Page 64 of Arranged Bratva Virgin

“Well, perhaps tomorrow night, you and I can go for a drink like old times.”

Stef chooses to ignore her remark, and I clamp my teeth together to hold back anything I want to say.

Reina plays a very important role in his business—in fact, she does a lot of work for my brothers, too, which I only learned about recently. She is good at what she does. I need to keep my personal feelings aside and just endure her pathetically unprofessional behavior towards my husband.

I trust Stef, but I also know that they have a history, and it does get to me.

It’s difficult to deal with her.

Stef takes a seat at his office desk to sign off some paperwork while I sit on the couch to the side, browsing on my phone to kill the time.

Reina leans right over his desk, pointing at the areas he needs to sign, her cleavage right up in his face.

I bite my lower lip. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

I can’t watch another second of her blatant disregard for my presence here.

I stand up, sighing loudly.

“I think I need some air.”

Stef looks over at me with his eyes strained, as though he wants to apologize to me for her behavior.

Reina smiles. “Yes, it is a bit crowded in here,” she smirks.

I can’t believe her.

Stef stands up, pushing his chair back.

“Reina, that is the last comment I will tolerate from you. If you make another remark, joke or unprofessional jibe towards my wife, or another inappropriate move towards me, I am going to relieve you of your position in this company. Darya is my wife, and the only woman I am interested in. She is the only woman for me. Do I make myself explicitly clear when I say that?”

His voice is heavy and dark, his eyes are narrow and fierce, and his demeanor sends a shiver through me.

Reina stands at his desk with her mouth open in shock.

“Stefy, you and I go way back—"

“Reina. If you cannot pull yourself together and behave in a professional manner, then I am going to ask you to clear your desk and leave.”

She sniffles and pouts out her bottom lip. She looks pathetic.

“Sorry, Stefano. It won’t happen again,” she sulks, then turns to march out of the office in a tantrum.

“She will cool down and pull herself together,” Stef says, looking at me. “She is really good at what she does, but I won’t tolerate someone disrespecting you.”

My heart is beating so fast at his commanding outburst towards Reina.

I used to hate the way he would publicly claim me, or let people know that I belonged to him. But now I find it turns me on and seeps right into my core in delightful ways. I want to belong to him.

I can’t believe I am admitting this, but I think I have feelings for him.

“Thank you, Stef. I appreciate you putting an end to that behavior,” I say, still a little shocked by my own realization that I actually have feelings for this man.

What does that mean for me, though?

I know that from his side, this all just started out as a marriage of convenience for business reasons, and maybe over time, he developed an intense physical attraction to me, but he has never given me any hint of it being more than that.

I sigh, lost in thought.

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