Page 39 of Sexting the Bratva Boss (Text to Touch)

Ruslan

Eva was asleep.

I leaned down and kissed her forehead softly, then got up and slipped quietly out of the room. Dimitri was waiting in the hallway, as expected.

The moment he saw me, he handed over a tablet. I took it and put it in my earpiece as we walked toward the hospital elevator. I needed to get back to Yvann Group.

"We got him?" My voice carried an edge of ice.

"Yes, пахан," Dimitri fell into step behind me, speaking rapidly. "That set assistant Marcel—we caught him at a hotel with some whore. He spilled everything."

I opened the interrogation video on the tablet. The man who'd looked so ordinary and harmless on set was now kneeling on the ground, face battered and bloody, sobbing.

"It was Casimir! Casimir made me do it!" Marcel was screaming in the video. "He threatened to kill me if I didn't bring Miss Stone to him. He said he'd make me disappear from the face of the earth! I had no choice, I really had no choice!"

I watched without expression, feeling nothing.

"I checked his accounts—there's a recent deposit of twenty grand from an anonymous source," Dimitri's voice cut in at the right moment.

Sure enough, the next part of the video showed Dimitri confronting Marcel with the bank records. Marcel finally confessed everything—he'd accepted Casimir's threats and bribes, helped kidnap Eva, then taken Casimir's money to live it up.

Stupid, unrepentant coward.

"Handle it," I said, closing the video and handing the tablet back. My tone was as casual as if I were asking him to take out the trash. "Clean job. Eva doesn't hear a word about any of this."

"Yes, пахан." Dimitri paused, then added, "What about Joseph—"

"I'll handle him personally." The elevator doors opened and I stepped out. "Send me Jonathan's file."

"Understood."

Dimitri went off to deal with Marcel.

A few minutes later, my phone buzzed with Jonathan's information.

Jonathan Monteiro. Dimitri had been keeping tabs on him for a while—turned out that surveillance was about to pay off.

According to the intelligence Dimitri had compiled, this patient wolf had been quietly building his own power base.

He was smarter and more capable than his arrogant asshole brother, just waiting for the right opportunity.

And I was about to hand him that opportunity on a silver platter.

I got in my car and dialed the number from his file.

"This is Ruslan Yvannov."

Jonathan's slightly surprised voice came through. "Mr. Yvannov? This is unexpected. What can I do for you?"

"I want to make an exclusive arms deal with you. A big one." I cut straight to the point.

He was quiet for a moment, obviously trying to figure out if I was serious. "As far as I know, the Yvannov and Monteiro families don't have a history of cooperation."

"They do now. I don't waste time on small talk." My voice stayed level. "I'll give you two premium arms channels and open up the Yvannov transportation network to you. You can use those resources to completely destroy your brother Joseph's operation. I only have one condition."

"I'm listening."

"I want you to deliver Joseph to me. What happens to him after that is entirely my business."

The silence on the other end stretched out. Finally, his voice came back with barely suppressed amusement.

"Mr. Yvannov, you're the most generous business partner I've ever encountered," he said. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Likewise."

I hung up and sat back to wait for Joseph to be delivered.

I drove to Yvann Group to handle the work that had piled up over the past few days.

I'd just finished reviewing a contract when Eva texted me.

Eva: where'd you go?

I found myself smiling as I typed back.

Me: at Yvann Group handling some business. you were sleeping so I didn't want to wake you

Me: Elliot and the others are coming to see you today. pushed them off the last couple days so you could rest

Eva: ok, when are you coming back?

I was about to respond when Jonathan sent a message.

Jonathan: package delivered

With a photo of Joseph unconscious and tied up in what looked like a warehouse, plus an address.

I switched back to Eva's chat.

Me: back within 2 hours

Then I grabbed Dimitri and a few trusted guys and headed to the location.

In the warehouse, Joseph was strapped to a metal chair with a gag in his mouth, looking like absolute shit.

He was awake now, and when he saw us walk in, his eyes showed fear first, then that pathetic kind of anger that comes from being cornered.

He was making muffled noises, struggling uselessly against his restraints.

I walked slowly up to him and looked down with complete disdain.

I leaned over and yanked the gag out of his mouth.

"Ruslan!" He immediately started screaming, his voice distorted by fear and rage. "You fucking bastard! You and that piece of shit Jonathan set me up!"

"Set you up?" I laughed coldly. "Joseph, you're giving yourself way too much credit. Dealing with you doesn't require setting anything up."

I pulled out my gun and aimed it at his head.

"You can't kill me," he said, panic taking over as he saw the weapon. "If you touch me, the Monteiro family will come after you."

I casually played with the gun in my hands. "The minute Jonathan handed you over to me, you stopped having a family. Right now, you're just discarded garbage."

I checked my watch. 3 PM. Fifty minutes left of the two hours I'd promised Eva.

I tapped Joseph's face with the barrel of my gun.

"Joseph, this isn't about business, territory, or your pathetic excuse for a family," I said, and my voice would be the last thing he'd ever hear in this world. "This is about Eva. Remember that—you paid for your stupid greed with your life."

His eyes went wide with terror. I pulled the trigger.

Silence.

I stared at the hole in his head with complete indifference.

"Clean this up," I said, then turned and walked away.

At 3:40, I'd finished handling all my "business" and was back at the hospital right on time. The coat that had been stained with blood and death was long gone, replaced by a simple black outfit. When I pushed open the door to Eva's room, she was propped up in bed reading.

When she saw me, her face lit up with the most beautiful smile.

"You're back!"

"Yeah." I walked over and arranged the white tulips I'd brought—her favorites—in a vase.

"Elliot and the others just left. I had no idea that when I was kidnapped, Elliot was in the bathroom," Eva said with a laugh. "So dramatic!"

"Oh, and Elliot told me not to worry about rushing back to set," she added, her thoughts jumping around the way they did when she was relaxed.

"Good," I said. "Stay in the hospital for the full five days before you're discharged."

She nodded, then remembered something else.

"The nurse reminded me that the 4 o'clock class is starting soon," she said with obvious excitement.

"Let's go," I said.

At exactly 4 PM, Eva and I were seated in the health education room.

Today's lesson was hands-on newborn care. The head nurse gave each couple a doll that matched the weight and size of a real baby.

When that naked baby doll was placed in my hands, I froze completely. These same hands had just ended a life, and now they were supposed to learn how to protect and nurture a new one. It felt absurd and jarring, but also somehow... redemptive.

"Dressing a newborn is a skill," the head nurse explained patiently from the front. "Their bodies are extremely soft, especially their necks. You must support them at all times."

I looked at the doll in my hands, then at the impossibly tiny onesie, and felt completely lost.

Eva nudged me with her elbow and whispered, "Come on, Yvannov. Time to show us what you've got."

I took a deep breath and awkwardly positioned the doll on my lap, then picked up the little outfit.

I tried to get the doll's arm through the sleeve, but the opening was so small that after several failed attempts, I was actually breaking out in a sweat.

This was more nerve-wracking than a gunfight.

Eva watched my intense concentration and couldn't help but laugh out loud. She covered my hands with hers and guided me.

"Look, you have to roll the sleeve opening like this first, then put your fingers through from the inside to grab baby's little hand, then gently pull the sleeve up," she said, her voice patient and gentle.

With her guidance, I finally managed to get both the doll's arms through the sleeves. I let out a long breath like I'd just completed some impossible mission.

Eva looked around at the other struggling expectant fathers, then back at me with mischief in her eyes. "I never would have guessed that the most studious guy in our class would be a bratva boss."

Her description caught me off guard, and I actually laughed.