Page 13 of Bratva's Secret Girl
“Yeah,” I cut in before anyone can tell her that I call her my baby girl. A pet name for a girlfriend or wife… When she isn’t either.
Yet.
“In Westminster we do not believe that a woman’s worth decreases as she increases with age.” Westminster rallies. “We care about missing people.”
“Fucking hell, Westminster, get off your high horse,” Dimitri grumbles. “We were just trying to establish her general height, and whether to lure her with a trail of board books and milk or sprayed edge romantasy special editions and glasses of wine.”
Did I think these idiots could help? Good thing that my Greenwich men are already searching.
Richmond steps forward, having been at the back of the conversation so far, and gives Westminster a withering look. His slight Italian accent is stronger right now because of his irritation. “This is my search, since she went missing from my territory.”
“How do you know?” demands Westminster. “Do you have proof that she was snatched from Richmond? No,” he answers his own question. “So don’t be greedy, let everyone help.”
Richmond starts to reply as King’s Cross grumbles that this is his remit, and Artem and Dimitri both object.
This is beyond a joke.
“Enough!” I roar.
Every eye swivels to me. “You’re going to listen to her.” I nod towards Hayley. “Then we’re going to find Payton Love.”
7
MAXIM
The meeting with the London Mafia Syndicate was long, but useful. There are promising leads, but by the time we’re inside my building, I’ve lost patience. I ditch the car rather than putting it in its correct place between all my others, and get around to release Hayley’s seatbelt and lift her out.
“I can walk,” she protests softly as I approach the keyed elevator. It only goes to my penthouse.
“I know.” I don’t argue with her, but neither do I put her down.
I really do not want to let her out of my arms, and thankfully she’s light enough to hold with one arm as I unlock the elevator, then punch in the code once we’re inside. Then we’re gliding up, and the mirrored walls reflect dry blood on Hayley’s work clothes and apron.
She mutters something about being heavy, and that’s the first time I’ve smiled since I walked into the café. Because she weighs nothing for a bear like me. She’s tiny. Five-foot-three to my six-foot-four.
“Oh wow,” she says in a low voice as the doors open into my loft apartment. It looks out over the London Greenwich docks and the river, and the floor-to-ceiling windows have a feelingthat you could walk out onto the air and the clouds would hold you.
The floors are polished wood, and my shoes clip as I stride through to the spare room. I hesitate, because I want to take her into the bathroom, lock the door, and bathe her myself.
Instead, I manage the saner option of slowly allowing her to slip down my body until her feet are on the floor. My cock is in the way, as it always wants to be around Hayley. I try to ignore the feeling of her soft curves against me, but I’m already half-hard. I just hope she doesn’t notice.
I don’t let her go until she’s stable, and it’s like sawing off my arms.
8
HAYLEY
I almost call to Maxim to remain with me. To keep touching me, because with his hands on my body, I feel safe, and I can dream that he wants me the way I do him.
Thankfully I manage not to. My boss is not what I thought he was, but that doesn’t change the fact he’s way older and wealthier than me. He’s friends with the most notorious mafia bosses in London. I think their banter counts as friendship, anyway. They seemed genuinely concerned about Payton, and I’m cautiously optimistic that they’ll find her as they promised.
It wasn’t what I expected from a group of mafia bosses, but I suppose I have a lot to learn about Maxim.
For instance, the way he killed all those men… My god.
I look down at my blood-splattered top and jeans. Revulsion rolls through me, as though after everything that’s happened, I’m finally seeing and feeling the blood. The need to get them off is unbearable. I scratch and claw at my apron and clothes, tugging them off and leaving them where they fall.
It has seeped through to my knickers, and a sob rises in my throat as I see the red on the white cotton.
