Page 66 of Arranged Bratva Virgin

“Oh, it’s beautiful,” she exclaims as I lead her towards the entrance.

I want her to see the wealth.

“This one was one of them that I inherited.”

I lead her into the mansion, and she roams around, running her fingers along the old hand-carved stone fireplace. She takes her time admiring the details I did not expect her to even notice.

“Who designed this house?” she asks.

“My great-great-grandfather had it designed and built for his wife. It was their first home, and he wanted to impress her.”

“I bet she loved it. Was this stone piece custom-made for them? I have never seen anything more beautiful.”

“It actually was. On a trip to Italy, they met with my great-great-grandfather's family and his wife learned that one of his brothers was a stone smith. She asked that he be flown in to make this piece for her because she wanted it to have meaning behind it.”

“That is so incredibly special.” She smiles this beautiful warm smile.

At the next house, Darya seems fascinated by the artwork on display.

“Whose collection was it? Whoever it belonged to, they must have had a rather big passion for it. They have chosen the most gorgeous pieces.”

“It was my father’s, actually. My real father. He loved art. When my mother married him, he built an art studio for her because she loved to paint. Some of these pieces were done by my mother, especially for him.”

“Oh my word, that is so romantic.”

I am so surprised to have her asking me more about the history of each house rather than anything else. She cares about who lived here, if they had children, were they married, what did they love doing—she has brought up memories in me about my family that I didn’t even know were still floating around in my head. This day was meant to be my way of trying to show her that I can provide for her, but instead she is learning all about my family and where I come from. She is loving it. She hasn’t stopped smiling and keeps asking more and more questions.

“I think your grandmother and my grandfather would have gotten on really well. My grandmother had a passion for sculptures as well. Especially bronze. I mean, they were a nightmare to move because they weighed a ton, but she was obsessed with collecting them. The entire house was filled with them. When we were little, we used to play hide and seek in between all of the strong and unusual figures.” She laughs.

“My grandfather would have killed me if I ran around his sculptures. He used to chase me out with one of his old swords and terrify the living daylights out of me. He thought it was hilarious, I thought I was going to get a good ass whooping.” I chuckle, remembering my childhood.

“Did you ever get lonely growing up without more siblings? I know you have Chiara, but that was only later in life.”

“Yes, and no. I was a loner, even back then. I used to live a lot in my head. I don’t know—maybe I wouldn’t have been if I had some brothers to roughhouse with.”

“Ugh, don’t even get me started on brothers roughhousing. I have too many brothers, and they used to taunt me and tease me all the time. Of course if anyone else teased me, they would stand up for me—because only they had the right to give me shit. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, though. They all mean the world to me.”

“I am only just starting to learn the value of having someone who is there for you. After always having to fend for myself, maybe I started putting walls up to make sure I protected myself. Anyways. Life is full of lessons.”

She looks over at me with a softness in her eyes that pulls me towards her.

I honestly did not expect my day to go like this.

I thought I would be proving my worth to her, but instead, we shared stories about our childhoods and our lives. She was far more interested in the history of each property than she was the value of it. She is down to earth, beautiful and kind.

I reach out and brush my fingers over her face.

“What do you want to do for dinner, baby girl?”

“It’s your birthday, I think you should decide.”

“I was never too big on celebrating my birthday—I guess I didn’t have that big family you had, so it wasn’t really a big deal.”

“Fine. I will decide. And for the record, from now on your birthday will be a big deal. It’s a celebration of the day you were born, and I, for one, am pretty happy that you were.” She giggles and takes my hand, leading me out of the house towards the car.

“Give me the keys,” she says.

I freeze in horror. “I don’t think—"

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