Page 9 of Trapped by the Bratva (The Valkov Bratva #5)

HANNAH

“ I can’t believe I did that.”

I slowed from running away from Dmitri’s room. Leaving him smirking and scowling in bed seemed like my only sane option. Since Becca found me earlier, I’d been experiencing pure, utter insanity.

What do I do now? Panic was the name of my game, and I freaked out as the consequences of what I did caught up to me.

I kissed my patient.

I let him touch me.

Taste me.

Where was my decency, my common sense? I had neither, because as I hurried out of his private wing and passed door after door and got overwhelmed by the number of hallways and floors in this behemoth of a fancy mansion, I felt like a filthy sinner.

My thighs rubbed together, sticky from my cum that I hadn’t wiped off. Like a deviant, a slut, I wore no panties. He’d ripped them before he?—

Oh, God. I shivered as a phantom tingle of his lips and tongue on my pussy hit me.

I would never, ever lose that memory, but right now, I didn’t want to acknowledge what happened.

“Hannah?”

I whirled around at Becca’s voice. Turning so quickly made my dress flare up, and I slapped my hands down to keep the fabric low. Emily toddled toward me, gaining speed, and I worried that she’d reach me and tug on my dress.

Sure enough, her little arms raised up high in her telltale signal that she wanted to be picked up. I plastered a quick smile on my face for her and masked my uneasiness. Smoothing my dress to my legs, I delicately lowered in a crouch to pick her up.

“What are you doing?” Becca laughed. “A curtsy?”

My cheeks flamed hotter. No. Just doing my best not to moon anyone or let you know that I lost my panties.

“Hi, Em-Em!” I didn’t reply to Becca, instead focusing on this sweet girl I’d missed so much.

When Becca helped me pack some things in my duffel bag—a seamless process because Melissa had been out getting her nails done, on my dime, of course—I was happy to hear that Becca and her fiancé, Ivan, lived in the same house as my patient.

I looked forward to spending time with little Emily again, even if I was expected to babysit a man in need of nursing help, not an infant.

Babysitting. Yeah, right. What Dmitri coaxed me to do was not an innocent act that fell within the realm of babysitting.

“Uh-oh.” Becca furrowed her brow as she reached us in the hallway. “What’s wrong?”

I flinched, looking at her sharply. “What do you mean?” My panic kicked into a higher gear, making my heart race faster.

“You look freaked out.”

That’s putting it mildly. I was ashamed that I caved to his naughty requests. I felt embarrassed that he proved how easy I was. And I hated this guilt over abusing the situation.

I was here to be Dmitri’s nurse. Not a hired piece of ass or anything like that. I was being paid—generously—to bring him back to health. Not ride his face.

“Are you still worried you’re not ‘qualified’ or something like that?” She crossed her arms and sighed.

“No.” I blinked, smiling again for Emily as she hugged my neck. “Well, sort of. I’ve never been hired for exclusive home health care services.”

“You are a professional, Hannah. I know this. And if you’re not registered to offer this care, it’s only a technicality.”

Professional. Are you sure about that? Nothing about what Dmitri and I did felt professional at all. Usually, I was a stickler on ethics and propriety. But I caved. So easily.

How could I not? Unbeknownst to him, Dmitri had already been on my mind since our first meeting. Maybe I’d played him up and mentally projected him to be a larger-than-life presence I wanted in my life. The mystery of who he was on a traumatic night helped to make him stick.

Now, seeing him again, I realized how unprepared I could’ve been to reject him or insist on being proper.

He was so skilled, knowing exactly how to go down on me and make me burst apart with my first real orgasm.

His mouth was magic—on mine or elsewhere.

I couldn’t deny how damnably hot he was, even in his wounded state.

Those scars didn’t subtract from his rugged appeal.

If anything, they gave him more of a badass look that drove me wild.

“Is he giving you a hard time?” Becca guessed next.

A housekeeper came by, and Becca smiled at her. “Margie? Could you entertain Emily for a few minutes? I want to speak with Hannah.”

Emily gladly went over to Margie, babbling as the older woman tickled her and skipped to make her giggle.

“Let’s sit for a minute,” Becca said, gesturing for me to enter a nearby room. The doors opened up to reveal a library that could rival the one in Beauty and the Beast .

“Wow!” I took it all in, glad for the distraction of talking about Dmitri with her.

“I know. Isn’t it crazy?” She sat, smiling up at the shelves.

“So, the Valkovs are pretty well off, then,” I surmised.

She nodded. “Very. Alek recently took over the family business, and he’s making everything more profitable than ever.”

I sat and raised my brows. “Family business, huh?”

She pulled her lower lip in and nodded. “Yep.”

“Cut the crap, Becca. What is this place, really? Who are these people?” I furrowed my brow. “Dmitri said he was tortured. I thought he was wounded from an accident or something, but…”

Becca sighed and clasped her hands over her baby bump. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more upfront on the way here, but I was so determined to get you here.”

I snorted a laugh. “Well, dangling that advance and the salary did most of the heavy work of convincing me.”

“And it worked.”

“But…”

“But it was wrong of me not to be more upfront. That’s not fair to you.”

“Okay. Then fill me in now.” I had a strong hunch who my employer was, and I wasn’t sure whether that detail should scare me off or tempt me to stay and discover more.

On the principle of it, I should’ve told Becca that I had to leave.

Crossing the lines to be intimate with my patient was all kinds of wrong.

When I rehearsed owning up to that incident, though, I couldn’t make myself say it.

I didn’t want to leave, despite my assumption that I was nursing a Mafia man.

“The Valkov Bratva?—”

I lightly slapped the armrest. “I knew it.”

She winced.

“They’re in the Mafia?” I asked, needing to hear her confirm it directly.

“Yes. The Valkov Bratva is one of the prominent syndicated crime organizations in New York. Alek is the Pakhan —the boss—and Nikolai, Ivan, Dmitri, and Maxim help him run things. All the brothers supervise the many businesses they own.”

I gawked at her. Even though I’d suspected they were the Mafia, it felt weird to listen to her admit it. She did so calmly, without guilt or shame.

“And you’re… you’re okay with that?”

She nodded. “There are all kinds of bad people in the world, Hannah.”

I didn’t need her to tell me that. I was well aware. My overdosing parents were my first examples of bad guys. Melissa was a solid runner-up.

“But your dad is a cop and…” I rubbed my head, trying to make sense of it all.

“Was.” She frowned. “My dad almost got me killed. He set me up and tried to use me for his own gains.”

Anger flared within me. “Wait. Is that why that man came to get Emily? And Dmitri stopped him?”

She smiled slightly. “I forgot that today isn’t the first time you’ve met Dmitri. And yes. My dad arranged for Emily to be kidnapped by a rival crime family. Ivan and his brothers kept me and Emily safe.”

My jaw dropped again. “Damn.”

“Don’t be so shocked. Every ‘good guy’ can be terrible, and every ‘bad guy’ can be the hero we don’t know we need.”

“Yeah, but…” I grimaced, struggling to jump onboard. She sure did, but I saw the obvious love in her eyes when she introduced me to Ivan. She’d been motivated by love.

“I’m happy here, Han. And I’m so excited for our future.”

“I see that.” I did. When we spoke near the hospital, that was what stuck in my mind the most, how thoroughly, inarguably happy she looked. “But I don’t know if I can adjust so quickly to the criminal lifestyle.”

“You won’t be a criminal,” she retorted good-naturedly. “All we’re hiring you to do is help Dmitri heal and stick with his therapy.”

Yeah, no intimacy involved.

“I know, but it’s a big difference to acclimate to.”

She narrowed her eyes playfully. “Oh, come on. This is me you’re talking to. Don’t act like you’re some sheltered, innocent girl.”

I know I’m not innocent. Not anymore. I should’ve stopped Dmitri from playing with me like that.

But I hadn’t. Because it had felt so damn good.

“Isn’t your life with your sister criminal? She hangs around with those drug dealers, taking your money and using you to buy more drugs for herself.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah.” I hated to admit it, but she was right. “And she’s on and off with Devin again.”

Becca winced. “So, she’s really milking you dry for money getting all that coke with him. Is she still dealing at the apartment you pay for?”

I bit my lip. “I’m at work all day, so I’m sure she is.”

Becca didn’t need to go on. I wasn’t sheltered. My parents overdosed. My sister dated dealers. I was no angel, and I didn’t want to act like I was holier-than-thou at all.

While I appreciated knowing the truth about my employer here, Alek Valkov, these details weren’t what had me debating whether I should leave.

Becca hadn’t lied. The world was full of bad people. If she could want to align with these men, that was a hell of a voucher I could trust in. She was a good mother and a smart woman. If she could adjust to being associated with the Bratva, I could too.

It was Dmitri. I wasn’t sure if I could—or should—remain as his nurse after his example of how easily I caved to the desire I felt for him.

He threw me off balance. He fought me with every breath. And each time he laid his green gaze on me, I felt closer to snapping and surrendering all over again.

How could I work like that? How could they expect me to maintain my dignity going forward?

“Don’t judge,” Becca advised, softening her tone. She had to see the indecision on my face, but she was misunderstanding why I was on edge. I wasn’t about to confess to her that Dmitri and I had… messed around.

“Please don’t judge these Bratva men. Don’t leave.”

I whooshed out a long exhale.

“Dmitri needs someone like you.”

Smirking quickly, I waited for her to explain. “How so?”

Dmitri needs me? I laughed, almost too loudly, at the absurdity of what she just said. I had told the man that myself—that he needed me. That he needed my help.

Then he put me in my place and showed me how much I needed him, sexually.

While she seemed to search for words, I shook my head. “He’s so gruff. And angry.”

Becca shrugged. “He’s always been an impatient, cocky sort of man.

Hard but not an asshole. He’s so sweet around Emily and Alana, Mila and Alek’s baby.

” She grabbed the tablet she’d been carrying.

“I was going to come find you and give you this.” She handed it over.

“All his medical reports and diagnoses, all the therapy protocols and regimes.”

“Thanks.” I took it, glad for the resources.

“Since he was captured and tortured, he has been behaving differently, but I suppose if we imagined putting ourselves in his shoes, maybe we can’t fault him for being so bitter.”

My phone buzzed, and seeing the notification of a text from Melissa, I shoved it back in my pocket. “But why are you adamant that I , specifically, would be good for him?” I laughed once. “Because I’m motivated by money?”

She shook her head. “Because you are sweet, but not a pushover.”

“I feel like one—with my sister.”

“That’s different. She’s manipulating you with mental abuse. You are firm when you need to be. I witnessed it myself when you watched Emily.”

I smiled. “Should I tell Dmitri that you’re basically comparing him to a toddler?”

She grinned. “I’ve told him already that he’s behaving like one. Really, though. You are scrappy, Hannah, determined to always be optimistic no matter how shitty life can get. He needs a stubborn ray of sunshine like that. We’re all hoping you can work with him.”

I glanced again at my phone. Another text from Melissa came in, and I silenced the device.

As if I need another reminder of why I took this job.

I had to stay here. I had to get away from my sister.

“Do you think you can work with him, now that you’ve seen what you’re up against?” Becca seemed to hold her breath, waiting for my reply.

I opened and closed my mouth, stalling. I have no other choice. “Yes, I think I can work with him.”

So long as I put a firm, lockable lid on my desire.

And never consider caving to that man again.