Page 36 of Arranged Bratva Virgin

Although perhaps I just had a glimpse at why he feels the way he does. Is that how my brothers usually treat Stef? Or has something else happened? I don’t remember them being that way towards him.

I sigh and swirl the ice cubes in my drink, feeling the exhaustion settling into my body.

“Darya, what was that about?” Ivan walks into the kitchen, followed by Paval and Maxim.

“What do you mean, what was that about? You guys were being unfair, and I wasn’t just going to sit there are stay quiet,” I say, annoyed.

“But is everything alright with you? We haven’t seen you since the wedding, and we’ve been worried,” Paval says.

“Worried about what?”

“We, well, you know, we don’t like the fact that you had to do that for the family—"

“Get married to Stef?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why you guys were being so unfair now? Because you're angry about the marriage still?”

“Yes, I guess so.”

“I agreed to it. No one forced me into this. It was my choice, remember?”

“Okay, fine, but is everything alright at home? I mean, is he treating you right?” Ivan steps close to me and nudges my shoulder with his.

“Guys, there is nothing you need to worry about. Stef is very kind to me, and he takes care of me. Nothing weird has happened.”

I chuckle. So many weird things have happened, but I am not discussing those types of things with my brothers.

“I don’t need you guys worrying about me, and I don’t want you to treat Stef differently because we got married. In fact, technically, you should be treating him better now. He is my husband. That is the reality of it.”

Paval nods reluctantly.

“You’re right. Look, we just want you to be okay, that’s all. Promise us that if he is ever upsetting you—just talk to us, okay?”

“Well, promise me that you will treat him like part of the family.”

“Fair. Okay.”

“Okay.”

I smile. At least I know what was going on with them now. They were just upset about the whole arranged marriage thing. Hopefully, from now on, we won’t have to deal with any more heated unfairness.

Paval walks over to me to give me a hug. “You look tired.”

“You guys really pissed me off in there,” I laugh.

“Sorry, Darya. It won’t happen again.”

I wrap my arm around Paval and hug him tightly.

“I am tired, though. Are you guys done with the meeting?”

“I think Stef is over it. He calmed down, but he is still pissed off, so we are going to reschedule.”

I nod; I think that's better, anyway. We both need to rest. At the same time, though, Stef should have reined in his temper this evening. He got so flared up so quickly. I don’t like that side of him.

I say goodnight to my brothers and then head out to the car with a very grumpy looking Stefano.

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