Ruski: Z Boys

By Sofia Aves

What does a mafia prince do when his loyalty belongs away from his family?

Ruski Boryenka is torn between two worlds-the one he grew up in full of negotiations, violence and death and the one he swore an oath to when he joined the military. But when he's made to choose, will he return to the fold of his father's Familia, or hold to his promsie to protect alongside his Z Unit brothers in arms?

Abby Zhou has battled her own demons in the last year she's been part of Z Unti's extended found family. A single mum in a disbanding unit, she fights her own grief daily while dealing with conflicting feelings she experiences around her ex. Unsure who to trust, she tries to distance herself-no easy task in the small suburban HQ the unit calls home.

But Ruski isn't ready to give up on Abby yet. When a new team turns up on the doorstep of Fairview House, Abby discovers she isn't the only one with trust issues. Determined to secure at least one ally and win the heart of the woman he's always loved, Ruski takes Abby away to reconnect, but one simple choice could jepardize everything the unit stands for-and Ruski has a good idea who's responsible.

RUSKI is a second chance romance set in the Australian military world of Z BOYS.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little Quail Press
• Release date: Jun 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9781922448552

Sofia Aves

Sofia Aves is a USA TODAY Bestselling author who writes fast-paced police romances, suspenseful mysteries, steamy cowboys with a Montana backdrop and the occasional cheeky god. She loves reading Indie authors and hides her collection of college romance books beneath an ever-growing TBR pile. Sofia is a mum of three crazies and an overly large fur baby who thinks she’s a teacup puppy. She loves orchids but can’t always keep them alive. Sofia lives near Brisbane, Australia Join Sofia’s newsletter & get a free Blue Blooded Brothers short story: https://BookHip.com/CNMQFX Follow Sofia on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sofia-aves?follw=true

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SOFIA AVES

Copyright Ⓒ Sofia Aves 2023

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First Edition

Published by Little Quail Press

Cover Design by Kat Designs

Editing by Partners in Crime

ISBN 978-1-922448-55-2

PROLOGUE

RUSKI

The gun in my hand spread my short fingers to their full reach. It wasn’t the first time I held a pistol; every year on my birthday, my father wrapped my stubby fingers around the same cold, unforgiving metal. Every year, my hand was too small.

I prayed this year would be the same.

Eight-year-old me stared down at the weapon I’d watched him remove life from this earth with a sense of reverence and awe.

That didn’t override the sickness that sank low in my belly, weighing down the slab of birthday cake laden with too much icing in the hopes of not going through with this year’s ceremony after the guests departed.

Now it was just me and my father, and his capos who guarded the door, locking everyone out.

Keeping us in.

I couldn't run from this. I couldn't fight it.

Not yet.

This year, when the gun sat heavy in my hand, my fingers not quite reaching all the way around its wide butt, my father raised my index finger to see if it would reach the trigger.

This year, my finger settled just in place.

He helped me aim the gun, the weight more than the physical burden in my hand, my target a hooded man in a chair before me, as resigned to his fate as I was to mine.

This year, when my father told me to fire, the gun left the bullet.

He didn’t even have to pull the trigger.

This year, I did.

CHAPTER ONE

RUSKI

The four utilitarian walls of Ace’s office that seemed constricting two months ago hadn’t lost their touch. I maintained my stance, not shifting as he stared me down, despite the urge to crawl out of my skin and seek clean, fresh air.

The original unit photo from the nineteen forties hung on one wall, a neat row of Lincoln ‘Ace’ Kelly’s previous military dogs on the other.

Huh. I might have gone another way.

But then, he was a military man. I grew up... differently.

I guess you're staying then. My commanding officer spoke to the ceiling, stretching his neck then dropped his gaze back to meet mine. The corner of his lips worked before he settled on whatever was bugging him. Likely me. How's baby duty going?

I'm half asleep, I said honestly. The lack isn’t something I’ve dealt with, even back in basic training. But carpeted floor and a rug beats a hutchie on hard ground. I shrugged. I'd say it was easy, but...that would be bullshit.

Ace nodded. I knew he appreciated my candor. Abby seems to think she wants you around.

I couldn't help the grin that spread over my face. Abby was the girl of my dreams. Literally. The girl I met in Thailand years ago, who I crossed oceans to see again against my father’s wishes. He said he’d remove me from where I made a place for us both while I ignored him just as many times.

And my father wasn't someone to be walked away from lightly.

There would be some form of comeuppance, and my life would be right back to what it had been before. Right now, I managed to avoid that inevitable fate and got to hold her and a baby that had three daddies.

Because sure as hell after changing that many damn nappies and preventing that baby from slipping out of her arms while she slept and he was dream feeding in the middle of the night, I earned a place in her life.

Finally.

She’s not arguing, I shot back. That reminiscent twinge of doubt pestered me ever since I turned up at Fairview House.

Doubt seeds mistakes. It wasn't in me to let panic take over. Anger, on the other hand, and I were good friends. The sort leaves a cold dark scar in places only I knew about. We were on intimate terms.

I'll stay till she tells me to go.

Good man.

I raised an eyebrow; Ace made no bones that didn't like me in his unit. But after the mess where they lost two of their own, there was a space at the table waiting to be filled.

Again.

Just because I got myself assigned to the unit didn't mean I wouldn't do my damnedest to. protect the men I worked beside and the women they loved.

Well, the reduced number of. King and Chrissy already left to start their own family. The army kid turned exceptional sniper was the last man I expected to retire early, but when he, like most of us, turned up on Fairview House’s doorstep with a death wish, he managed to leave with something more.

Because the unit was filled with soldiers who came here to die.

Perhaps I had too. But the more hours I spent with Abby, the more I wanted what King–and the rest of the Z Unit men–found.

Which made it a little more than odd, that this was the place where I came to start a new life. Perfect in symmetry, it made a symbolic metaphor for the remainder of my early life, shedding my skin to start anew.

Maybe I was just a poetic asshole suit.

Or a monkey suit?

I hear ordinance is still open.

Ace resumed staring at the ceiling, his mouth a tight, pale slash. You walk in here and want to take Queen’s job as well as his girl? He lowered his head, fixing his gaze at some point behind my head, as though he tried to see right through me.

Best of luck with that. Sir.

I held his assessing stare. I'll do what's needed.

I don't trust you. A muscle flexed in his jaw.

At his feet, Helix whined softly. The sound didn't match the