Page 56 of Stolen By the Bratva

“Because standing with you was the smart way forward.”

Smart? I wondered at her choice of words. “Did you marry me to be a spy?”

“For whom?” she sobbed, losing her composure. “Who the hell would I be a spy for? My father? He wishes me dead!”

She spoke the truth, but I refused to let her tears sway me. I knew she was telling the truth. The women in the bratva world had no real futures. They called no shots and were not trusted with any lasting decisions. I almost softened to the sound of her crying as she slumped back to sit on the edge of the bed, but I refused to be that moved and gullible.

All my life, I’d been exposed to deceit and liars, and I refused to be stupid now. Even with my wife.

I grabbed a jacket and picked up my phone and gun. I felt her tracking my movements, but I didn’t do more than glance at her as I bade her farewell. “I’m going to speak with my brothers.” I pointed at her tear-streaked face. “Don’t think about leaving. The building is guarded and watched by men loyal to me.”

She lowered her face, glancing down and away as she sniffled louder.

And with her tears dripping to the sheets, I strode out into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind me.

If only I could slam the door to the wall guarding my heart, too, then all would be right in my world.

I wasn’t supposed to… care. Love wasn’t in the cards in this hard life. It was a weakness, a distraction, but she tormented me to consider that it could be building between us regardless.

24

MILA

The door slammed shut, and I flinched at the loud bang. Just like that, Alek stormed out of here, leaving me like some thing to ignore. When the going got tough…

Stop. I sighed a watery exhale and wiped my face. Tears smeared a hot trail of liquid over my cheeks, and I loathed that he’d pushed me to lose my composure like this. I never cried, never broke down, no matter how hard life would treat me, but he’d gone too far.

What else can I fucking do?

I shot and killed a man to save him. I chose to marry him and gave up the idea of running to my freedom away from the criminal world we orbited in.

And still, he didn’t trust me.

He’d looked at me with such scathing hatred, assuming I was the bad guy out to get him. That I was working on screwing him over like some ultra-secret femme fatale.

I huffed and rolled my eyes. It was so ridiculous that I almost giggled, but I was too upset to loosen up and laugh off his reaction.

I wasn’t shocked that he’d be jaded and quick to assume the worst of me. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he hadn’t guessed at my motive. Alek had lived a hard life rife with manipulation and frustration. He wasn’t a gentle soul, and he was raised to be a hard asshole. But for fuck’s sake, I was too damned confused to understand how he’d switched his moods so suddenly from last night.

Just who did he think I would be spying for? My father who wanted me dead?

I couldn’t make sense of it. I’d woken up with a teeny, tenuous thread of hope. As my eyes opened to a new day, I started to think that we were building something real here, something far more than just fucking or arranging power plays.

Now, he was only proving to be just like Andrey or my father, all the other men I’d met in my life—out for himself and never letting anyone in.

Pushing to my feet, I fought for a moment of strength. I was determined to stay positive. Because this was to be expected, right? This was the way my life was destined to play out—as the object of a man’s wishes.

As I went to the bathroom and began to clean up and shower, I wondered how much worse Alek might treat me. If he wanted to start the first day of our lives together in a fight, what would it escalate to in the future?

Just as I was warming up to him and enjoying how he could push me and coax me to surrendering to his brand of brutal pleasure, making me feel so pretty and sexy and wanted, not fat or undesirable, he had to change into an asshole again.

After I showered and dried off, I went through his clothes to find the smallest garments that would cover me. I had no clothes. I had nothing and no one here, but I couldn’t know when I could expect anything delivered to me.

I may as well be grateful that he forgot to tie me up again. I huffed, irked by my bitter thoughts as I left the bedroom.

I didn’t know what to do, but I refused to sit around and wait for him to return. That much idle downtime would wreak havoc on my mind. So, I got up and tried to keep myself as busy as possible. Tidying the apartment felt like I was intruding and invading someone else’s space, but I dusted and sorted out the minimal clutter throughout the apartment. When I finished that, dismayed that it had only lasted an hour, I knew I was too antsy to sit again.

Bored and restless with all my thoughts, I moved into the kitchen and checked the contents at hand. I could start on a meal. Lunch was soon, but if he needed more time to stew and put distance between us, it could be dinner. Even if we ended up leaving this place and staying somewhere else, it would be a productive way to while away the minutes or hours until he’d want to return.

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