Page 10 of Forbidden Bratva Virgin

Closing the folder gently, I slid it back on the table with creased brows and a shrug. “A Code Red? Isn’t that a bit, I don’t know, too serious a tag for a client?”

“You think I am being overly dramatic, don’t you?”

My mother would have thought she was being overly dramatic. I just wondered why she seemed so stressed out by this oneproblem.Her reputation was a great one, and it preceded her. Prima Care was one of the best private clinics in the country. There was almost nothing and no one we couldn’t take good care of.

When I didn’t say anything, she misread my silence and continued with a deep sigh. “Fine. Maybe I am being over the top about this one, but that’s because he’s my cousin, and I have known Miron all my life. Let me tell you, he’s not an easy one. It takes a lot, Hazel, and I meana lotof patience to work and deal with him.”

Ah, a relative. Family ties. That revelation was…interesting.When I looked more closely, I thought I could spot a few resemblances, other than the most obvious attractiveness that ran in their blood. But that didn’t explain the conflict. Amelia wasn’t saying everything, and that piqued my interest.

“Please tell me, what exactly am I dealing with?”

She dragged a hand down her face. “Anger management issues.”

A forty-one-year-old with anger management issues?

I sucked in a sharp breath. I believed the picture was becoming clearer. “You’re putting it lightly, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Hazel, I am,” she sighed. “Miron Yezhov has explosive tempers and emotional volatility. Clinically speaking, I suspect it’s IED, but don’t ever tell him that to his face. Please. Want to know the reason he’s coming here? By court order, after he narrowly escaped jail time for one count of aggravated assault and felony battery against Jeffery Smith.”

“Jeffery Smith? The politician?”

She nodded.

My eyes were as wide as saucers now, and as much as I was sure I didn’t want to know—but would still find out sooner or later—I had to ask. “What did he do?”

“He thrashed the man’s head with a hundred-thousand-dollar bottle of wine at a social event.”

Goodness.He thrashed the man’s—did she say aggravated assault?Wasn’t that a charge forattempted murder?

My stomach dipped so low, and I thought I heard the healthy pounding of my heart racing in my ears. Glancing at his folder, sitting pretty on the desk, it now felt like I had been given a ton of bricks to carry. I didn’t even realize I almost forgot to breathe until Amelia waved a hand in my face.

“Hey, are you okay? You’re looking a little blue.”

“Me? Looking blue?” I laughed, but we both knew I sounded like a choking weasel. “No, I’m good. I’m perfectly fine. It’s just that I…this is—”

“I know this will be your first time on a case like this, but don’t be—don’t be intimidated, okay? I will tell you now: He is going to be a lot of work. He will put your patience and level of intelligence to the test; that’s for sure. But one thing he won’t do is suddenly explode in your office. He knows what will happen if we send a bad report back to the court on his behavior and progress.”

Not exploding in my office? That wasn’t a promise. She couldn’t be sure of that. The man swung a bottleacrossanother man’s head in the presence of probably a hundred others—attacking someone old enough to be my grandfather. Good Lord! It was surely a miracle he even survived to press charges.

Now, I wasn’t so sure about the joy I felt earlier when she informed me about the challenge. This wasn’t aCongratulationssituation. It was more of a “Good Luck, Hazel! You’re going to need plenty of it.”

Amelia let out a long breath and shook her head, and before she said it, I saw it in her eyes—the subtle withdrawal. “Cassie will be available to shuffle. Hazel, I can take this back if you’re not—”

“I am. I am sure.” I announced it with renewed vigor, but a war still waged in my head. The war of deciding how armed and prepared I was to enter into this battle. It might have been my first Harvard-standard type of case, but I’d worked too hard to give up before even starting.

So, I was going to make sure that an opportunity like this certainly wouldn’t be my last. I was going to prove myself and make sure of it.

Rising to my feet, I gave Amelia the brightest and most encouraging smile I had ever given anyone. “I can handle this, Amelia. I said it before, and I’ll repeat it again: Nothing and no one is too difficult. I am truly grateful to you for this opportunity. I promise I won’t let you down.”

Chapter 5 – Miron

Damir angled his head to the side, giving way to the smooth sailing of the crystal tumbler through the air until it crashed against the wall. Even the sight of the crystal shards of glass and droplets of strong whiskey scattering onto the carpet spiked my irritation.

He glanced over his shoulder, and when he turned back to me with an indecipherable expression, I narrowed my eyes at him. All it would have taken was five seconds. If he hadn’t moved fast enough, if he was five seconds late, his face might have been that wall instead. Yet, he didn’t flinch.

“That’s the fifth one. How many more are going to suffer the same fate before you finally accept it?”

I picked up another glass, filled it, and inclined back in my chair. “Get out of my office, Damir. I don’t need you to be my voice of reason, and I certainly don’t need you here.”

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