Possessive Boss, page 1
POSSESSIVE BOSS
BRATVA BROTHERS BOOK THREE
WILLOW FOX
Copyright © 2022 by Willow Fox
All rights reserved.
Edited by Marla VanHoy
Cover Design by MiblArt
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
CONTENTS
About this Book
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue Part 1
Epilogue Part 2
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Also by Willow Fox
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Lucy Quinn
I’ve made a few bad decisions in my life. At the top of the list, attempting to rob the Russian Bratva. I wasn’t aware who I was robbing or what I was getting myself involved in until it was too late.
The guards with guns at the entrance should have been an indicator to walk away.
But now I can’t leave.
I’m in deep with the bratva, forced to work for them, under Nikita Krylova.
Nikita Krylova
The little spitfire thought she could steal from me, blindly rob us, and not have to be punished.
Lucky for me, the Pakhan, Mikhail Barinov, has let me choose how to handle our little five foot three, dark-haired, green-eyed problem.
She’s feisty, insolent, and brazen.
I’m just the man to break her.
And make her mine.
Possessive Boss is the third book in the Bratva Brothers series. It can be read as a standalone and has no cheating, no cliffhanger, and a happily ever after ending.
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ONE
Lucy
The sun begins to set along the horizon. The air is still, without so much as a breeze. There's no rustle of leaves amongst the trees, which makes this even more complicated an endeavor. I have to be quiet as I scale the metal fence.
It's difficult to see much with the hedges perfectly trimmed and aligned along the interior of the fence. Why bother with a privacy fence when there are wrought-iron gates and guards at the post?
I'm not the least bit graceful in my attempt to climb over the metal, and just as I crest the top, careful not to get impaled by the sharp, decorative design, I fumble and land face-first into the grass.
The property is immense for New York City. However, it's not as though we're in Manhattan. The house scales a city block, and the mansion is too far under the setting sun. I have to wait until it's dark.
I should have waited to scale the fence, but I'm an impatient person. I want to get this over and done with, and if I'm lucky, the guards will be busy having dinner, and I can sneak in, grab what I came for, and get out.
There's a garden nearby that stretches from the east side of the mansion to the back of the property. It's beautiful and well-kept, with recent yellow and pink tulips planted, the mulch fresh and bright red under the vibrant setting sun.
I inhale a sharp breath as I spot Nikita coming toward me. I duck and take cover behind an old oak tree, or I think it's an oak. It's tall, with a thick trunk, and has only one job—to protect me from being seen.
Nikita is in a dark black suit, the same as yesterday when I stumbled into him at the club, which wasn't by accident.
He removes his sunglasses and glances around.
Are there cameras?
Does he know that I'm here? This isn't by my design, breaking and entering. Although I've only trespassed at this point, I'm sure he'd just kick me out to the curb.
His footsteps are the only sounds I hear as I hold my breath. There's another hedge, a set of bushes to my right about twenty feet away. If I could just get behind those, I might be able to skirt past him without being seen.
Nikita strolls up just past me. His back is to me, and he heads toward the hedges and bends down.
I don't move. Maybe I can blend in with the tree, because if I move in the slightest, he will notice me. I'll catch his gaze and his attention.
What's he doing, hiding?
He retrieves his cell phone, and I am practically holding my breath. A slight breeze caresses my skin, and I exhale with the wind, afraid Nikita will hear me and look in my direction.
His focus is momentarily on his cell phone, and he lifts the phone, clearly taking a photo or video of something, but I don't know what he sees that I don't.
The sun is just barely above the horizon. An orange glow casts across the backyard and the garden. In the distance, there's a wooden gazebo, and the decorative white lights flash on, twinkling and setting the atmosphere.
Is Nikita spying on someone?
My vision is pretty decent, but I don't see anyone outside except the dark-haired muscular businessman crouching by the bushes. He seems somewhat out of place, but I'm sure he'd think the same thing about me.
"Come here," a male's voice carries outside.
"What's all this, Luka?" Hannah asks.
I recognize her from the coffee shop where I work. She's a regular, comes in almost every morning, dressed in scrubs, and works for Steele Concierge Medical. The girl always gets a tall caramel coffee with almond milk.
Does Hannah live here? How does she know Nikita? My head swims, trying to unwind the tangled connections, but it doesn't matter because there's a bee that lands on my arm, and I'm deathly afraid of bees.
And allergic.
TWO
Nikita
I crouch behind the bushes, waiting for Luka to make his big move. He's proposing to Hannah and asked for me to get the event on video.
Madisyn promised to help distract Bay, their daughter, and keep her entertained while he popped the question.
There's a heavy gasp, and I catch movement out of the corner of my eye.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I scold.
I bumped into her last night at the club, quite literally. I spilled my drink on her. We shared a few words and spent a couple of hours together. But I didn't expect to stumble into her again on Mikhail's property.
Lucy is not one of us, a member of the bratva, and not invited to the proposal.
Her knees crumble to the ground as she struggles to breathe. I drop my phone and hurry across the lawn.
"Hannah! Luka!" I shout, trying to get their attention and their help. Hannah is a nurse. She'll know what's wrong with Lucy.
Her eyes roll back in her head. She's unconscious.
Luka grumbles, not the least bit quiet about his displeasure with my interruption.
They hurry across the lawn, Hannah hustling at my insistence. "What's going on?" she asks, bending down and noticing Lucy on the grass. Hannah checks Lucy's vitals. She briefly examines her and gives orders to Luka. "Get me an EpiPen."
Luka hustles inside the compound to grab the necessary medication. Mikhail's fortress has everything required for survival, including medical equipment and medicine. It helps that we have two nurses on site.
While we still use the concierge for trauma and surgical intervention, we can stitch a minor wound or handle an allergic reaction at the compound.
"I didn't realize you had a girlfriend. Girls don't generally like to hide their relationship unless that's a kink for you both," Hannah jokes. "But seriously, the bushes?"
"She's not my—anything," I grunt and am relieved when Luka returns with the EpiPen. He removes the injector from the case and hands the device to Hannah.
She yanks off the blue safety cap and firmly jabs Lucy in the thigh with the orange tip before monitoring her vitals again.
Hannah checks Lucy's pulse repeatedly.
"Isn't she supposed to wake up?" I stare down at unconscious Lucy.
"We can administer another shot in five minutes if there's no response," Hannah says.
I slide my arms under Lucy's legs and back, lifting her into my arms as I carry her across the lawn and into the compound.
Luka opens the French doors as I maneuver her inside through the mudroom and the kitchen.
"Do you know her?" Luka asks. He's on my heel, following me as I take Lucy and carry her up the stairs to an unoccupied bedroom. It's no surprise that he's being protective of Mikhail, the Pakhan.
"I ran into her last night," I say.
"Where?"
Is this an interrogation? I glance in his direction. Where is he going with this line of questioning? "At the club with Anton." It's the truth. I didn't invite Lucy to join us. I didn't even tell her where I live.
But she must have known since she's here.
My stomach is heavy like a ball of lead. It sinks to the bottom of the ocean, heavy and nauseating.
"And she just happened to show up?" Luka asks. He's s
I carry Lucy up to an empty bedroom and gently lay her atop the mattress. Hannah is a few steps behind, hurrying up the stairwell.
"I don't believe in coincidences," I say. Luka must feel the same. "I'll keep a close eye on her." She's not leaving my sight. Someone has to stand guard; it might as well be me.
"Search her. Make sure that she doesn't have any weapons or anything on her," Luka orders.
"She's unconscious," I say. I don't think she's capable of holding any of us hostage, at least not in her present state.
"Luka's right," Hannah says and folds her arms across her chest. She stands by the open door to the bedroom. "What kind of a person jumps the fence at a heavily guarded house?"
"The stupid kind," I mutter. What the hell is she up to?
"I recognize her," Hannah says.
"From where?" I ask, glancing at Hannah briefly before returning my undivided attention to Lucy.
Is she going to wake up any time soon?
Should we be worried?
How long has it been since the last injection of epinephrine?
"She's a barista at the coffee shop that I frequent. I don't know her, but I've seen her," Hannah says. She steps farther into the room and takes Lucy's vitals while staring at her watch and checking her pulse.
"Why was she sneaking around and inside the yard?" I ask, not expecting Hannah to have an answer.
"She wanted to ruin my proposal," Luka mutters. He's not the least bit quiet about his displeasure. "Should have let her die."
Hannah smacks Luka's arm. "Don't be a jerk. Were you really going to propose?" Her blue eyes widen as she stares up at Luka Ivanov.
The girl is smitten. Probably the fact they have a kid together and another baby on the way. I'm not supposed to know, but nothing is kept a secret around the compound.
"I was," Luka says. "But now I'll have to come up with an entirely new plan because our little invader ruined it."
"Her name is Lucy," Hannah says. "And I'm sure if we go back out into the garden, we can make the most of tonight."
Luka is grumpier than I am, and that says a lot.
He walks up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, his lips against her neck. "It should be perfect when I propose, and tonight has been anything but that."
There's disappointment written all over her face, but she forces a smile, pretending not to care. I've seen that look dozens of times before on women when I tell them I'm not interested in a relationship.
Usually, I'm the one causing their discontent, not Luka. At least not lately.
I'm sure he'll propose. He's madly in love with Hannah and their daughter, Bay. Even if it's not tonight, it will undoubtedly happen, and I'm sure that he'll ask me to record the entire event.
I never took him for a romantic.
Hannah changed him more than even he cares to admit.
But I'm not like Luka. There is no girl in this world capable of tying me down.
Lucy grumbles, and her fingers graze the cotton quilt as she begins to regain consciousness.
"Come on," Luka says as he takes Hannah's hand and leads her out of the bedroom. He doesn't want Hannah to witness the interrogation.
The bedroom door closes behind them, leaving Lucy and me alone.
Her eyes lazily open, and her breathing intensifies.
"Care to explain yourself?" I ask. I start slowly, cautious. I'm not giving her any information about our organization or what she's stumbled into. But that doesn't mean she's not aware of who we are and is working for the enemy.
Which could be anyone.
The FBI, the Colombian Cartel, or the Italian Mafia.
She rolls her lips together and shuts her eyes again. "Going back to sleep isn't going to make this all go away."
Her tongue darts out past her cherry lips, and her eyelids flutter open. "Water."
My hands ball into fists at my side, but I oblige. There is a bathroom connected to the bedroom, and I grab a Dixie cup from the sink and fill it with water.
"Can you sit up?" I ask, bringing the cup, half-filled with water, to the bed. I'm less worried about the mess and more about her not choking on it.
She grimaces as she sits, and her eyes momentarily close. Based on her sour expression and struggle, I suspect she has a headache or maybe a migraine.
I don't bother to ask if she's all right. She's alive, thanks to me.
Although Luka technically brought her the EpiPen, and Hannah administered it, I made sure to call for their help. Some credit is due to me for keeping her alive.
Her fingers grip the quilt as she sits up and finally opens her eyes again, refocusing on the wall. Her gaze looks right past me as she seems lost in thought or maybe still quite out of it.
I hand her the cup of water, and her hands tremble as she brings the cup to her lips, taking a sip.
"What were you doing?" I ask, towering over her, awaiting an explanation. I suspect that nothing she gives will come close to the truth.
"Taking a sip of water."
"Do you think that's funny? I should call the cops and have your ass arrested for trespassing," I threaten. The truth is that we don't deal with the police. We handle matters internally, but she doesn't know that we're villains and she's stepped into our criminal enterprise.
"Please, don't do that," she whispers. Her voice hitches, and there's a slight tremble in her tone. Her bottom lip quivers. She's afraid.
She ought to be afraid of me.
"And why shouldn't I? You're trespassing."
Lucy rolls her lips together. At least that was the name she gave me last night when I met her at the club. But now, I suspect it wasn't just a coincidence, stumbling into her.
She wanted me to notice her.
Her eyelids are heavy. There are dark circles under her bright green eyes. She's struggling to stay awake, and I suspect it has more to do with the adrenaline and allergic reaction to the sting than anything else.
Lucy opens her mouth, and I interrupt her before she can speak.
"Don’t lie to me." It's a warning. I want the truth, whatever it may be.
She shuts her lips, and her eyelids droop, like she might fall asleep sitting up.
I take the cup of water from her and place it on the nearby bedside table. "Rest." She's of little use to me groggy. I could get her to spill a few secrets, but her words would undoubtedly be slurred, and I'd make little headway.
Lucy isn't going anywhere.
"Sleep. I will be back shortly."
I retreat from the bedroom, shut off the lights, and close the door. I stand outside in the hallway, guarding the room that she occupies. There are too many people in the compound to let her chance wandering freely, especially with Bay roaming the halls and Kira beginning to crawl.
Mikhail heads up the staircase. "I hear we have an uninvited visitor, and you decided to let her have one of my rooms?" There's disdain in his voice, and his top lip twitches with a snarl, unpleased by the news that was brought to him, probably by Luka. Although any number of Mikhail's men might have overheard and witnessed what transpired.
"I intend to interrogate her, sir, fully." I don't want Mikhail to think that I've gone weak. The girl isn't a distraction. She's a prisoner.
"And when might that be? After you've offered her dinner and a drink."
I swallow the annoyance and hold my tongue. Arguing with the Pakhan won't do me any favors. I'd be wise to steer this conversation elsewhere. "Sir, I will get to the bottom of this and find out what she was doing climbing over the fence."
His brow tightens. "How the hell did she get onto the property? I have men with guns guarding the compound. And some little twat manages to sneak inside without being seen?"
Mikhail's hands ball into fists and his nostrils flare. He's waiting for an answer, and I don't have one to give. Perhaps it was because we were distracted by the proposal and subsequent engagement that was to follow.
