Page 19 of Bratva Bastard

She took a breath after spouting that out in one take. Then, she moved on for the second part, which she spoke much slower.

“The men have checked into the hotel, and that woman you’re with—she drugged you. I saw her slip something into your drink.”

Fuck.Had Sorokin really found me already?

I gulped hard and nodded my head. “I believe you.” But as soon as the words left my mouth, my head started to feel light and dizzy. Losing my footing, I leaned against the building’s wall to stabilize myself.

Crissy’s hand shot out, catching my arm. “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

“Yeah,” I slurred, feeling like a bucket of alcohol hit my system at once. The outside lights spun around me, my vision blurring and spinning at the same time. “I don’t feel so well. I think I need my room.” I could barely get the words out, sentences harder to form with each second that passed.

Crissy wrapped my arm around her shoulder and whipped out her phone, dialing a number and then putting it on speakerphone.

“Hey, I need you to cover my shift. Gabby’s husband has a friend who’s visiting town and he’s feeling unwell, so I’m going to make sure he gets home okay. Can you hold down the bar?”

“Always the caretaker, Crissy. I got the bar, you just make sure Gabby’s friend is okay.”

She hung up the phone and turned to face me, her dark eyes swirling and morphing with her olive skin and dark hair. “Come on,” she said, walking me toward the elevator.

The movement helped sober me a little, though there wasn’t much to be done against the ticking time bomb of whatever drug that woman gave me.

“What did he mean by caretaker?” I asked, curious who Crissy takes care of. Maybe that was why she didn’t mention her boyfriend, because he was sick, and she cared for him. If that was the case, then I was a major douchebag for giving her crap about it.

She shook her head, the motion tickling my arm that was wrapped around her neck. “It’s nothing. My mother is sick. But right now, we need to focus on gettingyouto safety, not her.”

Not sure how, but she managed to drag me to my hotel room, digging through my pocket for the keys, then shoving the keycard through the slot.

Once we got inside, I stumbled over to the couch, flopping onto it and taking root. Crissy closed the door, locked the deadbolt, and came to sit on the couch with me.

“Only open for Andrei. My bodyguard,” I mumbled, in and out of sleep.

And though I didn’t know her well, something about her presence made me feel safe and cared for. But more than anything, after the way she’d helped me, I knew I could trust her not to open that door to anyone but Andrei. I could trust her.

Those words lingered in my mind as I drifted off—a mantra I repeated almost to convince myself that they were true.

I can trust her.

9

Crissy

Maxim was like a child the way he resisted sleep. He was drowsy, stumbling and slurring like a drunk—though I knew better—and yet, he refused to sleep. But he couldn’t resist it too long because he ended up falling asleep on the couch.

“I promise I’ll watch over you, and I won’t open the door for anyone,” I whispered into his ear, brushing the hair from his face.

The room was silent, aside from the occasional blare of the television in the next room, or the drunk people stumbling to their rooms after being at the bar. Guilt hit me for ditching Ribeiro on a busy night, but he knew I wouldn’t do that unless it was an emergency.

I sat beside him on the sofa, stroking his arm and brushing my fingers through his hair. Despite the reason we were in this situation, it felt kind of…calm. Relaxing. His body against mine kept me warm and was cozier than I expected.

Why didn’t I feel this coziness when I snuggled next to Luiz?

Maxim slept for hours. For a while, I scrolled through my phone. I texted Gabby to tell her about the craziness that had happened and called my mother to tell her I might be home late. But when my phone’s battery got low, I decided to put it away and save the remaining battery for any emergencies that may arise.

Fortunately, nothing happened, and Maxim woke up after a few more hours. He was still drowsy but had slept off most of the drug’s effects. With a lazy smile, he turned to face me, nuzzling into my shoulder. But when he realized what he was doing, he pulled away, confused.

“Where…what? What happened?” His voice was groggy and raspy, heavy with sleep. “Have you been here all night?”

I nodded, my body shaking from the lack of warmth as he pulled away. Or maybe it was the fear of everything that had happened. Who could tell?

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