Bratva Knight by T J Maguire

Author:T J Maguire [Maguire, T J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

Tatiana Andreeva

Oh, this was such a bad idea.

I looked across the table at Steve, seriously regretting my decision to do my dad this stupid favour. It wasn’t a date. I made that very, very clear to Steve when he messaged me.

Steve. I internally scoffed, taking a sip of my water. What kind of a name was “Steve” anyway? He was everything my dad said he was. Tall. Handsome. Funny. He had light, curly blonde hair, deep brown eyes and a pretty face. He wore a nice, plain suit with no tie. The open collar was a good look on him.

But you know someone who looks better, don’t you?

I shouldn’t feel guilty. I knew that. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. This wasn’t a date. I told him that. I told my dad that. I told myself that.

Yet, as I sat across from Steve in this nice, somewhat fancy restaurant, I couldn’t help but feel guilty anyway. If the situation was reversed—if it was Nikolai sitting here having dinner with another woman—I’d be pissed. No matter what the circumstances were.

I’m such a fucking hypocrite.

When Steve first messaged me, I didn’t even respond. At least, not right away. I ignored it, hoping that if I just pretended I didn’t get it or something, I could just avoid the whole thing.

Then he messaged again, cracking a joke about how he’d never been ghosted by someone he’s never met before. It made me laugh…so I replied.

He asked me to go to lunch (which, if I was being honest, I would have much preferred, because then it didn’t seem so date-y). But I had day shifts at the café with Belinda to complete my training that I absolutely could not say no to. Why? Because all I could afford for dinner the last two nights were fish sticks.

Fish. Sticks.

Making it on your own was hard. If I wasn’t so determined to show not only myself but everyone else that I could do it, I would have caved and used my emergency credit card.

Light chatter, the clink of utensils and the smell of delicious Italian food swirled around me. L’ultima Cena was a beautiful restaurant. It had a loud, fun atmosphere, a cute, rustic vibe, and was entirely owned and operated by La Cosa Nostra. It was one of the reasons why I’d chosen it. It meant that, if I wanted to stab Steve with a fork for being too handsy, I could. The entire place was made up of mafia people, from the waitstaff, to the chefs, to the security guards in the back. It pretty much guaranteed that no one would bat an eye if a little blood was spilled. I wouldn’t even be surprised if most of the other patrons were mafia, too. I recognised a few of Arturo’s soldiers that I’d seen at his house, sitting at the tables when I walked in.

I was pretty sure the whole place was a front, a business they used to funnel their dirty money into and turn it into clean, legal tender.

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