Russian Mobster's Forbidden Mistress by Bella Rose Read Free Book Online Page B

Mikhail,” Dani said conversationally, “I’m really not feeling well this morning. Nothing sounds good. I think I’d like to go home.”
    Igor leaped to his feet. “Mikhail! You need to take your sister home then if she is not well.”
    Josef could see Mikhail grinding his teeth together and trying not to lose his temper. In an attempt to give his friend a little nudge in the right direction, Josef stood up.
    The Rusnak enforcers shot to their feet, hands reaching beneath their jackets. Josef stretched his lips into a thin smile. He held his hands out to show he was unarmed. “Relax, comrades,” he told them in Russian. “I have no ill intentions.”
    The two men seemed to relax, but the brief episode effectively managed to shut down the meeting. Dani stood up, shook hands politely with Igor and his brother, and then turned on her heel to leave the restaurant. Josef followed her out. Mikhail trailed along behind them, bringing up the rear. Josef knew it was not going to be a fun ride home.
    * * *
    Dani was seething with anger after the bullshit breakfast meeting. She yanked open the door of the SUV and got inside before slamming it shut again. It took all of three seconds for Mikhail to get behind the driver’s wheel, and that’s how long she waited before letting him have it.
    “How dare you do that to me?” she shouted. “What are you thinking ? And you cannot make me believe that my papa actually wants me to marry that dolt!”
    “He does. The two of us have discussed this at length,” Mikhail said irritably.
    Dani refused to buy it. “You’re doing that thing again, Mikhail. I don’t believe you when you do that thing.”
    “What thing?”
    “That one where you get all pouty when you know you’ve been caught doing something bad. That’s what.” Dani reached forward and poked his shoulder. “You want me to marry that disgusting pig because you want the privileges at port, whatever the hell that means!”
    “That means we’ll stop losing half our import shipments, you spoiled brat!” Mikhail shouted. “If you had any idea what it takes to run this business, you might appreciate that. But you just reap the benefits without a single thought for what I have to go through to make your life possible.”
    “What are you talking about? I haven’t taken a cent of family money for anything since high school,” she argued. “I’m taking student loans and getting scholarships like every other normal person out there.”
    “What?” Mikhail looked surprised.
    “Did you think that Papa was paying for my college?” Dani laughed at her brother. “You’re such an arrogant prick. You thought that because Papa and you were paying for my tuition, you got to tell me who to marry. Well you’re wrong.”
    “You’ll marry him if I say so, Daniella,” Mikhail snarled. “Or so help me God I’ll cut you off without a penny.”
    “I don’t want your bloody pennies,” Dani shot back. “I hate this business and I hate you.”
    “But not Papa.” Mikhail looked smug.
    Dani faltered. Did her father really want her to marry a man like Igor Rusnak? Would he do something like that? Her gaze cut to Josef, sitting silent in the passenger seat. Why wouldn’t he say something? Anything?
    “When we get home,” Mikhail began in his haughtiest tone, “you, me, and Papa are going to have a little conference about what your duty to this family looks like.”
    “You should be thanking me, not yelling at me,” Dani sneered. It was tough as hell to keep up her bravado, but she wasn’t going to back down now. “I didn’t turn that asshole down flat. I gave him hope by telling him I just wanted to finish school. Otherwise, you know he would have strung up your balls right there in the restaurant.”
    She could tell she’d scored a hit on Mikhail, but she also saw Josef flinch. It confused her. Did he want her to marry Rusnak? Why? She was dying to ask him, but there was no way she could bring up the fledging