Page 65 of The Bratva King's Claimed Bride

I swallow as she lets me go and goes to sit opposite Penny.

Kervyn clears his throat. “That’s my mother. We all call her Mama Milov.”

“You will do the same now that you are part of our family,” she says from her seat.

Kervyn gestures around the table. “This is Danil, second eldest, and his wife, Asher. Arseny is third in line, and his wife, Elena. You know Luka, and this is his wife, Hannah. You know I’m Kervyn, the leader of the family, and you’ve met my wife, Penny.”

I look around, unsure what to say.

“Are you okay?” Asher asks quietly. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”

“I haven’t been feeling well,” I finally say. “That’s why I was at the pharmacy.”

Penny instantly gets up. “What’s wrong? I have a whole medical aid cupboard, and I have something for everything.”

“Uh, I’m nauseous.”

“I’ll be right back,” Penny says, hurrying out.

Kervyn smiles proudly. “All the women in our family make excellent mothers.”

Asher sits beside me on the left. “Sit down, take a load off.”

“You’re that artist,” I say quietly. “I’ve been to one of your exhibitions.”

She smiles. “I hope you liked it. I have another one coming up, and we can all go together.”

I look around, not sure what to do with this kindness.

“Who tipped you off? Who knew that you didn’t know I existed?” I ask after a moment.

Luka shifts in his seat. “Igor’s brother, Matvey. He dropped by my casino one day to tell me about you and told me to do with the information what I would. We obviously had to verify it at first.”

“I knew your mother,” Mama Milov says. “She was an escort. My husband loved women a little excessively. But I didn’t know he’d driven her away or that she was pregnant. Please, you must believe me. I would never see a child on the street.”

I look around at the expectant faces, and I’m pleased when Penny comes in carrying two bottles and a glass of water. “A few drops of this, and your nausea will settle.”

I stare at the glass of water. Matvey wouldn’t keep something like that from me. Would he? Would he keep it from Igor? Igor loves me, and he’d never do anything to hurt me.

“We have a room made up for you, and the girls will take you shopping for whatever you need,” Kervyn says. “Please, stay with us. I’m not going to hold you prisoner, but I’d love a chance to get to know you. We’ve all taken off work for the week to get to know you.”

I shift in my seat before I take Penny's glass and drink the tart mixture. I pull a face and set it down.

“Sorry, I should have mentioned it doesn’t taste nice, but give it a minute. It’s super gentle. Even pregnant people can take it.”

I swallow slightly. I don’t say anything about my pregnancy. I don’t want them to hold it against me.

I don’t know if I trust what they’re saying, but there’s a longing inside me to get to know them and see what life could have been like.

“Tell us about yourself,” Danil says, lacing his fingers together and sitting back. “Where did you grow up?”

“Downtown,” I say. “My mother died when I was younger. I was in an orphanage for a while.” My voice is low and steady. “Then I was adopted by a rather cruel family. I’m sorry, I don’t know what to do with all this information you’re giving me. I have lived a horrible life, and I knew about you guys, and in a letter to me, my mother implied you knew about me. I… I don’t know what to do right now.”

Kervyn sits forward. “Would you like something to eat? Or would you like to lie down? We don’t have to go over everything right now.”

I swallow and look around. “I don’t know, everyone’s come over to see me.”

“We can come over again,” Arseny says. “We don’t stay far, and we can bring our children. You can meet them. We didn’t want to today because we thought it would be too much.”

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