Page 74 of Forced Bratva Bride

“I’m sorry for how I treated Chiara all those times. I was a real asshole to her. I still had the choice, you know.”

“You were really young when Angelo implanted his ideas in your mind. You can’t be hard on yourself about what happened because of him. I guess you just need to decide who you want to be in the future—from now on.”

“You're right. But I owe her an apology. I hated her for a long time because I thought she didn’t care about my mother. I pushed her away, even when she tried to be my friend. She did try. I think she felt alone as well. Her mother was also killed. She only had her father. We both did. He made it that way, so that both of us relied on him, not each other. Fuck, it’s so disgusting, how he used everyone around him.”

“Well, now Chiara is going to manipulate him.”

“I hope she can.”

His words send a shudder of dread through me. I hope she can, too. I hope she knows how to handle him. I can’t handle the thought of her in pain. And she must be going through so much now, too. She just found out that her father murdered her mother. She just found out that her father, who I know she loved, is actually a monster.

Her heart must be shredded. But she is still with that man, playing it cool, being the supportive daughter. Alone.

She needs me, and I can’t be there for her now.

Stefano turns his face toward me. “You're right, Maxim. She's a smart girl. She has a good heart. You know, even though I was such an asshole to her all those times, she still did her best to be nice to me. She always has been. Fuck. I really am a dickhead. But that girl, she's smart.”

“She is. She's amazing,” I agree.

But my heart is still drowning in worry for her when we arrive at Paval’s house, where my brothers are waiting.

“Come on, let’s go talk to them and figure out what we can do about all of this.”

I climb out of the car and Stefano follows me into the house.

In the dining room, my brothers are seated around the table. Dinner is ready.

“Come on guys, take a seat. You must be hungry. Let’s have some food and you can update us on what is going on.”

I nod, sliding into a chair. Stefano takes a seat next to me, both of us lost in thought.

Kiril speaks. “You said Chiara is okay. Where is she?”

“With her father,” I reply.

Over dinner, we explain everything to my family, Stefano and I both adding in bits of information after we read the letter out loud to my brothers. The shock around the table is evident.

“He killed his wife?”

“Yes. And my mother,” Stefano replies.

“How do you feel about what Chiara said? She said she has a plan, but she hasn’t really told you anything.”

“I trust her,” I reply to Paval. He nods, thoughtfully.

“This is a lot to take in. I can’t believe he was behind everything. We've worked with him for years. I always thought he was a strong ally.”

“We all did. Don’t feel bad that he pulled the wool over your eyes in business, he tricked those of us who lived with him and were around him every day. I never knew—I mean, I never suspected any of this,” Stefano comments, pushing his food around his plate.

“Okay, well, I guess the thing is that we know now. But we have to decide what to do about it.”

“Agreed,” Kiril says, nodding at Fyodor’s words. “We could storm his house?”

“I am not risking Chiara’s life like that. We have no idea what the situation is there. And she expects me to trust her plan. That is what I am going to do.”

“We can approach it from a business side?” Paval suggests.

“I don’t feel like we should do anything big right now,” I say, shaking my head.

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