Russian Mafia Boss's Heir by Bella Rose

the house by now. Tori was all alone. Were there even any guards watching out for her, or did Mikhail consider her not worth the manpower? What was that about? She should have to be sneaking out as if she were locked up in Fort Knox.
    Tori marched out the front door and locked it behind her. She headed down the sidewalk. It was only a few blocks to Jamie’s apartment. Her friend was a night owl anyway. She would probably be glad for the company. And if Tori got accosted by thugs on the way, maybe it would serve as some kind of reminder to her idiot husband that he should try caring just a little more.

Chapter Thirteen
    When Dimitri had said he’d discovered Stanislas’s son hanging out in a bar by Boston College, he’d failed to specify that it was a gay bar. Not that Mikhail had any problem with someone’s choice of sexual orientation, but he didn’t much enjoy frequenting this type of place.
    The place was filled with mostly men, and the few women that Mikhail could see appeared to be men dressed in women’s clothing. Apparently the Hot Rocks Bar catered to a very specific clientele. The dance floor was packed, the DJ was playing popular tunes, and the atmosphere in the bar was upbeat. Considering the amount of cash Mikhail watched being handed back and forth across the bar for drinks, the place pulled in plenty of capital.
    “Thinking of starting a place like this to get a piece of the action?” Dimitri teased as he led the way through the crush.
    “Oh, you know me,” Mikhail said caustically. “I’m all about equal opportunity as long as it involves earning money.”
    Dimitri stopped at the far end of the bar and gestured to one of the bartenders. “There’s our guy.”
    Mikhail hadn’t seen Alexei Vasiliev in nearly six years. That hadn’t prepared him to see the young man as he was now. Alexei wore skintight leather pants and a flowing shirt that laced up the front and sported ruffles at the cuffs. His hair was blue instead of blond, and there was a diamond stud in his nose.
    “Alexei!” Dimitri called, waving. “Got a minute?”
    Alexei looked over and raised a brow. Then he turned back to his comrades. “Hey guys, I’m taking a quick break.”
    “Fine, but you better hurry your sweet ass up!” The sassy tone of the other bartender only seemed to make Alexei laugh.
    “Be back in five!” Alexei gestured to Dimitri and Mikhail. “Come on back here. We can chat a little more privately.”
    Mikhail couldn’t help but stare. This man was supposed to be Stanislas Vasiliev’s heir. No wonder Stanislas wanted nothing to do with his son. In the Russian mafiya culture everything about Alexei was totally unacceptable.
    “I see you staring,” Alexei said. He still carried the hint of a Russian accent. “You are wondering how I can possibly be Stanislas Vasiliev’s son.”
    “Maybe.” It was all Mikhail was going to allow.
    “I know that everyone thinks I ran away because I couldn’t hack it as a mafiya man.” Alexei made a scoffing noise, waving his hand in the air. He actually looked irritated. “You have no idea how much that pisses me off. To think that people are looking at me and assuming I’m too weak because of my sexual preference? It’s ridiculous. Being gay has no affect on my trigger finger.”
    “Yet you left,” Mikhail pointed out.
    “Ah.” Alexei was smirking now. “Ask yourself why I would do that. A man who had just made his first kill, become a full fledged member of the syndicate, and given no small amount of blood to do it. Why would I walk away?” He leaned back again the wall, putting the sole of one boot up on the cinder block wall and looking almost smug. “You’re my father’s heir now, isn’t that what Dimitri told me earlier?”
    “Yes.” Mikhail shrugged. “So what? I’m not a coward.”
    “No. You’re not.” Alexei pointed at Mikhail. “But I bet you’ve noticed a change in the way Stanislas treats you. Yes?”
    Mikhail thought about speaking,