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“Okay, that can wait, take this fool to the hospital and get him sorted. I’ll call ahead and tell them to put it on my account.”

“Thank you, sir,” Plato says as Jim pulls him to his feet.

We wait for the two guys to make their way past us, giving them space to move safely.

The crowd slowly disperses, and another man comes to talk to Nestor.

“Why do you keep that kid on, boss? He’s a walking trainwreck. Last week, he almost crashed the forklift.”

“I know, that’s why he isn’t allowed on the forklift anymore,” Nestor huffs.

“I don’t think he should be on any heavy machinery.”

“I agree.”

“So then, he’s useless to you.”

“He’s got two kids, Reggie. I can’t just fire him. He means well. He’s always at work early, never complains about overtime. He’s just—"

“A moron?” Reggie grumbles.

“Yeah,” Nestor chuckles. “You’re the floor manager, Reg. Find him something safe to do. His family needs him to have this job. You know if I fire him, no one else will hire him.”

“Alright, I’ll figure it out. But honestly—I think you’re becoming a softie,” Reggie teases Nestor.

“If you tell anyone…” Nestor smirks.

“I know, I know. Swimming with them fishes at the docks.” He cracks up laughing.

They talk a bit more about a new guy who can start working the press, and my thoughts start drifting.

He genuinely cares for these people. And the longer I stand here taking it all in, the more I realize they’re all just normal people, trying to earn money for their families. Families that Nestor clearly cares about as well. It sounds like Plato should have been fired ages ago, and Nestor is just worried about his family and his life, shifting him from position to position until he can find something where the guy does well.

He cares.

And the way the floor manager is teasing Nestor, it seems that the workers have a soft spot and a lot of respect for Nestor, too.

But he’s a freaking crime boss. Theleader of the Russian mafia.

My hands twist and knot in front of me.

How the hell did I end up entangled in this world? How is it that I’m standing in a warehouse run by the mafia and listening to two guys joking and having a chat as though it’s all normal?

To them, it is normal.

They’re just regular people doing regular jobs.

Nestor was so calm. He’s calm now, in this crisis, and he was calm when he took care of me during the car crash. Even though he was injured, he carried me all that way. He’s compassionate. And the way he treats his mom and his sister, he doesn’t seem like a crime boss.

He glances at me and smiles, a gentle smile, reassuring me that he won’t be much longer. I can see the words in his eyes that he’s sorry, somehow.

I bite my lip, his eyes on me, making my heart race. I can’t stop thinking about how he took care of me, so gentle, so powerful. He’s so beautifully masculine. Everything he does has made me feel safe, not worried. He’s taken care of me and made sure I’m alright. If he were a bad person, he could have done terrifying things to me already.

A dark thought flickers through my mind.

I would love for him to do dark things to me.

Reggie leaves, and it’s just Nestor and me standing near the machine.