Page 70 of The Bratva King's Claimed Bride

“Why would I tell her that?” I spit out. “You don’t deserve her. You don’t deserve to know her even if you didn’t know anything about her.”

Kervyn glowers at me.

I square my shoulders and stand up. “If you don’t give me Arina, I will declare war against your family. I will not stop until she is mine again.”

The door creaks open, and footsteps walk in. I turn to see Arina walking toward me. My shoulders go slack and relax a little. “Arina.”

She purses her lips, frowning, possibly at the last words I said to Kervy. She must have heard. She comes right up to me and slaps me in the face. It stings, but not as much as knowing she’s upset with me.

“You knew. You knew my brothers didn’t know anything about me and kept it from me.” She glares at me. “You knew how much family meant to me and still lied to my face.”

“Arina, I was only protecting you…”

“Protecting me from what? You’re the one who kidnapped me and forced me to be your wife. Kervyn and my brothers have been nothing but kind to me.” She sniffs as tears form in her eyes. “I want nothing to do with you. I am not going with you and never want to see you again.”

She turns and storms out, and I feel my heart shatter into a million pieces.

“Arina has spoken. Now you can start a war, Sidorov.”

I ignore him as I walk out of the office, to the front door, and to my car. I haven’t got it in me to argue with him, not after what I’ve done to her.

Chapter 23 - Arina

I have dreamed of meeting my brothers my entire life, but it was always a case of me having the upper hand and screwing them over. Not them being doting, lovable people. Even Danil, who seems like the hardest nut to crack, is very gentle with me.

On my first official full day on the estate, we have lunch outside on the lawn. I meet my nieces and nephews, and I’m rapt with awe at how adorable they are, especially the twins, who seem to be double trouble galore.

Tiano is a little princess, while Jade and Amber, Asher’s children, are more rough and tumble. Natasha, Kervyn’s daughter, is such a daddy’s girl if I ever saw one. I don’t even know how I’m going to keep track of all of them.

And there’s such an overload of information. I’m slowly catching up on what everyone’s lives are like. From jests and stories told by the wives, I notice that three of them were a forced marriage that blossomed into love while Arseny kidnapped Elena, and they fell in love while he held her prisoner.

It must be a Bratva thing. I think of my own circumstances with Igor and how far we’ve come since he forced me to become his wife. Maybe there’s hope there after all.

Penny has had my measurements taken and is ordering me custom-made clothes. Asher is arranging to take me to her art gallery to see her latest work. I’ve learned Hannah does podcasts, and Elena runs a series of butcheries owned by herself and Arseny.

Despite being swept off my feet with all this information, I can’t help but miss Igor. I’m sure he’s worried about me, having not heard from me in over twenty-four hours, but I don’t know how to broach the subject with Kervyn.

Whenever they mention Igor, they talk about punishing him, sweeping the rug out from under him, and taking his businesses down. I don’t want that. I worked hard to help Igor build those businesses up.

Penny notices my distress every time the topic comes up and quickly changes the conversation. She’s so intuitive.

Then, on my way downstairs on the sixth morning away from Igor, I hear Kervyn talking about Igor coming for a meeting the next day. My heart flutters and I’m excited that I may be able to see him. That’s when I hear Kervyn tell Penny to keep me busy so I don’t see him. I think that’s unfair. I should be able to see my husband.

I’m about to march in and say something when Mama Milov arrives, walking in with Luka and the twins.

“Hey, Arina,” Luka says with a smile. He comes over and kisses both my cheeks. “Penny said she’d watch the twins for Mom and me today. We’re going to help Asher out at her exhibition.”

I smile brightly. “Penny is just busy with Kervyn. I’ll take the twins, though, until she’s done.”

Luka smiles. “You sure? They won’t be too much of a handful for you?”

“Not at all.” I walk around the stroller and take the handles. “We’ll go play in the living room.”

“Thanks, Arina,” Luka calls before he and Mama Milvo leave.

I unstrap the twins and set them down on the carpet. I take out their diaper bag and inside are some toys for them. I hear footsteps and turn to see Samuel toddle into the room, followed by Penny with Natasha in her arms. She sets Natasha in her camping cot before she kneels beside me. “I see Luka ditched you with the twins.”

“He didn’t ditch them with me, I offered.” I roll a car back and forth, with PK gurgling at me. At least, I think he’s PK. It’s hard to tell them apart, especially when they’re dressed identically.

---