Trapped with the Mob Boss: A Mafia Romance (Petrov Bratva) by Nicole Fox (best book recommendations txt) 📗

Bella bites into an egg roll. “Was he abusive? You mentioned his wrath, so I thought maybe—”

“No,” I say, cutting her off. “He never hit us. But he demanded a lot. Unerring loyalty. No matter what.”

She takes another crunching bite and then tucks her legs up underneath her on the sofa. When her foot brushes against my thigh, we both shift away from one another like we’ve been shocked. Her mouth turns up in an embarrassed smile and then she sighs. “It seems like my childhood was always structured around a campaign. Wherever we went, it was ‘Smile, Bells. Don’t forget to smile. We’re a happy family.’ And we were, mostly. But it would have been nice to not have to exude cheerfulness all the time. If one photographer caught a photo of me yawning during one of his speeches or frowning while we stood in line for ice cream at the fair, then there were news stories about the ‘toll of the campaign trail on Senator McNair’s young daughter’ and a ‘crack in the family man’s façade.’”

Bella turns towards me and crosses her legs, and her willingness to face me feels like a gold medal. “I’m sure that seems like nothing compared to what you went through. And I don’t mean to complain about my life because—”

Her hand is resting on her knee, and I reach out and touch it before I can stop myself. My fingers brush across her smooth knuckles, and she falls silent. “It isn’t a competition.”

She looks down at where we’re touching, but doesn’t pull away. “I know,” she says softly. “You just seem ... different ... compared to your dad. I wonder what it must be like to follow his orders.”

“I’m used to it,” I shrug. “I’ve been doing it my whole life.”

Her lashes are long and they brush across her cheek as she blinks slowly. “I just wonder ... have you ever disobeyed an order? Or wanted to?”

I know what she’s asking. She asked the question before, and I wanted to answer it the first time. But I couldn’t. Not without undermining my father. Not without making myself look disloyal.

But does that matter anymore? And even if it does, does it matter more than this?

“I didn’t want to kill you.” The words come out in a rush like I’m afraid I’ll chicken out midway through. “I might have. If he’d asked me to, I might have.”

I stand up and tug on the back of my shirt, pulling it up to reveal the tattoo that stretches across most of my mid-back. The one that was inked there when I was only sixteen and that I’ve added to every year since. I hear Bella’s breathy intake when she sees it—the two-story home sitting in an open field, the starry sky above, the word beneath it.

“Family,” she says, reading the cursive scrawl.

I nod. “Each star is someone I’ve killed for my family. Either because I was ordered to or because I had to in order to survive.” I drop my shirt before she can count all of the stars, before she can be completely horrified by my past actions, and sit down. “I’ve done a lot of things for my father, but if he were to ask me again right now? If he were to ask me to kill you or hurt you, I wouldn’t do it. Not again.”

Bella’s eyes are wide, and she stares at me for a second before suddenly, she’s on her knees and crawling towards me. The half-eaten carton of Chinese falls to the floor, but I don’t care as her hands wrap around my neck and she settles in my lap. When our lips touch, it feels soft and easy and inevitable.

I wrap my arms around her waist and carry her to the bedroom where I lay her out on the bed. With gentle hands, I peel her jeans down her shapely legs and spread her thighs. I kiss my way across her body, pressing my unspoken apology into her skin, letting her know what she means to me. That no matter what I said before, we’re in this together.

When I finally press into her, we’re face-to-face, and I don’t take my eyes off her as she shudders apart, clinging to me like she might fall off the earth if she lets go. And she doesn’t look away when my climax comes, when I squeeze my eyes shut and curse how good she feels. How good this feels.

She lies next to me when we’re finished, her head on my chest, and I wrap an arm around her shoulders. Cuddling is new for me, but Bella is a good teacher.

Chapter Twelve

Yuri

My father is waiting for me in the parking garage, his black SUV pulled into a handicapped space. Subtle.

“Where’s the girl?” he asks as soon as I shut the door.

“Asleep in the room.” I don’t mention that she’s sleeping after several rounds of sex, each more rigorous than the last. “Why couldn’t we do this over the phone?”

He turns to me, lip pulled up in a snarl. “Can a father not want to see his son?”

“A father can want that,” I say. “Though, you’ve never been that father before. Are you worried about being tapped?”

My father has always preferred efficiency over everything else. Why should both parents go to a high-school graduation if one can go and take pictures while the other stays at work and makes the money? Why talk in person when you can send an email? If he needed to see me in person, there’s a reason.

“I found a note in my office today,” he says, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “Security footage doesn’t show anyone coming or going, but the note got there nonetheless.”

“What did it say? Was it from Bella’s dad?”

“Senator McNair?” my father asks, one eyebrow raised suspiciously.

I nod and he shakes his head. “No, and if the note is telling the truth, he won’t be in touch anytime