Page 7 of A Nanny For The Bratva Boss

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Hearing my name in her mouth makes my chest warm, and my balls tighten.

I don’t answer. Just look at her. And this time, I don’t look away.

Three

MAYA

I’m not expecting anyone. So when the doorbell rings, I freeze mid-scroll through another job rejection email and stare at my phone like it’s going to tell me who’s at the gate.

The bell rings again.

I set my laptop aside and walk to the front door, hitting the intercom button.

“Hello?”

Silence.

Then, “Maya.”

That voice. Deep. Rough. The one I hear whisper nasty things in my ear at night…

It’s Mikhail.

My stomach fills with butterflies, and I’m suddenly very aware that I’m wearing a sundress with no bra, my hair’s a mess, and oh God, why is he here?!

I buzz the gate open before my brain catches up with my body.

I open the door and step outside, and there he is. Mikhail Maksimov. In dark jeans and a black t-shirt that stretches across his impossibly broad chest. His hard jaw unshaven, his ice-blue eyes locked on me, and he’s not saying a word. Just staring.

My mouth goes dry. “Mikhail?” Of course, he doesn’t say anything.

And then I notice the tiny hand in his.

I blink and look down.

There’s an adorable little girl standing next to him. She has the same dark hair as him, parted in two braids, big blue eyes, and a sparkly pink backpack almost as big as she is.

She’s holding an old stuffed bear and looking up at me with the kind of unfiltered curiosity only kids have.

“Hi!” she says brightly. “I’m Sofia!”

My brain short-circuits.

Mikhail. With a child. Is she his daughter? Oh my God, does my crush have a wife, fiancée, girlfriend,anykind of baby mama?!

This giant, terrifying man, who doesn’t talk and looks like he eats nails for breakfast, is holding a little girl’s hand like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

And she’s smiling up at him like he hung the moon.

I don’t know what to do with any of this.

“Um… hi, Sofia. I’m Maya.”

“That’s a very pretty name!” She beams up at me. “Uncle Misha says you’re going to be my friend!”

“Oh…”

Uncle Misha.

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