Page 7 of The Bratva's Weakness

“Oh my god, this is the best sushi I’ve ever had,” Allie says to me in between bites of her spicy salmon roll.

“It’s unreal. I’ve been to Japan and this is on par with that,” I say, admiring the way her throat moves as she takes a sip of her wine. Everything about this woman turns me on.

“Wow,” she says, plucking another roll from the assortment. “It must be amazing to see so many other places. Or maybe…not?” I don’t miss the hesitation in her tone, and I feel terrible for not being able to tell her what I really do, but I want to keep her safe. I can’t risk anything happening to her.

“It is,” I say, picking up a slice of sashimi. “I’m not usually ready to come home. This time is different though.” I watch her, making sure she understands howdifferentthis time actually is. Her blush says it all.

I ask her where she’s travelled, and she said she’s only been to London as part of a school trip and Canada for some family vacations as a child. She mentions not being very close with her parents, but that she has a great relationship with her grandfather, who she lives with.

I crave that kind of closeness with just one member of my family, but my family has never been the close-knit type. We deal with each other for business reasons and that’s about it. If I’m being honest, Allie is the first person I’ve felt like forming a connection with in a very long time. That should scare me, but it doesn’t. It makes me want to be better for her.

We finish up our dinner and I ask her if she wants to sit by the fire pit in the backyard while we finish our wine.

“That sounds perfect,” she says, rising from the couch. “Do you need any help cleaning this up?”

“Nope, you’re my guest,” I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards me. “Go get settled out there, there’s blankets in the bin next to the couch.” I press a kiss to her forehead and hercreamy cheeks redden before she grabs her glass of wine and heads through the French doors at the back of the room.

I quickly clean up the dishes and stash our meager leftovers in the fridge, thinking one of us will want them for lunch tomorrow. It strikes me then how easily Allie has fit into my life, how in just a day I’m already planning for our days ahead together.

A few minutes later, I’m heading outside with the rest of our bottle of wine after clicking on the outdoor firepit. When I see her sitting next to the glow of the fire, I know that I would do anything for her—anything for us to be together.

I sit right next to her on the couch, not wanting to leave any pretenses of this being platonic, and wrap my arm around her as I stretch her blanket over both of us.

“It’s beautiful out here. I would spend every night outside like this if I were you,” she says, peering up at me.

“Yeah,” I reply, “life gets so busy I forget to come out here a lot of the time. I’m glad you’re here—it made me want to show off this space to you.” She smiles at that before leaning her head back against my shoulder and staring at the sky. I stare at her golden locks turning red in the fire and am filled with a peace I haven’t felt since before I had to take on the stress of running the family business.

We sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before we’re interrupted by my phone ringing. When I see it’s Pedro from the gem mine in Colombia, I know I have to answer. Nothing with this deal has been easy and the negotiations only keep going more off the rails. I can’t risk this not working out.

“I’m so sorry, Allie, I have to take this,” I say, rising and heading back into the kitchen to take the call.

When I emerge a few minutes later, I’m irritated and definitely not in the right space to deal with the questions Allie immediately starts throwing at me.

“Can you tell me who that was? Maybe I can help you with something,” she says, looking small as she’s wrapped up in the blanket. She looks upsetforme. This only makes me frustrated, unable and unwilling to share that part of my life.

“I can’t tell you. I’m sorry, but we honestly barely know each other.”

She flinches back like I’ve hit her.

“You asked, Allie. You fucking asked,” I’m frustrated that I can’t tell her my life, that I can’t share what I want to with her. “You have to believe that it’s for your own safety. You. Don’t. Want. To. Know,” I say, punctuating each word and feeling my tone grow darker with each pause. I can’t help it. Pedro and his team are pushing me for more money and the stress of it all is making me crazy. I need her to understand that knowing what’s going on will only make her life harder.

She’s wide-eyed after my tirade, but then she rises and looks directly into my eyes, the different shades of hers glowing in the light of the fire with something that looks a lot like hurt and anger. “I know you’re upset because I knowyou,even though we ‘barely know each other’.” She throws my words back at me as her eyes well up with tears.

Fuck.

“I want to help you,” she continues, placing a hand briefly on my chest, “but I can’t if you keep me in the dark and push me away.” She steps back and gathers her coat. I can’t do anything but stand there frozen, my heart beating too fast.

“When you decide to start letting me in, you know where to find me,” she finishes softly then turns and walks out the door.

I’m a fucking mafia boss, and yet when the door shuts behind her I feel shaken and suddenly very, very alone. I grab what’s left of my wine and down it in one gulp. My phone rings again, and I curse as I see Pedro’s name again. I send it to voicemail and run a hand through my hair.

Shit, what did I do? And why the hell am I not going after her?

Without another thought, I grab my keys, run into my office to find her address, and race out the door.

Though it’s only a fifteen-minute drive, it feels much longer by the time I park my Range, hop out, and stalk up the small stone pathway to the front door. I see the lights are still on, but instead of forcing my way in like I’d like to, demanding she never run from me again, I force myself to ring the doorbell. A minute later, Allie answers the door, and before she can even get a word out, I shove my way in and shut the door behind me.

“Where’s your grandfather?” I ask, my voice deepened with my emotions.

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