Page 19 of Secret Bratva Baby (Dubrov Bratva #16)

Ark is pacing up and down my office inside the warehouse. I’m sitting at my desk, watching the live video playing on my laptop screen. As usual, he is annoying the hell out of me and distracting me, adding to the already agitating situation.

I’m too tired. It’s been the longest week trying to finalize this operation, and now he won’t sit still and let it play out. He has to pace. And pace. And pace—

“Will you stop that,” I huff. “Where is Niko? He said he would be here today.” To be fair, we are all agitated and tired. We’ve been working on a plan for weeks. A new operation targeting the same rivals who tried to take Rose.

Obviously, they fell for our trick the first time—hijacking a truck full of bricks and completely wasting their time, energy and resources—so they won’t be falling for that so easily again. We had to make it more stealth than that.

That’s why this time we had to double up, and it made everything a bit more complicated to organize.

“Yil and Niko are on the way. They’re driving together. They should be here in the next few minutes,” Ark snaps.

I sigh loudly and Ark flops down onto the sofa in the office just as the radio cracks to life.

“Blue team in place,” the driver reports.

“Good. Stay until confirmation,” I reply.

Setting the radio aside, I clench my jaw and wring my hands together, flexing my knuckles and listening to them pop.

Jeez, I’m stressed. It’s not that I don’t think this will work. It’s more exhaustion than worry. All I want to do is go home to my family.

She ’ s not yours, Luka.

“Are they seriously going to be dumb enough to fall for this?” Ark snaps. “They can’t be that stupid.”

“This is a damn good plan, man. It’ll work,” I try to reassure him, but I don’t have the energy for it.

“A fake decoy operation that’s obviously fake to hide a real operation—that they will go after—and find out that it’s fake, too.”

I nod. “Exactly. It’s foolproof. And while it took a long time to put it all together, to spread the word on the street in the right way, it’s going to pay off big time. It’ll be worth it. You’ll see it.”

“Because they’re going to be furious?”

“And they will have spent a lot of money to try and take the decoy fake operation down.”

“I need a fucking drink,” he huffs.

“It’s a good plan, now stop asking questions you already know the answers to.” I roll my eyes. He was at the meetings. He’s been helping all week. He’s just looking for reassurance, and I can’t baby him through this. I need to focus.

Ark chuckles. “Okay, fine. It’s a damn good plan. I agree.” He sits up, resting his elbows on his knees. I ignore him. I know it’s a good plan.

Niko and Yilian walk into the office and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness they’re here, and I don’t have to deal with Ark and the operation on my own.

“Blue driver is in place,” I update them.

“Red?”

“Waiting on them to report in.”

As I say it, the radio crackles to life again.

“Red team is confirmed.”

“Hold position,” I reply.

“Now we wait,” Niko says tensely. He grabs a chair from the corner of the room and drags it to my desk to sit close to me.

Yilian stays standing, with his arms folded across his chest.

“Alright, we’ll just keep an eye on the cameras from here on out.”

I lift my laptop and turn it to face everyone. Four camera feeds fill the screen, each in a neat block. One feed is from the fake-fake operation. The other three are from the real-fake operation. The one where we expect to see action tonight. The sound is off, but the images are clear.

Movement flickers across one screen, and the video feed lights up with the unmistakable flashes of gunfire.

“Red is go,” I say into the radio calmly.

Ark grumbles, “They’re shooting.”

“It’s good. They fell for it,” Niko says, his shoulders tense as he watches the screen. “The team used the decoy, right? There isn’t a real person in the driver’s seat?”

“No, our guys are behind this building here.” I point to the screen.

“Mm,” Niko says, his eyes fixed on the action.

Yilian is chewing on his nails. He hadn’t been able to make it to all of the planning meetings, but he got the gist of it. These finer details weren’t important for him to know as long as we had them under control.

Ark is still sitting on the sofa, not even watching the live feed.

“They can’t get into the driver’s lock box, so they won’t realize it’s a decoy until it’s too late,” I tell Yil. “The windows are tinted pretty dark, too.”

“You want them to tow the truck away?” he asks.

“Yes. Whatever wastes their time the most.”

“Good choice on the truck, then. Those things are practically indestructible,” Yilian muses.

The entire operation goes exactly as we planned. They fall for it. Everything. They tow the truck right back to their warehouse, taking around two hours to complete the task.

“What do you think they’ll do now?” Ark asks, standing up, stretching, and yawning loudly. Niko rubs his eyes and rolls his shoulders back.

I answer Ark, “I assume they’ll spend another few hours trying to break into it. Eventually, they’ll use a detonator to blow the door off, and when they do that, they’ll find a single box inside, and in that box a card that says: Got you again. ”

Niko chuckles. “Well, you pissed them off badly the first time. The second time, this is going to have them ripping their hair out at the root.”

“I hope so. But I’m not staying around to watch everything. The security team can keep an eye on the feed and update us tomorrow.”

“Same. I’m headed home. Shit, it’s been a long week. I can’t even remember that I took a holiday,” Niko complains, brushing his hand through his hair.

We all walk together out to the parking lot, each of us looking equally exhausted.

On the drive home, I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. I glance at the time, wondering if Rose will still be awake or not.

I’d like to see her, but it’s almost eleven and usually she’s in bed by ten at the latest.

Pulling up in the driveway, I smile when I spot her through the living room window. She’s awake, sitting on the sofa, reading a book or something. Was she waiting for me? Would she do that?

I hurry inside, enjoying the feeling of having someone to come home to. As soon as I step into the living room, she stands up, smiling.

“Hey, I was wondering when you were going to be home. I was almost ready to give up waiting.”

“It was a long one. You waited up for me ?” I ask, curious.

She knits her brows as she studies me. “You look shot. Can I get you some food?”

“Sure, what was for dinner?”

“Do you want to take a wild guess? And please note it’s your fault for telling the three-year-old she can pick dinner all week.”

“Mm. It’s a tough one, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say…mac and cheese.” I raise my brows, excited to find out if I got it right, although the answer is already obvious.

Rose giggles. “How did you know?” she asks sarcastically as she slips her arm through mine and pulls me towards the kitchen.

She pushes me into one of the tall chairs at the counter and busies herself warming up a big plate of mac and cheese with bacon bits and extra cheese grated over the top.

I’m so hungry, I practically breathe the food in.

The entire time I’m eating, she chats to me, leaning against the counter in the kitchen, telling me about her day and what Lily got up to.

If I could make a wish, it would be that I always have her to come home to. Even though I’m tired and hardly speaking, she’s making me smile.

When I finish my food, she takes the empty plate away. “More?” she asks.

“Gosh, no, I’ll explode.”

“Well, you look exhausted. I think you need a massage. Why don’t you go upstairs? I’ll clean up here quickly and then come up in a minute.”

A massage? Did she really just say that?

“That sounds incredible,” I answer quickly, not hesitating to accept her offer.

The thought of her hands rubbing over my body has me heated and eager. She steps close to me, smiling mischievously. When she looks up at me, her eyes are filled with desire.

I reach my hand behind her neck and pull her even closer. She leans into me and presses her lips against mine.

The kiss takes me by surprise, but it’s everything I need.

She’s the one making this move.

She’s seducing me with kisses and massages and teasing glances. She chose to wait up for me even though it's late.

It’s something new, her coming onto me like this, and I want it more than she knows.

She pulls away, my cock is already hard when she smiles at me and says with a seductive whisper, “Go wait upstairs.”

I chuckle and stand up, nodding. “Don’t be long,” I say sternly.

“I wouldn’t dare,” she teases.

Walking up the stairs to hop in the shower, I have a massive smile on my face. What a beautiful thing to come home to. A woman who is so willing to make you happy. Someone who wants you and who wants to see you smile.

I kick my shoes off as soon as I get into the bedroom and throw my belt over the back of a chair. Stripping out of each layer of clothing, I am already less restricted and more comfortable.

The shower is hot, the water pelting down in a strong flow that soothes some of my stress away. I could be standing here worrying about the operation, wondering how the rivals will retaliate this time—but instead, I’m standing here grinning, looking forward to her hands on my body.

Because I have better things waiting for me, despite how good the shower feels, I don’t stay in long. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I head back into the bedroom to wait for her.

I’m lying on my back looking through my phone when she walks in carrying a plate with a small slice of chocolate cake on it.

“Here you go,” she smiles, setting it down next to me.

“What’s this?” I say, picking up the plate. It looks delicious.

“A little sweet treat. Lily wanted to bake today. She helped me stir. And helped throw cake mix around the kitchen,” she giggles.

Rose sits down cross-legged at the end of the bed and lifts one of my feet onto her lap. While I’m eating dessert, she chats a bit more about this and that, and with the perfect amount of pressure, she massages the soles of my feet, one at a time.

It’s bliss.

I’ve never had a foot massage before, and I don’t know how I got this far in life without experiencing it.

Back, shoulder, neck—sure, I’ve been for those deep tissue massages. But wow. Who knew that someone rubbing your feet could be so incredibly relaxing.

When I finish my cake, she takes the empty plate away and commands me to lie on my stomach.

I smirk. “Bossy, aren’t you?”

“Mm. Stop back-chatting and do as you’re told,” she says sternly, trying to hide her grin. My cock stirs again as I roll over and get comfortable.

With me lying face down, Rose climbs onto my back, straddling my ass and leaning her full weight against her hands as she kneads at the muscles of my lower back.

She works slowly, not talking anymore, going from the base of my spine, over my body, up and towards my neck and shoulders.

Every now and then, I let out an involuntary, deeply satisfied groan that makes her giggle. She’s pleased with herself.

Her hands against my body have made my cock hard as a rock, pressing into the bed. She won’t find out until I roll over.

My eyes close, and I picture the things she’ll do to me when she asks me to roll over.

How she’ll straddle my cock and rock her hips over me—I can’t wait.

But that never happens, because at some point during her incredible massage, I pass out from absolute exhaustion and utter relaxation under her touch. The massage was too amazing. Her hands were too soothing.

I was too tired.

As far as ways to fall asleep go, this was a beautiful one. I have nothing to complain about.

***

My eyes flicker open.

The bedroom is dark. All of the lights have been turned off. I’m under the covers and warm and comfortable, lying on my side.

I wake up remembering her hands on my back, the sensation of her touch, and immediately, I’m smiling.

The next little piece of heaven I find is that Rose is in my bed.

Curled up next to me, snuggled against me. My arm is tucked around her waist, and she’s lying with her back curved against my chest.

I can smell her hair, soft and silky against my pillow.

I brush my hand up and down her waist and feel her warmth.

Letting out a deep sigh of satisfaction, I pull my arm tighter. She moans in her sleep. A moan of contentment. A soft, happy sigh.

My heart flutters.

My mind lights as though someone has turned something on.

I am utterly, madly, deeply, uncontrollably in love with Rose.

Yes, I knew I still had love for her.

But this—this is deep. Intense and real.

I can’t be without her. I want her.

I want this. Every single night, I want to lie in bed with her. I want her here in my home—for my home to be her home.

She is home to me. It’s why I’ve felt so disjointed and broken these past four years. She is my home, and I sent her away. My heart beats faster, filled with excitement for the possibilities—and fear for this not working out.

My smile grows wider, though, because it is a beautiful thing to be in love. I close my eyes with my face snuggled against her hair, breathing in her scent.

Rose stirs awake. Perhaps feeling how hard my heart is beating against her back.

“Are you okay?” she whispers quietly.

“Yes, my angel. Go back to sleep,” I whisper back, kissing the curve of her neck.

She snuggles close and drifts off to sleep again, and I lie away, thinking of how I can make her mine.

She has a right to be wary of me. I have failed her in the past. She has no reason to trust me if I just confess my love and make promises. I’ve done it before; even a day before I ghosted her, I promised her I would love her forever.

She has absolutely no reason to believe me if I say it now.

I can’t use words this time.

I can’t expect her to fall for me again if I tell her she is my world, she is everything to me, and I want to be a family.

Words simply aren’t enough.

I have to show her.

My father taught me, over and over again, when I was younger, practically beating it into my mind until it became part of who I am—

A man has no more worth than his ability to keep his word.

But his actions will always speak louder than his words.

These two things have been a guiding force in my life. That’s why it ate away at me to break my promises to Rose four years ago. I thought it was worth it to keep her safe. But now, I understand how wrong I was and that my father was right all along.

I destroyed my worth in her eyes.

And now the only way to heal that wound, to ease the pain of that scar, is to do so by letting my actions speak louder.

I will show her what she means to me.