Bratva’s Secret Girl (Morally Gray Kingpins #1)

1. Hayley

1

HAYLEY

“I got it.”

My sister Payton looks up as I enter our little apartment. “Oh!” She’s conflicted for a second, her gaze flicking between her phone and me.

Part of me wants to give her shit for being on social media rather than studying, given I’m the one supporting us while she does her degree, but I’m too excited.

With a visible struggle, she puts the phone down. “That’s amazing, well done! Remind me which job this was?”

I huff a laugh as I go to the tiny kitchen and put on the kettle—celebratory tea is the best tea—and Payton follows. It’s a fair question. I’ve been applying for manager jobs in hospitality for months now. They’ve all been a dud, until I finally got a break.

“This one.” Pulling out my phone, I message her the job advert. I know she cannot absorb information by listening, but more to the point, I am still processing a lot of feelings about the interview and in particular my new boss, and I can’t trust myself not to just blurt out about Mr Zaitsev rather than important details.

Payton gives an excited squeak. “That’s a big pay raise!”

“I know.” I grin at her when our eyes meet. She looks like me, but prettier. Pale blue eyes, straight brown hair—hers is down whereas mine is in a bun from work—and a heart-shaped face.

Still intent on reading, she drifts to the fridge to get milk, and passes it to me as I throw tea bags into our mugs.

“Mr Zaitsev is your employer. Russian?”

“Yep.” Thankfully she isn’t looking at me, because I’m blushing. He said to call him Maxim. Payton would have a fit if she saw him. He’s exactly what she’s scared of in London. Tall, tattooed on his neck and hands. He was wearing a nice suit. But he smiled at me, and I don’t know why, but I felt totally at ease with him. Despite his Russian origins, he had only a soft accent. But he called me “malishka”, and I went weak, even though it probably just means, “employee”, or “girl”. He has grey eyes, is at least a foot taller than me, maybe six-foot-four, and had this energy as he asked me about my qualifications and experience that made me squirm with inappropriate heat.

I’ve never felt like I did with him.

“He’s nice.”

“Hmm.” Payton frowns. “Are you sure you want this job?”

“Yeah, I think so.” That’s a lie. I’ve already said yes, and I’d rather play with a hungry tiger than disappoint Maxim.

She feels guilty about how I took care of her, especially when she was younger. I keep telling her she just needs to pay me back by doing amazingly in her degree, but she doesn’t listen.

“It’s in green witch,” Payton says dubiously.

“Uh, no.” I repress my smile. Sometimes she’s such a non-Londoner. I am too, but when we moved here, she was sixteen and I was starting my course in Hospitality Management. I was lucky to be able to get Payton out of the care system to stay with me. I know London well after spending all my spare time searching for our sister, Taylor. “It’s pronounced Gren-itch.”

“What?” Payton looks like that disbelieving cartoon rabbit meme.

“English. It’s stupid,” I agree.

“For sure,” she grumbles. “Where is it anyway?”

“Greenwich is South of the river, on the East side of London.”

Her gaze flies to mine. “Really?”

“Yep.” I try to sound unconcerned. We live in Richmond, in the West. The kingpin here is not someone you’d want to be related to, given he reputedly was involved in the murder of his whole family, but otherwise is pretty chill. For a mafia boss.

And Richmond is safe and leafy, with big parks. East London has a very different reputation.

Funny though, I didn’t get dangerous vibes from Maxim. Just kind, and perhaps a bit protective. I mean, he looked scary, with the tattoos and being as tall as a giant, and had a low, rough voice that made my tummy flip, but he was so nice.

“I’m not sure you should take it,” Payton says, furrowing her brow with anxiety.

“It’s more money,” I emphasise with a shrug. My sister is sheltered. We’ve been struggling to make ends meet, and I know she’s worried too. She’s been selling stuff online and that’s why it’s Yorkshire tea bags rather than cheap ones that I yoik out of our mugs. Payton puts milk in—lots for her, a bit for me—and passes me mine.

“But you’ll have to commute. It’ll take half the day on the bus to get there.” She isn’t saying the thing that hovers between us: that we’ve already lost one sister, Taylor, leaving London without a word, and we can’t lose another.

“It won’t be long on the underground, and I can afford to with the increase in salary.” For the chance of seeing my new boss, I’d walk ten miles barefoot every day.

Payton hesitates. “Look, Hay, I know you want out of your current job?—”

“Yup.” I’ve already handed in my notice.

“But just wait and find something else that’s closer. Safer. We don’t need you to work more. We can sell this.” She pulls a delicate diamond necklace on a gold chain from her pocket.

I gape. “Where did you get that?”

She presses her lips together and clutches it in her hand. “It was a present.”

“From whom?”

“My boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend?” She doesn’t have a boyfriend? Does she?

Oh god, my baby sister is going to lose her V-card before I do. Jealousy twists inside me, even as I tell myself it’s only concern for her. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her, and older sisters have to do stuff first, right? That’s the natural order of things.

This was so much easier when we were younger, and it was smaller problems, and I could be the perfect big sister, taking responsibility. Not working every day, all day, because that’s the best way to provide for my youngest sister.

Love by surname, Love by nature, that’s us. I just never thought it would be me working and my sister falling in love.

“Yeah. I met someone at uni.” Payton shrugs. “Or rather, he’s been hounding me, and I gave in.”

“What?!” I drag her into our tiny lounge and sit her down on the sofa.

She gives me an unimpressed look.

Am I in one of those historical dramas where the older sister is a lonely old spinster and the younger gets married?

I’m not that. I’m really not. It’s just I’ve been super focused on work and looking after Payton. Plus, I just haven’t met anyone who appealed.

The image of my boss, Maxim, pops into my head. Okay, I hadn’t, until today. And I still haven’t found a man I would have a chance with, because while he was sweet and thoughtful, Maxim only asked me about my work.

“Tell me everything.”

She sips her tea with a calmness I do not feel. “He has classes in the building next to mine, and they finish at the same time, so we’ve seen each other around.”

“And he’s given you diamond necklaces? How did you get between, ‘I noticed you in a crowd’ to ‘take this expensive object as a sign of my affection?”

“Look, don’t judge me!”

Right, right. I sigh.

“Just be careful, okay, sis? He might expect something for his gifts.”

She rolls her eyes. “He can try. I think he already does, but I’m not giving him that .”

“That being a cat ?” I tease.

“That being a bag of peanuts.” Brushing an invisible bit of fluff from her shoulder, she smiles naughtily.

“That being a peach?” I shoot back playfully. She’s my sister, only sister now, and I can’t stay mad at her for long. Even if I am concerned.

“That being three pairs of fluffy socks, two fantasy romance special editions, and a bag of pasta. I’m not giving him anything.” She tosses her head. “If he wants to give me things, well, that’s up to him.”

“It just doesn’t sit right with me,” I say after a second. “We work for our money.”

“I’ve no idea why you think spending time with Ivan isn’t work,” she deadpans, and I can’t help it, I laugh.

“Besides,” she adds, “He says his dad is really rich. He doesn’t miss it. So you don’t have to take the job over on the other side of the city.”

“Oh, I do.” Because I need to see Maxim.