Page 54 of Sexting the Bratva Beast

While I was chasing a bus to Charlotte, North Carolina, my sister emailed me everything she could find about Cartier’s background, including what happened to her birth parents. Although the details are vague.

There was a baby involved.

I can’t believe that this feud played out with a baby in the fucking midst.

But I won’t let my family’s past define me as a fucking monster too. Sure, I take people out, but only those who deserve it. The scum who prey on the weak, who don’t give a shit about anyone or anything but their own fucking greed. Scum that the world is better off without.

I would never harm a baby.

I would never harm Cartier Black.

And I’m going to prove it to her one way or another.

“I should’ve told you that my family is Bratva.” I kickstart this conversation. No holding back. Cartier is more precious to me than my own life. “I thought you knew.”

She holds my gaze. “Yeah, Gianna failed to mention that tiny piece of information.”

The innocence in her eyes smashes through me like a bowling ball. I’d bet that she knows zilch about her best friend’s mafia background too.

Not my secret to share.

“I’m sorry, Cartier. I didn’t speak about my work because I wanted you to get to know me. The real me.”

“Who are you really, Andrej?” Her eyes are huge with tears. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“This is who I am.” I close the distance between us and hold her hands. “The man I am when I’m with you is the best version of me. It’s the person I was always meant to be, but it took meeting you to show me.”

A tear trickles from the corner of her eye, and I catch it on my fingertip, marveling at its fragile beauty.

“Do you kill people?”

“Yes.” No more secrets. “Bad people.”

She doesn’t pull her hands away from me. I’m taking all the wins I can get.

“People with families?” she whispers.

I’m vaguely aware of the bus passengers watching us through the windows, the audience rooting for the couple everyone knows is destined to be together. Richard is waiting in the car. My foot soldiers are inside a second vehicle. I can’t let Cartier slip through my fingers again, but I’ll stand here talking all night if I must.

“People who destroy anyone who gets in their way. Cartier there are people out there who?—”

“Is that what happened to my parents? Did they get in your family’s way?”

“No.” I breathe deeply, keeping my pulse regulated. Cartier is too vulnerable right now. If I say the wrong thing, she’ll board that bus, and she might never come back. “I’m trying to find out what happened, but I swear to you, I had no idea about your past.”

She watches me intently, her expression unfathomable. “So, that man, Yuri Asimov, was telling the truth.”

“If he told you that our families are enemies, then yes. He was telling the truth. But if he told you that I was using you to get to him, then that was an outright fucking lie, and I’ll do everything I can to prove it to you.”

A faint smile plays on her lips, and my heart starts singing. I haven’t lost her yet. She’s still hanging on in there, even if it’s only by a thread.

“Why were you seeing me, Andrej?”

“Were?”Past tense?I blurt it out before I can stop myself, my pulse spiking. “I want to spend every spare moment of every day with you, Cartier. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, don’t you get it? I fucking worship you. You’re beautiful, and kind, and sexy, and you taste like fucking honey.”

A blush creeps across her cheeks.

“I don’t care where you came from. I didn’t expect you to get under my skin the way you have, and now, all I care about is protecting you and making you happy.”