Page 23 of The Bratva King's Twins

“Enjoy another book today?” Ari asked from his side of the table, cutting through the seared steak on his plate. He always seemed to be starving after being at work all day. It made me wonder if he tended to put his own needs after his responsibilities, forgetting to eat or doing so scarcely throughout the day.

I nodded as I chewed my food, swallowing before replying, “I did. Well, I started one anyway. You know how long King’s books are.”

Ari snickered with an understanding nod. “I certainly do. They’re so lengthy and always disturbing in some ways…but I guess that’s what makes them so intriguing.”

“What drew you to his books, along with some of the other horror ones?”

He shrugged as the thought, letting light contemplation fill his eyes. “The gore is visceral, even if there’s a long build-up before he reaches the final pay-off. It always pulled me in.”

I cocked a brow in interest, surprised to hear it. “Don’t you get enough gore through your work?”

Ari chuckled. “I suppose I do, but there’s a different aspect to that gore in his writing. There’s something intriguing about the paranormal aspects. Knowing that violence and destruction is typically caused by something paranormal puts real gore into perspective for me. In a way, real-life violence doesn’t seem so bad in comparison.”

I really took in his words, understanding where he was coming from. “I suppose I know what you mean. Like when you watch or read something and realize your problems aren’t as big and scary as what the characters are facing?”

He nodded, smiling faintly. “Exactly. I’m glad you understand.”

My heart warmed at his acceptance, feeling as our mutual connection seemed to be coming from a more genuine place. “I never really had anyone else to talk books with, so I’m interested in what you think.”

Ari looked pleased at that, and he nodded. “I must admit, too, it’s refreshing to not always talk about work…especially when I’m not there and meant to be unwinding. Speaking of watching things, how about a movie?”

I nodded with a light smile as we wrapped up our meal. “That sounds great.”

“Should we test fate and pick something random, or go with something safe?”

Following his lead to the living room, I soaked in that light-hearted air around us. “Surprise me.”

Ari let a teasing smile take over his face as he reached for the remote. “Leaving it up to me, huh? I’m warning you now, it will either be the greatest or the worst movie you’ve ever seen.”

“Maybe it’ll fall somewhere in the middle?”

He chuckled as we took up our respective places, the curl of his lips hinting at his mild amusement. “Maybe so.”

***

Like most mornings, he was gone early, and I woke up to an empty house, aside from the housekeeper who greeted me in passing as I went to the kitchen.

I felt strange familiarizing myself with the place when Ari was home, but once he was gone, I’d look around and take in everything the house had to offer.

The kitchen was beautiful and open. There were at least two separate living rooms with different uses, a home gym, a theatre room, as much food and snacks as anyone could ask for, and plenty of fully furnished bedrooms to go around. The personal library was a close second, but the grounds were the best part.

The pool was always well maintained and sparkling, the lawn was perfectly manicured with countless places to lounge and sit out in the sun, and he even had courts for tennis, basketball, and whatever else you could think of.

I found myself lingering there, dipping my toes in with a quiet hiss at the intrusive chill compared to the warmth around me.

Surprisingly, Ari became a point of interest for me ever since we fought in the kitchen. When he finally opened up to me, and we started to actually get along, I couldn’t ignore how beautiful I thought he was. But it was all so confusing for me to deal with.

I was angry with him for everything, and yet, I got a glimpse of someone kinder and softer beneath that hard exterior when we talked.

Seeing that side of him made me curious, and I knew that was a dangerous thing.

A part of me still wanted to know more about him, even if he'd already given me quite a bit to work with.

I was surprised to learn he sacrificed his childhood to raise his siblings, and while it was admirable, it also made me sad. He gave up so much for them, and while they were surely grateful for everything he did, Ari would never get that time back.

But it made sense why they all respected him so much. He gave them everything they had, and while that didn’t completely make up for how brutal he had been, it certainly showed him in a different light to me.

I didn’t like the idea of being attracted to Ari, but as we stood in the kitchen together after the fighting died down, and he even managed to crack a few smiles, something in me wanted to see just how much he had been holding back.

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