Unprotected with the Mob Boss: A Dark Mafia Romance (Alekseiev Bratva) by Fox, Nicole (classic books for 12 year olds .TXT) 📗

I don’t bother explaining.

I take my glass and we move onto the dance floor. As we sway together, the swirls of color move under our feet. I keep a close eye on Douglas while I dance. Most of his attention is on his drink, but occasionally his eye wanders to one of the younger women that walk by.

Julia’s dress looks even more like water in the blue lighting. She laughs as I pretend to grind up against her.

As I sip from my drink, I can feel the world starting to feel less constricting. Less vile. Julia pulls me closer to her. We continue dancing. One song, two, three. For a moment, I almost forget Jeffrey Douglas exists. But then my eyes land on him again, and the same familiar squeeze of anger takes hold in my stomach.

“I’m gonna go convince Jonathan that I’m suffering from a stress fracture in my ankle,” she whispers. “I may need him to drive me home because I’ll be too drunk to do it myself. Are you okay by yourself? You have a number to call a cab, right?”

“I’m good,” I promise her. “Go get your man.”

And I’ll go get mine.

She winks before stumbling back to the bar, rubbing her ankle.

I move off the dance floor, finding a seat a couple of stools away from Douglas.

My fantasy scenario runs through my head again. This time through, it seems silly, unrealistic. I’m not a secret agent. I’m not even a police officer.

But I could tell him that I’m watching him. I could make him paranoid that there’s somebody who’s always ready to call the police. I could set such a hot fire of intense suspicion under his ass that he’d never drink again.

As I’m about to stand up, my phone vibrates in my bag. I struggle to get the zipper to open without tearing the material further. I take out my phone. It’s my father.

“Hello?” I answer quickly. It’s hard to hear him through the noise of the crowd and the boom of the speakers.

“Hey, Ally,” he says. “I heard about the verdict. I’m so sorry. I know you worked hard on it.”

“Yeah. It wasn’t great,” I say, keeping an eye on Jeffrey. He’s focused on a woman that barely looks twenty-one.

“I know it’s a shitty feeling, but it will—I’m sorry, it’s hard to hear anything. Where are you? Are you at a party?”

Even my father is surprised I’ve joined the outside world.

“I’m at a nightclub,” I say. “Julia begged me to join her.”

He gives a small noise that’s either a sigh or a growl. “I thought Julia would have been a better influence.”

“Julia is great, Dad. Don’t be mad at her. I’m just her wingwoman.”

“Just be careful. Don’t accept a drink that you haven’t personally seen being made. Don’t set your drink down when your eyes aren’t on it. Don’t go home with—”

“Dad, you’ve told me all of this before. You know that I know better.”

“If you’d seen the cases that I’ve seen, you’d go to sleep saying all these things over and over,” he says. “But it’s not just that. Remember that if you want to be DA, your history can become a liability. Don’t even be caught around anything illegal. You’re also a reflection of me. I know that shouldn’t matter, but it does.”

“I’d never do anything to make you look bad,” I tell him. “You know me. I’ve never even smoked weed.”

“I hope Julia isn’t trying to get you to do that, too.”

“No, Dad.”

“I’m going to head home.” I hear his car door slam shut. “You’ll call me when you get back to your apartment?”

“Absolutely,” I say.

“Good night, Ally. I love you.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

I set my phone back into my bag and zip it back up. I look down at my drink. I shouldn’t have come to the club. I practically came here looking for trouble. As a cop’s daughter, I’ve heard enough criminal cases to know that if you look for trouble, you’ll find it.

I take a sip of my drink, but I can’t convince myself to leave. I glance over at Jeffrey and watch him order another drink. It creates a wave of rage inside me. If I walk away now, he’ll likely drive home while he’s completely wasted. What kind of person would I be if I walked away now? Not the person I want or need to be.

I focus on my own drink, which is mostly melted ice now. For a second, it feels like Jeffrey’s eyes are on me, but when I look over, he’s concentrating on his drink again. I look around. Nobody is watching me.

I wanted to make him paranoid, but it seems like paranoia is contagious.

Unless someone is spying on me, too.

* * *

Near the end of the night, I watch Jonathan wrap his arm around Julia and guide her out of the nightclub. There’s only one bartender and four patrons left over now, one of which is Jeffrey. I’m resting my head on the bar, irritation searing my thoughts.

A skinny young guy with a goatee leans up against the bar next to me.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asks. “You looked lonely over here and I thought—”

“I’m not lonely,” I state.

“Oh. Uh, okay. But if you wanted some company, I’d lo—”

“I don’t.”

“Okay. Bitch.” He stomps away from me. I watch the swirls of color burst under his feet with every step.

The bartender stops in front of me. “That has to be the sixth guy you’ve rejected. A bad day at work?”

“It was a terrible day at work,” I say. “It was only four guys though. Most of them can see from the clothes I’m wearing that I’m not interested in them.”

“Optimism isn’t the worst sin, but it can be irritating. Do you want another drink?”

“I’m good,” I say, sitting up as Jeffrey pulls out a pack of cigarettes. He leaves the bar, heading toward the back of the club. There’s an exit back there. He could easily smoke a cigarette and