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

of a Russian mob family. I’d say she’s ignorant of his status, but I can tell by the way the blood drained out of her face during our introductions that she isn’t. Either she recognized our last name or she’s bright enough to put the pieces together.

My father looks at me, eyebrow raised, and I grab Bella by the arm and drag her to a chair. She casts a scathing look over her shoulder, but I ignore it.

“How much do you know?” he asks, before dismissing his own question with a wave. “It doesn’t matter. I’m the one who needs to know things right now. So, let’s focus on that. How is your relationship with your father?”

Bella crosses her arms and doesn’t respond, but I can see her fingers trembling where they rest against her arms. She isn’t as tough as she appears.

My father sighs. He’s not nearly as calm as he appears, either. If she thought I lost my cool before in her room, she’ll be surprised when my father finally snaps.

“I’ve made it clear to your father that we have you,” he says, leaning back in his chair. The buttons on his shirt strain against his stomach. “And I’ve made it incredibly clear to him that we’re willing to take you apart bit by bit if he does not cooperate.”

Bella tightens her grip on her arms.

“So, my question is,” my father says, leaning forward, the smile wiped from his face. “Why would your father not pay your ransom?”

She stays resolutely silent, and I want to kick her chair and tell her to speak. To say something. Anything. Even one of her quick-witted remarks would be enough to distract him from his anger. But saying nothing is the worst plan. It will make him feel powerless, and he will lash out. And for reasons I don’t at all understand, I have no desire to watch that.

“Maybe she doesn’t speak because she knows her father is not coming to save her,” I say. “Maybe she doesn’t want us to know she’s meaningless to the man, and therefore, we can do whatever we like with her.”

She stiffens at the sound of my voice. So does my father. He turns to me, eyes narrowed, disapproving. But then he smiles. “Good insight, Yuri.”

Finally, she lets out an unimpressed huff. “If he’s insightful, then I’m the strongest person in this room.”

My father’s eyes light up like he just got a broken toy working again. “Please enlighten us then. Why else would you not want to speak about your father? Why else would he not immediately pay your ransom?”

Bella leans forward, her top lip pulled back. “Maybe my father hasn’t responded to you because the United States doesn’t negotiate with terrorists.”

He raises an eyebrow, considering her words for a moment, and then laughs. “Of course, the United States negotiates with terrorists. Just because they do not hold televised debates doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Those negotiations take place with cryptocurrency and back channels, silly girl.”

Bella is unsure of herself, and my father pounces. He stands up and moves around the table to lean against the front edge, his hands folded in front of him. With his girth and smile, he looks harmless, but I’ve seen him strangle men with his bare hands. I’ve watched him press a gun between someone’s eyes and pull the trigger without blinking. I can’t judge him, for I’ve done the same. It’s all in the name of family. Of loyalty. Everything we’ve done and will do is for loyalty. And my loyalty to my father and my family will override whatever bit of guilt squirms inside of me for what my father is about to do to Bella.

“You were taken for a reason,” he says. “We’ve watched you. Yuri saw you walk to your gym, buy your morning coffee, and meet friends for drinks. He has been watching you for weeks, preparing for this moment. So if you are hoping to avoid talking to us long enough for your father to sweep in and save you, I’m afraid you may be waiting a while.”

I can feel Bella looking at me, and I’m not sure why I care what she thinks. If she thinks I’m a stalker, so what? Technically, I am. If she thinks I’m a monster, so what? Technically, I am.

I followed Bella for two weeks, tracking her movements, preparing to strike should the need arise. We reached out to her father, seeking yet another return on our investment in him, but Father found him unresponsive. He no longer accepted our calls or offer for meetings. He had gone radio silent, so we needed a way to break through the static.

Senator Jack McNair is a politician through and through. He attempted to charm my father, convince him they were good pals rather than business partners willing to stab one another in the back at the slightest shift in the wind. The senator sent holiday cards and gift baskets; he called himself a family friend, though he kept Bella a secret. We knew she existed, of course, but he didn’t speak of her. He dismissed his only daughter as a silly girl with no ambition. A woman who was better suited to a life of shopping and ease than any political ambitions. Later, we even learned he hired his own paparazzi to photograph Bella and perpetuate the lie that she was frivolous. He didn’t want us to know the truth: that Bella means everything to Jack McNair.

She is his pride and joy. A brilliant woman who, when snubbed by an IT tech at the computer store, enrolled herself in classes so she could fix her electronics by herself. She parties with her friends and gets drinks in the middle of the day, but she carries herself differently from them. Bella McNair has class, and following her over those weeks, I saw it first-hand. She will be an important person one day, and Jack McNair knows it. And he attempted to