Page 65 of Forbidden Bratva Virgin

“And Nathan?”

It took everything in me not to scream at that moment. “I told you, Ma, we broke up. Well, I broke up with him and—”

“So what? You two were as close as two peas in a pod for eight years. There must be some communication—”

“There is someone else in the picture, Mother.” I didn’t even know when I’d practically yelled that into the phone.

Before my mother could jump on the moving train to investigate every detail until she knew this mystery man’s favorite color, I triumphantly found my keys under a pile of mail and snatched them up.

“Okay, Mom, I love you, but Elena is waiting for me, and if I don’t leave right now, she’s going to text me a long list of reasons why I’m an unreliable friend. Love you, bye!”

I hung up before she could launch into an unrelated lecture on caffeine addiction and the new man in my life before throwing open the door—then immediately ran back inside to grab my phone, which I had, of course, left on the counter.

***

I met Elena at our usual spot, a quiet café tucked between towering buildings, the kind of place that I secretly loved for intimate outings. She was already seated by the window, her hands wrapped around a steaming cup of coffee, eyes lighting up the second she saw me.

“You couldn’t pick anywhere else but a coffee shop?”

Elena grinned from cheek to cheek, standing to give me a tight hug before taking a chair out for me. She adjusted the scarf around her neck. “What? Wipe that fake frown. I know you love it. I thought it would be cliché and chic to have this serious conversation you urgently wanted to have. ‘Oh, Elena, the most unimaginable happened, and I need to talk to you, or I might die,’” she mimicked. Or at least tried to.

“I sounded nothing like that.”

“Are you sure? I have a recording,” she laughed, shifting her cup of coffee aside to fold her arms atop the table. “Better hope to God it’s important, Haze. I canceled two dates to be here.”

“Two dates, Elena? How do you manage these things? It’s barely dusk.”

“Who says dates have to be at night? And yes, two. I met one on Tinder and the other in the grocery store. A brunet and a blonde. Better safe than sorry, you feel me? But, before you go into the lectures, it’s casual. No sex, just talk.”

“Your life is always buzzing with fun, isn’t it?” I tried to make it sound light-hearted, but I slackened. “Lena, I’m in a mess.”

“Talk to me, Haze. I promise, I’m keeping all the jokes aside. I’m here.”

Leaning forward, I sucked in a deep breath, and when I released it, it went with all the information I’d been dying to tell Elena. For months, I’d needed someone to confide in and wasn’t sure of spilling any beans before trying to untangle the complications myself.

But the complications had formed into a more tangled web, and I realized dealing with it myself was pointless.

So, I told her everything, from the first day Miron walked into my office to the night at The Tavern—which made her gasp because she remembered—to the private session at his penthouse and learning about Nathan’s New York girlfriend.

“That cheating virgin bastard!”

I laughed. “You can’t imagine how heartbroken I was, Lena. I was torn to shreds, but….” I dropped the first bomb, revealing that Miron and I had sex barely an hour after I learned of Piper.

Elena’s jaw dropped, almost hitting the floor. “Girl,what? Tell me, was it good? How does he look down there?”

“Shh, someone might hear you.” I looked around the café. Thankfully, no one paid attention to our hushed noises. “I’m telling you, that was the best night I’d had in a while.”

“Haze, that was the only best night you’ve had in your entire life.”

“Shut up.” We laughed, and I gave her more details about the times I tried to avoid Miron after that night, from the subsequent sessions to the surprise at La Vine, and finally, the most crucial information: the dangers surrounding him.

Intentionally leaving out details of the bloodied men, his father, and the Russian Mafia, I hinted that he worked for powerful people and was expected to marry the daughter of one of those men, and there was, of course, my job to think about. Amelia was still in the dark, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the truth came out because neither Miron nor I were ready to let each other go.

Elena sat back on her chair, firstly reaching for her coffee before mumbling, “Shit, Haze. You’re in a serious mess….”

“Repeating the problem doesn’t solve the problem.”

“You didn’t let me finish.” She beamed. “You’re in a serious mess, but from everything I’ve heard, you and Miron can get through whatever hurdles there are.”

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