Page 26 of Bratva Wolf

I turn to see Tony running to catch up. “Hi.”

He flicks his head to the parking lot. “Was that your boyfriend?”

I smile remembering lunch. “Yeah.”

“He’s not a student.”

I break out in laughter. “No. Not at all.”

He looks back at the parking lot. “What’s he do for a living?”

“He’s a businessman.”

“Oh. What kind of business?”

I shrug. “He works for his family business.” We continue down the walkway. “Where are you from, Tony?”

He stiffens at my question, and I’m sorry I asked. I smile. “Forget I asked.” I guess he doesn’t want to share specifics any more than I do. I heard too much at the strip club, not going to offer any information to some guy in my class.

“Oh. No. I. Um…” He touches my arm. “I had a bad experience before I got here, so I don’t like to talk about it.”

I move my arm from his hand. “No worries. Say no more.” We enter the classroom and take our seats. Our favorite professorstrolls into the room. “We’re going to mix things up today. Check the board. You all have new assignments.”

I take a deep breath. This is never a good thing. I approach the white board and spot my name. Yep. I’m with Tony. He gives me a thumbs up, and we move out of the room.

“So, we’re together.”

Why is it that he’s always with me? “Yeah. I’ve never worked in pediatrics.”

“Kids are just like adults, except smaller. You’ll do great. Come on.”

We walk down the ramp to the hospital’s pediatric department.

Five hours later, I’m ready to go. Tony’s casual friendliness has ramped up to stalker level. He pried about me and Thane the entire afternoon. I grit my teeth as I stand at the curb waiting for my ride. Tony chose not to follow me when I mentioned my ‘boyfriend’ was picking me up. A part of me wants to mention Tony’s interest to Thane, but he’d probably gut him, and I’d feel bad.

His SUV sidles up to me. I reach for the door handle, and Thane shakes his head. I smile. “I’m tired. Can we just go?”

He nods. “Of course. Something wrong?”

“No. Just a long afternoon.”

“Okay. Out or takeout?”

My stomach rumbles on cue. “Would takeout be okay?”

“Of course. Did something happen?”

“No. Just tired.”

“Okay.”

My conscience is nudging me. If I tell him about Tony’sbehavior, would he just find him and kill him? I mean, he’s Bratva. I’ve always kept my head down at the club, but men talk. I had no idea what the mafia was or a Russian bratva, for that matter. I got a full tutorial about what was going on from the more experienced dancers at the club. It was like living in a Friday night “Goodfellas” kind of drama. They were always bragging about killing some guy or giving him a beat down. I’m lost in thought as we pull up to the restaurant as some guy walks out our food. I guess Thane ordered before I got into the car. Should his need to control bug me more than it does? I close my eyes. I’m so scattered right now.

We arrive at Thane’s penthouse with a bag full of my favorite Chinese food. He set plates down on the counter, and I vaguely hear him snap his fingers.

“Red? Where are you?”

I jerk my head up. “I’m sorry, distracted. I’m here. I was just thinking about family.”

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