The God (Bratva Blood #3)- S.R. Jones Page 0,70
through. Or Violet and Andrius?”
“I can’t be like those women,” I say. “They’re almost prisoners here. They don’t get to leave unless with their men, but the men get to leave any time they like.”
I’ve seen Konstantin go off on business for two days while I’ve been here, and Andrius flew to Athens to see the two men who were here tonight, but Violet? She stays here. So does Cassie. Their men say it is for their safety, but to me they seem like prisoners. I’ve been a prisoner for far too long to become one again.
Bohdan sighs and takes a seat, pulling me onto his knee as he plays with my hair.
“They are in danger because there are active threats against K and Andrius, and that’s why they stay here.”
“So why, for example, does K get to travel around but not Cassie? Doesn’t seem fair.”
He laughs. “Because K is big enough, ugly enough, and violent enough to take care of himself. Cassie would be a soft target. It wouldn’t be the same for you. I worked for K, and yes, I am sure I have enemies the same way he and Andrius do, but I wasn’t the leader the way K was. I wasn’t a legend the way Andrius was; still is if we’re being honest. My scalp is nothing as compared to theirs, and I got out before it got that way. Now Vasily, he’s the new K, and I’m sure he sleeps with one eye open. Me? I got out, and I’m building something new. I’d like you to be a part of that.”
“I’d like to still dance sometimes. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Dancers of my age, they often get fewer parts. Or they get injured, and then they must retire, or they become part of the chorus line of dancers. I don’t want that. I’d like to go out on a high. I’d like to teach, though, and I’d love to still do the odd show, maybe even a tour or two now and again.”
He twirls my hair in his fingers and kisses my neck at the side. “I can’t see that being an issue. If you wanted to tour, I would come with you. You’d be safe with me there, and if for some reason I really couldn’t, then I’d send one of the men we’re training to be with you. As for teaching, well you could run a summer school out here.”
I still in his arms, completely and utterly still. For a moment, I don’t even breathe because, damn, he always reads my mind.
Oh wow. “I had the same thought.”
He laughs. “Yeah, we’ll run a summer school training the baddest of the bad to be even badder, and you run one next door training up future ballerinas. It’s kind of epic.”
“It kind of is. And I could run it like a holiday company almost. You know, spend three months learning ballet with Madame Dasha Imanovich in Corfu, and visit the lovely old Corfu Town and palace of Achillean; that kind of thing.”
He turns my face to his. “Dasha, it could work really well. Tons of wealthy people holiday here, and I bet a lot of them would love for their daughters to have something worthwhile to do in the summer while they’re making business deals on their yachts.”
“And their sons,” I chide. “Ballet isn’t just for girls.”
“Of course,” he says with a smile. “You should think about it and make some loose plans. I could speak with Andrius, Reece, and K, see if there’s a bit of the land we’re purchasing that you could use.”
I frown at that because although it sounds wonderful, and I had the same thought myself, it’s hardly ideal when you think of the two businesses side by side. “I don’t think I can set up my dance school on the same land with men firing guns, Bohdan. That’s the only issue.”
“Firstly, the firing range will be very secluded and nowhere near the main buildings. Secondly, think about it. If you want to make it a super elite school, there’ll be nowhere safer for those kids than here.”
“I don’t know if I do want it to be super elite,” I say. “Ballet was my dream, and I was a poor kid in Russia. I’d like other poor kids to get the chance to experience it if they dream about it.”
He stands, taking me with him, and he places me on the table, sitting me on the edge