My Mafia Protector

MY MAFIA PROTECTOR A.F. MONTOYA CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Connect With Me Other Books by A.F. Montoya ISBN: 9798386092382 Imprint: Independently published This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2023 A.F. Montoya All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. 1 ANYA “I’m getting married!” I was in the middle of job applications, only half paying attention to what she was saying until she blurted that out. Elation swelled in my chest and I gave her back my full attention. “Really?” The joy in her voice was striking. Since it was coming from my sister who, in the last few years, had been struggling with her emotions, I was ecstatic to hear it. I’d been getting seriously worried about her before she met Anton. “Yes! He asked me over dinner last night! He said I could have it as big and lavish as I wanted, as long as we held it here in Russia. Oh, Anya, you’re going to love it. It’s so much better than we remembered.” My face fell, and unease settled through me. It’s not that I didn’t want to go to Russia. My sister and I were adopted from there when we were three and we’d always wanted to see where we came from. She went first because she’d always been the adventurous one. I, on the other hand, had a crippling fear of flying and couldn’t work up the nerve to get on a plane to visit her. I didn’t want to miss her wedding, but… “You’re sure? What about the Richardsons?” The Richardsons, as we referred to them, were our adoptive parents. Things were… strained with them. Nina and I often felt like they only adopted us as a political stunt. They weren’t cruel; they were just… uninterested. They gave us food and clothes, but they weren’t really warm people. We still talked to them occasionally, but we weren’t close. I just wanted any excuse I could find to get her to change her mind and have the wedding here so I wouldn’t have to get on a plane. She scoffed. “Who cares? They’ll probably send a card or something like they do on our birthday.” I grimaced. That was probably true. Once we turned eighteen, they stopped bothering trying to know us. They were nice enough to send a card with money in it every year, but that was about it. They still paid for us to go to college though and they kept us off the streets, so I didn’t want to dismiss them completely. Unlike Nina, who took it way too personally. She’d always been the more fiery twin. “Y-you’ve been saying all your life you wanted to get married in New York City. I don’t want you to give up on your dream and regret it later…” “Nah, too expensive. Besides, Moscow is gorgeous, you’ll love it. It’s got that old world charm you love right alongside the more modern stuff. I’ve gotta call Khloe and tell her.” Swallowing hard, I shook my head helplessly. “I, uh, can’t really afford to fly to Russia right now, Nina. Are you sure–” “Oh! You don’t have to worry about that. Anton said he’d handle it. He’s paying for Khloe’s ticket, too. I told you he’s really well off, right? He said to ignore price tags and just have fun planning the wedding. I mean, who does that? He’s so perfect, it’s crazy. Anyway, we need to start planning. There’s so many things to do and not a ton of time to do it. He wants to be married by the end of the year.” She kept going, spouting off her ideas rapid fire as I struggled to come to terms with it. She knocked down every excuse I had. If I didn’t go now, I’d be that horrible sister who ditched her twin’s wedding because she was too scared to get on a plane. I couldn’t do that to her. We’d been attached at the hip since we were in the womb. I wouldn’t be the person who ruined her wedding. I had six months to figure out how to get on a plane. The idea made me queasy even six months away. How was I going to do this? * * * The next six months were busy. Right after graduating from college, Nina went straight back to Russia to meet with her fiancé and start planning her wedding. I started job searching, but given my quiet demeanor, interviews were difficult and I didn’t have much luck. I managed to get a temporary job at a call center servicing accounts for a big company. It wasn’t what I’d hoped for and I struggled with confrontation, but it was all I could find. Between the new job and searching for something better, I was helping Nina in any way I could. I handled the invitations, bought decorations she couldn’t get out there, basically anything I could deal with without being there in person. I convinced her that since I was just starting at my job, I couldn’t take too much time off so she wouldn’t make me travel out there any sooner than the