

“Hi, Dad,” I say. There’s a couple of seconds of silence. I don’t know if it would be better or worse if he had called me on accident.

“It’s both of us,” he says finally.

“Oh. Is this an intervention?” I ask, the bitterness cutting into my tone.

“No, no,” he says. Several more seconds of silence pass by.

“We just wanted to apologize,” my mother interjects. “Especially your father.”

“Yes,” he says stiffly. “I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. I was just shocked. I don’t think you’re a foolish person or anything like that.”

“We still want you to reconsider your engagement,” my mother adds.

I imagine them standing over their phone, the silent gestures and looks between them. They are trying to build a bridge back to their daughter. I’ve caused their stress. I burned that bridge. If I could repair it by telling them I’ll end the engagement, I would.

And I can, because Lev is willing to give up the evidence against me.

I grip the phone tighter. “We could talk about it.”

“We should have dinner together. Come to our house,” my father says, the words jumbling as he rushes to say them. “Without Alekseiev.”

If they have me in their house, the three of us, there is no way the discussion will go well. It will either end with them yelling and screaming, or they’ll manage to get the truth out of me. Neither option is appealing.

“What if we have dinner at my place?” I ask. “Julia can join us.”

I hear static and muffled voices. Someone must have covered the speaker. The static returns as someone lifts their hand off the speaker.

“We’d like that,” my mother says. “How about Sunday night? Tonight, your father has to work, and Saturday night, I’m having drinks with your aunt.”

“Sounds great,” I say.

“Good. Thank you, Ally,” she says. “You know we love you. We only want what’s best for you.”

“I know,” I say. “I love you too.”

“Have a good night, Ally,” my father says.

“Good night.”

The line goes silent.

I hang up. The deal with the devil seems less appealing now. Nobody ever tells you that once you sell your soul, the rest of the world starts to shrink until all that’s left is you and the devil.

* * *

In my dreams, we’re at Lev’s dining room table. Lev sits at the head of the table; my father and mother sit on either side of him while I’m on the other side of the table. I can hear all of them talking, but they’re too far away for me to decipher what they’re saying. They keep glancing over at me.

Water starts to seep underneath the walls. I try to warn the three of them, but they’re consumed in an argument. As the water starts to reach my knees, my father grabs the front of Lev’s shirt. Lev yanks my father out of his seat. My father hits Lev. Lev hits him back, my father’s body slamming against the wall as they fight. I try to tell them about the water, but nobody notices.

I turn to the man sitting beside me. “Why won’t they listen