Page 2 of The Bratva Contract
“Are you telling me you’ve been pining after the woman who left you twenty years ago?”
“Not pining. That would be foolish,” he scolds. “I miss the comfort of a companion. Sharing the day with her, knowing I could reach for her hand when I was uncertain. It is no bad thing for a man with great responsibility to lean on his wife.”
“I have no wife.”
“I’m aware,” he says with a wry smile. “The stitches are finished. Here, your drink.” He hands me a glass that looks like water, but I know better. I toss back the vodka in one swallow and set the glass on the table, a little unsteadily. “It’s past time, Dima. Your father would tell you the same if he were here.”
“My father would box my ears for acting on impulse, like barging in on a supplier because I sensed he was a cheat. He would’ve sent someone else to handle it.”
“I knew your father well. He would have let the delivery play out and punish the supplier afterward. He believed in wait-and-see, if you recall.”
“Yes. It killed him in the end. But he always said I was reckless.”
“And yet you’re still alive,” Dr.Lin replies mildly. “Perhaps you’re reckless in just the right measure. No disrespect to your honored father, but his restraint did not grow the business the way you have.”
“Thank you, Lin. Stay for a drink?”
“I will, thank you. Though I ought to get home, there is no one there to wait up for me. I will inconvenience no one if I stay here a bit longer.” When he takes a seat, I notice that the lean older man seems to slump in his chair for a moment before resuming his always correct posture. I offer him a drink.
“You can say you’re keeping me under observation,” I offer. “Stay in a guest room tonight. Mrs.Lubov commands an excellent cook who’ll give you a breakfast you won’t forget.”
“Ah, pity the lonesome old man, that is sobering,” he says ruefully. “I won’t impose on your hospitality or the formidable housekeeper. She might wonder why I spend the night under another man’s roof as though I can’t keep a house of my own.”
“I don’t know that she’d give it that much thought.”
“If you believe that woman misses any detail, you’re not the clever man I thought you were.”
“Fair enough,” I say. “You seem to think highly of Mrs.Lubov. Trying to poach my housekeeper?”
“Hardly. I have a cleaner in a few times a week and send my laundry out. What do I need with servants?”
“Perhaps your interest is more personal,” I say, lifting an eyebrow. His gaze shifts away for an instant, and I snap my fingers. “You like her!” I crow.
“Do not be absurd. I came to your residence to provide medical attention, not to flirt with your housekeeper.”
“Then thank you for your good work tonight. I’ll have a car take you home, Lin,” I say, walking him to the door.
“You must have an heir, Dima. A wife would bring you great happiness, but an heir is essential in your position,” he says.
I keep my face neutral, but his words land. Not because I’m lonely. No, never that weak. After he leaves, I pinch the bridge of my nose. Maybe this headache is blood loss, maybe irritation. It’s more than both. Tonight was a close call; I was lucky, quick enough to take a life instead of losing my own. I won’t always be so fortunate, and even if I start taking fewer risks, death comes for us all. The night feels grim, the house too quiet. I wouldn’t mind a woman’s warmth in my bed. Someone who understands this life, its dangers, its isolation.
CHAPTER 2
KARINA
Islam my palm on the table. I have his attention now.
“Calm yourself, daughter. That is unbecoming.” He sounds weary of my antics.
“Listen to me.” I lean forward, exasperated. “Three more syndicates adopted my software last month. I designed it specifically for the bratva: highly tailored, completely discreet. No other system can touch its cybersecurity. The fact that our own family refuses to use it insults me. Look at these numbers.” I shove the iPad at my father, but he merely waves a dismissive hand.
“I don’t like those things,” he says.
I grab a binder and thrust it into his hands. “I printed everything because I know you hate technology,” I say, my voice sharp. “Now you have no excuse. I launched this company with one employee, and we’ve already grown to a thirty-person team working around the clock. Last quarter I even hired a Hindi-speaking programmer for our new South Asian market.”
He flips idly through the pages, glances at a colorful graph and shrugs. “Spyware?”
“It’s exactly the risk my software guards against. If anyone in your organization clicks a malicious link?—”
