Twisted Throne (Bratva Born #2)

19. Alexis

Alexis

We’re sitting in the kitchen eating ice cream, and it feels fucking surreal. The past few weeks have been insane.

Dimitri looks tired and worn out, but whenever he glances at Adriana, his face lights up. I’m concerned about the shit that might hit the fan if Jacob is not well enough to come back to run things for some time. I’ve never fully trusted Virgil, but I am confident in Dimitri’s ability to handle whatever is thrown his way.

He has a rational head on his shoulders, but he’s a ruthless motherfucker, and he doesn’t back down when needed. I respect the hell out of him, and there aren’t many men I can say that about.

When I first started working with him, his steely resolve and strategic way of thinking fit well with my own way of doing things, and he’s a fair boss mostly, unless you fuck up in a way that puts his family in danger.

My gaze darts to Nataliya, and I force myself to look away. I shouldn’t be looking at her the way I do. With longing. She’s the Pakhan’s daughter, and I’m the enforcer’s right-hand man. My role in this organization is clear cut— I’m a guard dog and a cleaner. I fix messes. Do the wet work and guard the people I’m told to with the ferocity of a Rottweiler.

Nataliya is a beautiful young woman, and she has a free spirit that makes me want to buy an old Volkswagen camper van and go driving around Europe with her. She has that vibe despite her designer clothes and spoiled ways. I think, deep down, underneath her surface gloss, Nataliya has the soul of a hippy chick.

A few months back I heard some music. I liked it, so I followed the sound around to the back of the house, and Nataliya was dancing barefoot amongst the sprinklers to The Mamas and The Papas, singing along to the chorus of Monday, Monday .

She was so beautiful in that moment that my breath caught in my throat.

That might have been when my slight interest turned into an unhinged and unhealthy obsession.

Definitely unhealthy. Dimitri will cut my fucking dick off and stuff it up my ass if he finds out I’ve been having thoughts about Nataliya. She’s as off limits as any girl can be.

Maybe that’s why my dick likes her. It’s always liked to live dangerously.

“Pass me the cookie dough flavor?” Nataliya asks Dimitri.

He pushes the carton to her, and she spoons out a big dollop. She already has a bowlful. Adriana is half heartedly nibbling at hers, and Dimitri has already downed a bowl and is on his second.

It’s the only time I ever see him eat something that’s not clean and high protein, when he wolfs down the ice cream.

I have a little, but I’m not the biggest fan of it. I much prefer a good slice of pie myself.

Nataliya darts out her small pink tongue to lick at the ice cream on her spoon like a fucking cat. The action goes straight to my cock, making it harden, and I look firmly down at my bowl, not daring to lift my eyes again.

“Hey, Alexis, you’re not eating much,” she purrs. Her voice isn’t girly and high pitched like you might think looking at her. It has a soft huskiness to it.

I can easily imagine her whispering seductive things to me in that sexy pitch. I really need to stop imagining things about her. It isn’t my goddamn place.

“Not hungry,” I mumble.

I risk a glance, and she’s watching me. She smiles as she lazily, and slowly, sticks her tongue out and laps up more ice cream. I know for a fact she can’t be fucking with me. The girl is a virgin, who is as sheltered as hell by her family, but it sure feels like she is.

Dimitri’s phone buzzes and dances atop the table. We all stiffen, and Nataliya drops her spoon into her bowl with a clatter. “Is it Daddy?” she asks.

Dimitri reads the message and shakes his head. “No. Alexis, come with me a minute.”

I nod and stand. “Ladies,” I say.

Nataliya giggles. “That’s so old school of you, A.”

I hate it when she calls me A. She always manages to make it sound condescending.

“Eat your ice cream,” Dimitri grouses.

He’s irritable, tired, and whatever he just read on his phone has two deep frown lines forming between his brows.

We wander down the hall and into the living room.

“Everything okay?” I ask, even though I know it’s not.

“There’s a message from Damen. It seems that before he was silenced by us, Ari was talking to his friends and colleagues down in San Diego and LA, and they aren’t too happy about their distribution network up here being completely dismantled. They aren’t a part of the same group, like the guys in Portland might be. They’re just ragtag bands, not a big outfit, and I very much doubt they have the firepower to come for us, but Damen wanted us to know. It’s not a threat as such, but it’s something else to consider.”

I sigh and nod, rubbing my tired eyes. “There’s always going to be threats in this world. Do you want me to increase security again, though? We can.”

“Yes, for the family. I have enough men, but Jacob being sick leaves Mamma and Nataliya more vulnerable. They both have the three guards, but I want something way more personal. A shadow, until things calm down.” He pours us a scotch each and downs his in one swallow. “I want to ask you a favor. I know she drives you crazy, and I get it ’cause as much as I love her, she is annoying sometimes, but would you personally guard Nataliya? Become her shadow. Don’t leave her side?”

Oh fuck. He doesn’t know what he’s asking. I should say no. I should say that he needs to get someone else, but I open my mouth. “Of course, Dimitri, anything I can do to help. She’s not that bad anyway.”

He laughs. “Yeah, she’s kind of a cool kid.”

I shrug. “Not even a kid anymore.”

His face darkens a shade. “She is a kid.”

She’s technically not. She’s an adult who is old enough to get a job, pay taxes, get married. Hell, she’s old enough to go to war, but I don’t point any of those things out. “You know what I mean,” I say with a laugh.

“Yeah, but she’ll always be a kid to me. My kid sister.”

There it is. The reason nothing can ever come of my crazy lust-filled thoughts. I’d be asking for death. A painful death. Hell, this is the guy who cut the hands from men who let a woman he barely knows, Virgil’s daughter, be taken. What the hell would he do to a man who touched his kid sister?

I suppress the shudder.

“Come on; we’ll go and tell her together because she’s not going to be happy and will probably give us a ton of shit for it.”

We head into the kitchen but I top my whiskey up first, guessing I’m going to need it.

“There’s been a new threat,” Dimitri says straight off. “Nothing major, but things are so fucked up right now, and I need to know you’re both safe. Adriana, don’t leave my fucking side for now.”

She opens her mouth, and Dimitri holds a finger up silencing her. “What did I say?” he asks. “When it comes to safety issues, I reserve the right to be a total asshole.”

“Nataliya, Alexis is about to become your shadow. You take him with you wherever you go. I’m going to move his stuff into the room next to yours here at the house. I’m gonna get Yuri to do the same for Mamma. We’re beefing up security.”

“Oooh, we’re going to be like roomies,” Nataliya says, her gaze burning into me as I steadfastly ignore her.

“Why do we have to be accompanied at all times?” Adriana asks.

“Because these assholes have taken our women twice,” Dimitri snaps. “I won’t give them a third fucking chance.”

“It’s like being in prison.”

“Really?” He turns to her. “So having to keep close to me, while there’s an effective threat, and being on this compound, close to Cade is like prison ? Worse than being on that yacht? Worse than being held by Barnaby?”

Adriana’s eyes flash, and I suck in a breath; he’s about to get a barrelful. I understand his frustration. Dimitri is tired. He’s fucking exhausted in fact. His stepdad is sick, and he’s been fighting for weeks, but Adriana has been through hell, and being told she’s still essentially a prisoner isn’t what she wants to hear.

“No, that’s not what I said, asshole.” She narrows her eyes and glares at Dimitri. “I don’t like being bossed around, and I don’t like being unable to go anywhere at all without fucking permission.”

“Wherever you end up, you’re screwed, except for here. With me.” Dimitri shrugs. “Now, you might not like that fact, but it is a fact . You’re in one hell of a situation, and I’ve been the knight in shining armor you need, so is it really too much to ask that on the night my stepfather is rushed into the hospital, you don’t turn into a complete pain in my backside?”

“Screw you,” Adriana yells. She stands so fast her chair falls over as she storms out of the room.

Dimitri pinches the bridge of his nose and massages it as if he has a headache.

“Bro, don’t be a dick; she’s been through hell.” Nataliya glares at her brother. “Go after her.”

“Keep out of it, Nataliya.” He stands sharply and jabs a finger at her. “Don’t go anywhere without Alexis, understood?” His face softens briefly, and he ruffles her hair as if she’s still a kid. “Try to sleep.”

He leaves the room, and Nataliya swivels her chair to fix me with her big eyes. “Well, hello there, my new shadow. What should we do first?”

“First?”

“Yeah, our first date. If you’re going everywhere with me, then that’s like a date, no?”

I clear my throat. “It’s not a date, Nataliya. I’m your bodyguard. Don’t go out of this house without letting me know; got it?”

“Yes, sir,” she breathes, and my chest tightens as my cock rages. Goddamn, this is going to be a difficult assignment.

“Cut the crap.” I’m harsher than I really feel because I’m trying to put a lid on this. “Give me your phone,” I say.

“Why?”

“I’m going to put tracking on it, so I can find you wherever you are.”

She starts to hand it over but then snatches her hand back. “Wait, it won’t track what I do on my phone, will it? What I read and look at?”

“No, just your location.”

“Okaaaay. If you promise.”

“Nataliya...” I stretch out my hand and make a come here motion with my fingers. She deposits the phone into my palm, and I go about syncing it with mine.

She pushes her chair back and walks around the table. I hand her phone back, and she takes it, pushing it deep into her pocket. “Thanks. And I’m glad you can’t track my usage.” She leans in low, and her cherry scent fills my senses. “Because I’d hate for you to know all my dirty little secrets.”

And now I’m aching and will be taking care of business as soon as I hit the sheets.

“I’m tired, which means it’s bedtime for this sleepy girl, and that means it is bedtime for you, big guy.”

She heads out of the room, and I get up and follow her.

We reach our respective rooms, mine the guest room next to hers, and she pushes her door open. “I’m going to take a long, hot bath now and read some smut. Sleep well.”

She grins and closes the door, leaving me standing there looking like an idiot, with a raging hard-on.