Page 7 of Born into Chaos

Sticking close to her tight ass, we walk inside and get in line. The place is packed, but the crowd seems harmless enough, mostly men and women on their way to and from work and a few stay-at-home moms with their babies. I don’t see anything that could be a threat aside from the few motherfuckers who keep glancing at Sveta. When one older guy zeros in on her ass, I position myself between them, letting him stare at my ass instead. He quickly looks away while I bite back the smile I want to give.

At the counter, Sveta orders a drink and then points to a muffin that looks like it’s nothing but sugar, she surprises me by glancing over her shoulder and asking me in Russian if I want anything. I decline the offer with a shake of my head because it doesn’t feel right to have her pay for me, and when I order my own drink, she just scrunches her brow, looking both confused and hurt.

We wait in silence until our names are called, and after we’vegrabbed our stuff, we head for the door. I don’t like having anything in my hand, but I know I’ll drop it in less than a second if I need to reach for my gun. I keep my right hand free, though, just in case, and keep an eye on everything around us as I walk her back to the vehicle.

On the drive to the art store, it fully hits me how different my life is going to be now. I’m going to be at Sveta’s beck and call, and my days are going to consist of driving her wherever she wants and waiting. There’s going to be a lot of fucking waiting. I’m also going to have a permanent headache from staying on high alert every second we’re outside her apartment. I can’t let my guard down for a second. I begin to question why in the hell I asked for this position when we stop at a red light and I look over at her. She’s looking around, oblivious to the fact that I’m watching her, and she’s so beautiful it makes my chest ache. The thought of walking away, of letting some other Bratva member watch her doesn’t sit well with me. What if they fuck up and she gets hurt? What if her attitude drives them crazy and they can’t handle her and she runs off?

I can’t let anything happen to her, and I’m the only one I trust to watch over her, so babysitting duty it is.

I’m pleasantly surprised when I pull into the parking lot for the art store and she waits for me to tell her it’s okay to get out. For a brief moment, I start to think that maybe this won’t be so bad, but then she gives me a wicked grin and walks inside. The man behind the counter immediately perks up when he sees Sveta walking towards him. He’s probably in his early twenties, nice looking enough, and obviously smitten with the woman in front of him.

“Svetlana, what can I help you with today?” he asks, leaning against the counter with a big smile and a too-eager attitude.

“Hey, Chris, how are you doing?” Sveta saunters over and smiles right back at him. “I need to grab some stuff for my mom, and I also need some more charcoal sticks.”

Chris beams at her, and when I take a step closer, the smile falters as he takes in the very unamused look on my face.

Sveta notices and gives a soft laugh while waving a dismissive handin my direction. “Don’t mind him.” She lowers her voice like I’m an idiot and says, “He’s a cousin from Russia. Doesn’t speak a word of English. My dad is forcing me to show him around the city.” She looks back at me, and I can tell she’s fighting a shit-eating grin. “Poor thing doesn’t have any friends.”

Chris laughs, and I really want to punch him for it, but thanks to Sveta, I have to stand here and pretend like I haven’t the faintest fucking clue as to what’s going on.

Switching to Russian, she asks, “You don’t mind, do you, Vitya? I mean, we don’t want anyone getting suspicious.” Before I can respond, she says in English, “I’m gonna have a look around.”

“Let me know if you need any help,” he quickly says, eager as a puppy to follow at her heels.

“I will. Thanks.” She gives him another smile and then walks off while I trail closely behind her.

“Don’t do that again,” I tell her in Russian, aiming for calm, but my words still come out hard.

She has the nerve to laugh before squatting down by the sketchpads. “Oh yeah? Or what?”

There are a lot of things I want to say, but all of them will land me in a lot of trouble with her dad, so I bite my lip to keep quiet while she smiles up at me.

“Aleksandr didn’t try to interfere when I talked to people.”

It’s painfully obvious that she and I are going to have to have a discussion about how things are going to work, but we can’t do it here, so I stay quiet, waiting patiently while she shops and Chris flirts and I pretend like I’m a cousin who’s completely clueless about everything.

I’m barely hanging on by the time we leave the store, and as soon as we’re to the SUV, I open the back so she can shove her bags inside. Instead of walking her to the passenger side, I surprise her by grabbing her arm and hauling her ass to my side, the one that’s hidden from view and private.

Pressing my hands to the side of the door, I box her in and lean inclose. Her brown eyes widen slightly as her mouth parts on a gasp. I ignore how badly I want to close the distance and kiss her.

“We need to get a few things straight if this is going to work, Sveta.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I keep staring at her, refusing to back up even an inch to give her space. She’s stuck here until I decide it’s time for her to leave.

She doesn’t back down, holding my gaze as she asks, “And what do we need to get straight?”

Her defiance has my cock getting hard fast, and I have to fight like hell to keep it in check. “No more jumping out of the vehicle before I say it’s okay, no more doing whatever the hell you want, and don’t ever do any of the shit you just pulled in that store again.”

“You have a lot of rules, Vitya.”

I lean in even closer. “My job is to keep you safe and alive. Your job is to do what I say so that I can make that happen.”

“Your job is to keep me alive?”

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