Page 69 of The Bratva King's Claimed Bride

“Are you ready for this?” she asks.

“How long do I have?” I ask as I take the cup.

“Two hours. You must convince him to hand her over so you can bring her home.” Yvonne sits beside me. I wave Marie off when she brings food and I sit nursing the coffee.

Yvonne eats quietly and only looks up when Matvey comes into the room. He claps a hand on my shoulder and smiles. “Today’s the day.”

“You didn’t tip them off on anything, did you?” I ask casually as I look at him.

“Are you going to hold that against me for the rest of our lives?” he asks. “Because it’s getting old real quick. I said I was sorry. I said it was an error in judgment, and I can’t undo it, so what do you want me to do?”

Yvonne looks at me with a raised eyebrow, and I let out a sigh. “Nothing. I don’t want you to do anything. I just want Arina back where she belongs, with her real family.”

Yvonne reaches over and puts her hand over my hand, which is resting on the table. She gives it a squeeze and smiles. “You’ll get her back. I know she won’t let them keep her without a fight.”

That’s what I’m worried about. If she found out that they didn’t know about her, she might want to stay with them. I finish my cup of coffee and go to my office, restlessly going through papers and pacing in front of my oak desk as I wait for the time to pass.

Finally, I leave to go downstairs and meet Alfie in the car. “Kervyn said no weapons. You guys aren’t armed, are you?”

“No, sir, but we will have men outside the estate if anything goes pear-shaped,” Alfie says.

I nod and get in the car. I don’t even pay attention to the scenery as it flashes by. My thoughts are squarely on Arina.

We pull into a beautiful estate, no bigger or smaller than mine, and stop in front of the house.

Alfie lets me out, and I button my suit jacket.

Danil Milov stands at the door, waiting for me. I walk up the stairs and stop in front of him. There’s no gesture to shake hands.

“Sidorov,” he says at last. “Pakhan Milov is waiting for you in his office. I am to show you where that is. Your men can stay here.”

I look at Alfie and then at Danil. “How do I know I’m safe within these walls?”

“You have Kervyn’s word that you will leave here unharmed today,” Danil turns and walks inside the house, and I nod to Alfie before I follow.

He takes me straight to Kervyn’s office and leaves once I’m inside.

Kervyn is standing by the window overlooking the grounds. I clear my throat to let him know I’m here. “Milov.”

“Sidorov, you know I didn’t think you’d survive Russia, let alone make it to America.” He turns to look at me, and I see his eyes glance at the scar on my face—the scar he gave me. A wave of anger fills me, but I keep my voice calm.

“Where is Arina?” I ask.

“Straight to business then,” he says as he walks to his desk and sits behind it. I slowly walk to the armchairs opposite the desk and sink into one.

“I don’t have any other reason to engage with you. I just want Arina to come home with me, and we can keep our business separate.”

Kervyn pauses as one of his servants brings in a tray with two steaming cups on it, a sugar jar, and a jug of milk.

“Coffee?” he offers, making himself up a cup.

“No, just Arina,” I say through gritted teeth.

“You should teach your brother to keep his mouth shut if you don’t want people to find out the truth,” Kervyn says. “You’re lucky I don’t have you killed for kidnapping my little sister.”

“I’d like to see you try,” I growl. “I’m not some young pup you can bully on the way to school anymore. I’ll fucking destroy you and your entire fucking family.”

Anger flashes in Kervyn’s eyes, and he sets his coffee cup down. “I’m not giving you Arina. She deserves to be with her family. If you had told her that we didn’t know about her, you wouldn’t have easily won her over.”

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