Page 17 of Mafie Queen

He leans back, his eyebrows quirking in a challenge. Slowly rising to stand, I walk around the kitchen when it clicks. Before he can stop me, I dart towards the trash cans and open the lid just as his hand grabs my wrist.

“I knew it!” He pulls me to him and swiftly slams the lid down. He’s careful to avoid my injury as he cradles me and whispers in my ear.

“You didn’t see anything!” His mock panicked gaze meets mine and we fall into a fit of laughter. Whatever pills Doc gave me after he stitched me up are starting to work wonders.

“You cannot tell Alexi. He thinks I make this for him.”

I laugh even harder. “Oh, you mean your son who claims to be a five-star chef doesn’t know you’ve been feeding him microwave meals?”

That’s right. Evie and I have gossip sessions here and there. I know all about Alexi’s skills in the kitchen. Especially after he insisted on making us lunch so many times.

“Shhhhhh! In my mind, he still has no idea.” Boris pulls me close again. I don’t even think he realizes he does it. I find myself melting into him as our arms wrap around one another.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone I can laugh with.”

I look up at him, the strong, fearless Bratva leader, alone in his power.

“I’ll always be here to make you laugh.” The words leave my lips before I can process the gravity of my promise. But I’m an O’Neil, I don’t shy away from my feelings, and I meant what I said.

A noise I can only describe as shrill pulls us from our conversation as Boris’ phone goes off.Again. Poor guy is going to have a heart attack if he keeps this up. He really needs toset some boundaries. When he answers, the voice on the other end seems frantic. The hairs on my arms raise, prickling with awareness that something is going on.

“I’ll be right there,” he says, pulling me towards the door. I’m in a black t-shirt he lent me paired with gray sweatpants, so I’m surprised when he just moves to the door leading to his office without having us change.

Boris pushes open the door to reveal a man standing in the middle of his office looking fully disheveled. Long fingers rake through his hair while his suit looks as if he slept in it for days.

“What are you doing here, Ivan?” Boris asks, his tone clipped with an emotion I see from him often. Rage.

“I know where she is.”

Chapter 9

When we got a call from Boris this evening saying we needed to get to his office quickly, the last thing I expected to find there was my father. One of the very few pieces of information we were able to uncover about what Rostya was doing, was that my father was likely working with him as well.

When I enter the room, his familiar green eyes meet mine. All I can feel coursing through my veins is white hot anger. I don’t know where it comes from, but before I can even register my own actions, my fist lands on his face. Alexi and Damien pull me back, but I only growl at him as he stands, wiping blood from his face.

“I deserved that,” he says. He sounds so tired, but I’m not in the mood to feel sorry for the piece of shit. I try to lunge at him again but Damien has a firm hold on me.Asshole.

Boris is sitting behind his desk, watching the encounter as if it were any normal day. Nessa stands beside him, wearing what looks like his clothes. I fully ignore that situation. My brain cannot keep up with who’s sleeping with who any longer.

Boris clears his throat and we all turn to him. “Now that we have gotten that out of our system, let’s sit down and listen to what he has to say.” Boris sits forward, but I have so much to say to that. Luckily, so does Damien.

“I’m not going to believe a single word that comes out of his mouth. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the enemy and can be skinned alive in the basement along with the rest of the traitors for all I care.”

I nod my head in agreement when Boris looks at me.

“While I am tempted to agree with you, seeing as out of all the people I hoped I could trust, Ivan was one of the two of them. I simply must heed you to listen to what he has to say. Do with him what you wish after that, but I do think he is here to help.”

This time, Alexi speaks up. “When has this man ever helped us with anything? He’s the laziest hand you could have ever had. The only jobs he would ever perform were ones of his own selfish interest, and even then he only completed them as well as a child. I have zero reason to believe he is here to lend us a hand in this battle.”

“In this war,” Ivan corrects. “Adrik and Rostya are creating an army of psychopaths in order to claim all the power of the underworld for themselves.”

“And why are you just now telling us this?” Damien cuts in.

Ivan sits down as if he was admitting defeat.

“I fucked up. With my wife, my son, and my job. There isn’t a single area of my life where I haven’t fucked up. But when Rostya and Adrik were talking to your girl…”

He looks at me then, all of the anger and hatred I’m used to seeing from him is gone. It’s clear how truly broken he is; it’s reminiscent of the shell he was when we were standing at my mother’s funeral.

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