Page 27 of Bratva's Intern

I clenched my jaw, heat creeping up my neck. “Why are you still standing here?”

His lips twitched.

Oh, god.

His gaze dropped. What did he find so interesting? I followed his eyes down—down to our joined hands.

Horror punched me in the gut.

I was still holding his hand.

Not just holding butclutchingit like some touch-starved idiot. When had that happened?Worse—oh god, so much worse—I had ridden the entire elevator like this.

With him.

With his guards watching.

With no one saying a damn thing.

I yanked my hand back like it had caught fire, my skin tingling where our palms had been pressed together. “I—” My voice cracked, so I swallowed and tried again. “I, um. Okay. Well. Good-bye now.”

Mr. Morozov smirked. The bastard. I fumbled inside my bag for my key. He reached out and took it from me, his fingers brushing against mine.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“I need to see you inside safely.”

He slipped the key into the lock, turned it with a soft click, and pushed the door open. Like his name was on the lease, he gestured for his bodyguards to precede him.

A sharp gasp escaped me. “Wait. You can’t go in there.”

My words were about as effective as a Do Not Enter sign on a revolving door because the two hulking bodyguardsmoved past me without hesitation, stepping into my apartment like they owned the place.

Maxim followed at a leisurely pace, like this was some grand tour and not a complete violation of my personal space.

I was still sputtering, about to protest—again—when a bloodcurdling shriek tore through the apartment.

My stomach plummeted.

Jess!

Instinct overrode logic. I squeezed past Maxim and sprinted inside just as one of the bodyguards—Darius—came barreling back into the hallway.

Only… he wasn’t alone.

A towel-clad blonde terror was attached to his back like a deranged koala.

Jess had her legs wrapped around his waist and yanking viciously at his short brown hair with both hands.

“You pervert!” she screeched, twisting another handful of hair. “You filthy pervert!”

Darius let out a pained grunt, staggering under her weight. “Ow—woman, let go of my hair!”

The second bodyguard, Nik, rushed forward to help, but instead of pulling Jess off, he hesitated. Just a fraction of a second. And that fraction was enough for Jess to dig her nails into Darius’s scalp and yank harder.

Darius cursed in Russian, nearly dropping to one knee.

Nik’s eyes flicked to Darius. Then to Jess. Then back to Darius like he couldn’t decide what to do.

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