"He was all the way across the road in the window of another building, but Andrei's rifle was aimed right at me—at my heart—and I prayed to god with all I had that he wouldn't miss. Although I didn't have to pray that hard, he never missed.

It was only appropriate it be the heart."

Andrei Romanov returns to Kurov after the war in Chechnya and finds himself in an empty apartment with his sister's dog—an animal deemed too violent to be around people. It's the 1990s and the economy is in ruin, forcing him to take the only work available at the local bratva syndicate run by an old family friend.

Liza just moved to Kurov with her boss, who is running the newly opened Olympic Casino. Because the casino hires its muscle straight from the local bratva, tensions are running high between the two mobsters as they have to share the city. Liza is sent to work under Mikhail "The Grizzly" as a liaison for the casino, but it's a dangerous game. He knows she's a spy in plain sight. Instead of turning her away, he sets his newest hire to babysit.

That happens to be Andrei.

Neither of them expects the other to be who they are, and the forced proximity is about to change everything, especially when crossing the line between them is strictly forbidden.

Tropes:

Workplace Romance

Russian Mafia/Bratva

Forced proximity

Friends to Lovers

Hurt/Comfort

Morally Gray FMC / MMC

Femme Fatale FMC

He Falls First

Who Did This to You

Content Warning:

Contains dark and disturbing themes, gore/violence/abuse, past trauma, animal attacks (no animal is harmed), PTSD, suicidal thoughts and intent, and mature content throughout. Please protect your mental health and check your triggers before reading.

None of these things are glamorized in any way. Zaika is meant to be a realistic mafia romance set in a turbulent time, and it is written from the POV of two people who are a product of their environment and are already involved in organized crime. Their morals are set accordingly and are not a reflection of the author's beliefs.

Please note this is a very long read at 500 pages.