Page 61 of Trapped By the Bratva

“Very good timing. I only went that one last time to tell her that I was finished. No more guilt tripping me into giving her money because she’s my sister. My ‘family’.” Riled up and mad from discussing this, I looked up at him. “You have no idea how lucky you are to have a real family.”

He eased me up to lay over him and kissed me deeply. “I am grateful. But not all families are the ones we have by blood.” He kissed me again, slower. “You will always have a place here in the Bratva.”

With you? Or just as an employee?

“I can’t imagine that kind of a life, not like that. My uncle and my cousin were terrible, manipulative and rotten like how you’ve described your sister. Uncle Pavel was going to run the Bratva down to the ground with his shitty leadership. And Andrey never lifted a hand, letting everyone else do his dirty work for him.”

I didn’t even want to know what that “dirty work” consisted of. I wouldn’t think about it. The less I knew, the better, and that distinction between our lives was fine.

“Having my brothers, though…” He sighed and rubbed my back. “They mean everything to me. Family means everything. I wouldn’t be the man I am without their support.”

I leaned in to kiss him and smiled. “I can see that. They care about you no matter how much of an ass you are.”

As the sounds of babies crying sounded from the open window, likely the twins in the courtyard, he chuckled. “And our family is only getting bigger and bigger.”

“Lots of little ones. Emily. Alana. Sophia and Pyotr. Becca’s due. Lots of girl power there.”

“Well, I’m not in the mood to have one yet. I’ll let them stay busy.” He gave me a slow smile. “I’m content to be an uncle for now.”

I sighed, resting my chin on my hands folded on his chest. “I’d love to have a family. Sooner than later.”

“In a rush?”

I nodded but then worried how he’d interpret that. “Not likerightnow. I won’t leave this position. I meant it when I said I’d commit to helping you recover.”

“Hmm.” He rubbed his hands up and down my back, all the way to my ass. I couldn’t help but feel so possessed and captured. He wasn’t holding me down, but any time he had his hands on me like this, I felt coveted and secure.

It didn’t matter what I wanted. It was crystal clear thatwewould never mesh and make a family together. I was here to assist in his rehab. Sure, we were fooling around on the side, but that didn’t imply anything concrete and lasting between us.

No expectations or responsibilities lingered. We were only surrendering to the need to clash and come together while we endured the close proximity.

Each time we fell into each other, the flames of our desire seared us. It wasn’t impossible to count on this continuing while I washere. I wasn’t any stronger than him in ignoring the lust he caused in me. He seemed too tense to try to fight it.

And that would have to be enough for me. He’d told me—and showed me—that I mattered, and I believed him. If he could overcome his grumpiness to pull me into those dizzying kisses and thrust into me with such expertise to make me come, he cared. My happiness mattered in that sense, and I was grateful for how he could meet me in the middle and compromise in the language of love and sex.

But that was all I could count on happening between us. Just sex. Only the physical scratching of an itch.

Nothing more.

But…

I wished I could have it all with him, to really belong here with the Valkovs. With Dmitri. Now that we’d been talking about it, I wanted to have his kids and add to the adorable babies and toddler taking over the mansion.

It wasn’t simply lust that I held for this gruff man. That realization rocked me to the core, but I couldn’t deny it.

I lowered my face, resting my cheek on his chest to avoid looking at him. Because if he studied me, he’d see the emotions in my eyes. Scared to admit that I was starting to feel more for him, I took the easy way out by staying quiet and not mentioning anything at all.

20

DMITRI

Idisliked the idea of Hannah’s eagerness to start a family. I understood why she wanted to. With her shitty background and lack of any actual family unit who would support her and provide for her, it made sense.

Her parents passed away, and it sounded like before they had, they weren’t great role models. Then this sister of hers, Melissa, was an abusive, greedy bitch who took advantage of Hannah for too long. I bet the sweet raven-haired beauty was impatient to experience a real family, to belong with others.

But she can—and does—here.

I couldn’t commit any further than the loose relationship we had. We weren’t fuck buddies, but I wasn’t rushing to call her my girlfriend yet. Underneath the layers of our attraction was the foundation of why she was here in the first place—as my therapy helper.

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