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“Are you sure they’re going to be here?” Ruvim asks, peering through the passenger window of my black, heavily tinted SUV.

He parked his car on the other side of the building just in case we needed an escape from that side. But we’ve all been waiting together in my car because we can see the front of the restaurant from here.

“They’ll be here. It was a trusted informant who gave me the info.”

“We’ve been waiting for almost an hour,” Roman complains from the backseat, where he is sitting with Renat, clicking the safety on and off on his handgun.

I roll my eyes, not responding. My younger brothers need to learn patience.

We’ve been parked in a hidden area outside a restaurant on the edge of the docks where one of the rival gangs is supposed to be meeting this evening. We’re waiting for them to arrive.

My eyes are locked onto the large glass entrance doors, standing open. The restaurant is quiet, too quiet. Almost as though they purposefully turned customers away to prepare for a specific meeting. The meeting with the Enzo brothers.

I look at the dashboard of the car and the time blinks back at me in red letters. It has been a long time though. I don’t blame my brothers for getting fidgety.

Just as I am beginning to wonder if this was bad info, or if the Enzo gang caught wind of us knowing about it and changed locations, I see two cars pull up at the side of the building.

“They’re here,” I say, stiffening my back. “Get ready.” My blood begins to pump faster as adrenalin kicks in.

My brothers hustle quickly, excited to finally be on the move.

We get out of the car quietly, checking our Kevlar vests and flicking the safety off each of our weapons.

I tap my left leg to double-check that my lucky knife is strapped against my calf. It is.

I hold my hand up to indicate for my brothers to hold their positions just across the way from the entrance of the restaurant. Ducked behind a parked car we stare towards the neon blue lights declaring Tony Aroma. The A in aroma is not working as well as the other lights so every now and then it fades to nothing and the sign just says Tony roma.

It’s not part of our territory. We left this area to the lower families, the less respected ones.

My brothers wait in silence, watching the Enzo clan climb out of their cars, greeting each other happily, not paying any attention to what might be lurking in the shadows around them.

But they are all packing. I can see the bulge of their handguns beneath their suits. Always prepared. It’s just the way of life when you are involved in the Bratva world.

I’ve never liked them. Any of them. The entire family is filled with arrogant, sneaky, underhanded assholes.

Two weeks ago they interfered with a very large shipment of mine and caused me to lose over a million dollars’ worth of product. I’m pissed off and they need to learn that we don’t take that kind of shit lightly.

People need to learn to respect us as much as they respect the Dubrovs.

The Enzo brothers walk towards the restaurant. I’d rather sort this out in the parking lot, instead of shooting up some random guy's establishment for no good reason. I nod. “Now,” I mutter and we rush forward, firing our first few shots before they get a chance to dive to safety behind the entrance doors.

The glass of one of the windows shatters inwards.

All of the Enzo brothers spin around to face the gunfire, ducking behind whatever is closest to them and drawing their guns to return fire.

But just as the chaos breaks out I hear a young woman screaming. It’s ear-piercing and filled with pure terror.

She is walking out of the restaurant clutching a leather bag to her chest like a shield. Loud gunshots have her flinching, and she ducks low against the ground.

I wince each time bullets skim near her. Smacking into the ground in front of her or along the wall behind her.

Dammit.

An innocent bystander was not part of my plan.

The Enzo brothers are hardly paying a fucking second of attention towards her. Why the hell would they not care about hitting her in the crossfire? I guess it’s obvious. They care about nothing and no one but themselves.

“Who’s the fucking chick?” Ruvim yells over the gunfire, loud snaps of sharp, piercing sounds that spark in the air around us.

“I have no fucking clue!” I yell back, agitated and distracted with worry about her safety.

She is crouched low and crying now. Too scared to run and looking frozen in place. Another bullet smacks into the wall just above her head.

“I have to get her!” I shout to my brothers.

“Go, we’ll cover you!” Renat yells.

I rush forward, darting between cars and using whatever I can to shield myself from their continuous fire.

My brothers keep up a steady wall of bullets to make sure the Enzo’s are occupied and distracted.

I reach the side of the restaurant and duck as I run along the wall towards where she is huddled against the bricks.

Crouching low, I wrap my arm around her.

“Are you hit?” I ask.

She looks at me and screams, her eyes wide with terror. Realizing I am wearing full Kevlar gear and a face mask, I don’t blame her for screaming. But there is no time to explain right now.

I quickly clasp my hand over her mouth and lift her in my arms.

I can’t have her causing them to look this way.

With her held against my chest, I bolt back around to the side of the building.

She is starting to kick and fight a bit.

“Stop,” I say, grabbing her wrists. “I’m trying to get you out of here.”

She stops and stares at me with a blank expression. She’s in shock. I can see it in her eyes.

I glance towards my brothers.

Signaling to Ruvim, I indicate that I’m going to take his car and they should retreat and take mine.

He signals back, confirming he understood.

I run towards Ruvim’s SUV and pull the door open, throwing her across the driver’s seat and into the passenger seat. She huffs and whimpers loudly, huddling against the seat with her legs pulled against her chest. I yank my face mask off and toss it onto the back seat. Her eyes go wide for a second when she sees my face, but then she quickly looks away, almost appearing embarrassed.

The engine revs as I pull away, going around the back of the building to make sure we don’t get caught in any additional cross fire.

Glancing over towards her, I see she is still crying. But I can’t do anything about that right now. My priority is getting her out of here.

The tires skid around corners while I drive through the city towards my property. I don’t know where else to go with her. My mansion is going to be the safest place for her, at least for tonight.

She turns her head towards me, and I catch a glimpse of just how bright green her eyes are. Hazel, almost yellow. It’s the first time I’ve really noticed her features, how beautiful she is.

Even through the fear in her expression.

I reach out and gently touch her leg. “We are almost somewhere safe. I promise you it’s going to be ok,” I say as gently as I can.

She shifts in the passenger seat and bites at her lower lip. The sight of her distracting me from my driving for a second. I quickly turn away.

I need to focus.

“Why—why was everyone shooting?” she stammers.

“We can talk when we get somewhere safe, ok, let me just get us there,” I reassure her, honestly not even sure who she is and what I am supposed to tell her.

Thank goodness no one follows us from the restaurant.

I get a message from my brothers to say they got out safely and to check in with me. I’ll answer them when I get home. That is when I know we will be truly safe.

It doesn’t take long before I am driving up the long entrance of my driveway. The security guards standing at the entrance greet me with a polite nod.

The girl next to me looks overwhelmed.

Climbing out of the car, I walk around to her side and pull the passenger door open.

“You can get out now, this is a safe place,” I say quietly, keeping my voice even to try and avoid startling her.

She nervously swings her legs out of the car. Her black high heels clicking against the stone slabs of the parking area.

My eyes trace up her legs and over her very shapely figure when she stands up.

She has full hips and a curvy waist, voluptuous and incredibly sexy. Her black dress hugs tight against her belly and pushes her breasts together. I have to force myself to drag my eyes off her. She is all woman. All sex appeal. Hitting every spot on my attraction meter.

Clearing my throat loudly, I gesture for her to walk ahead of me into the house.

She takes the steps nervously and I find myself staring at her ass.

Dammit, Radmir, get a grip.

Inside the mansion, the lights come on as we walk through to the living room. Her eyes are darting everywhere, from the chandeliers to the white marble pillars and the wide open space of my modern home.

“Sit, please.” I gesture towards the sofa while I unclip the Kevlar jacket and toss it over one of the chairs.

She sits down timidly.

She’s biting at her lip again and tears are shining in her eyes. My heart aches for her. I can’t imagine the shock she is in.

I sit down near her but leaving enough space for her to feel safe.

“My name is Radmir Kuznetsov. This is my home. What’s yours?”

“Jade Blake,” she sniffs, wiping a tear from her face with long elegant fingers.

In the light she is even prettier. Her pitch black hair fades into a bright red, alarming and bold, the red pulls the hazel tones from her eyes and makes them pop even more.

“Jade, what were you doing at that restaurant?” I ask, needing to know who she is and what her role in all of this is.

“I-I was delivering documents,” she stammers.

“To who? Why?”

She scrunches her dark eyebrows together, her eyes filled with worry. “To the businessmen who my boss does paperwork for. The Enzo brothers.”

“Businessmen?” I mumble, realizing she doesn’t even know they are mafia.

“Yes. My boss, well, I’m an intern, so I don’t really know what he does for them, but he asks me to deliver paperwork every now and then.”

“I see.” I sigh, heavily.

This poor girl is completely innocent and was in the completely wrong place at the wrong time.

“Are you going to kill me?” she asks nervously.

“No, Jade. I promise you are safe with me, but I think you should know that the people your boss was working for. They are Bratva Mafia. They are incredibly dangerous and if you did not know that before, they will be aware that you know now. They might come after you to keep you quiet.”

“How will they keep me quiet?” she asks in absolute horror.

“The only way they know how. By ending your life.” There is no point in hiding the truth from her. The Enzo brothers don’t give a shit about other people and they will kill her if they feel she is a risk to their operations.

Jade starts to cry again and before I can stop myself I’ve reached out and wrapped my arms around her.

I pull her tight against my side and hold her in my arms.

She feels good against me.

She smells of roses and Turkish delight. One of my favorite treats.

It was very forward of me to comfort her like this, so I half expect her to push me away, but instead she snuggles against my chest, drying her eyes on my shirt.

Reaching my hand up, I brush it across her cheek, wiping a tear away. “I promise you I’ll take care of you, Jade,” I whisper, my heart pulling in weird directions I’ve never felt it pulled in before.

Why is she making me feel this way? I don’t even know her.

This stunningly beautiful girl, who basically fell into my life from nowhere. I lean slightly away from her, trying to be respectful because this moment is so intense. But her fingers grip against my shirt and she holds herself against me, not ready to let go yet.

I lean back into the sofa, letting her rest her head on my chest while I gently wrap my arm around her.

After twenty minutes she falls asleep and I can hardly believe it.

Slipping my arm beneath her, I lift her against me and carry her up to the spare room. I set her down on the bed, moving carefully so that I don’t wake her, I pull her high heels off and the blankets aside, for a moment I consider taking her dress off. Damn. I want to do that.

I shake my head. What the fuck, Radmir? She’s not even awake.

I sigh softly, grabbing the edges of the blankets and pulling them up to tuck them over her.

Before I leave the room I stand in the door way staring towards her sleeping figure on the bed. Her beautiful face resting peacefully against the pillow. Her mascara is a little smudged from crying, but it doesn’t take away from her perfection.

I clench my jaw and take a deep breath. What is going on with me?

Turning my back I head towards my own bedroom to have a shower and try and get some sleep too.