Page 55 of Caught By the Bratva Beast

“You did well for yourself.” Elena winks and reaches for another one of the champagne flutes in the middle of the table. She holds out her glass. “Here's to having a hot husband.”

Laughing, I clink my glass against hers.

“Now my question is, what are you sitting here looking like this when your husband is over there.”

“Marital troubles, the usual.”

“Not possible. You're too hot for that man to not be crawling on his knees to you and begging your forgiveness for whatever he's done.”

I nearly spit out the sip of my drink I've just taken. “You don't know him if you think he's going to crawl across the floor to me and beg for forgiveness. He's much more that kind of guy to throw me over his shoulder, drag me out of here.”

“Well, now there's nothing wrong with going full caveman every now and then.” Elena smirks and slides her heels back on “So. What's it like to be where married to an Orlov? I've heard a lot about the broad, but none of it's good.”

“I haven't made up my mind yet. We've only been married for a few months. At this rate, though, it looks like we're heading for divorce. I don't know what's going on with him lately, but he doesn't seem to want anything to do with me, which means that I get to sit over here for the rest of tonight while he schmoozes.”

Elena gets to her feet, reaching for my hand, and hauling me to mine. “You're not going to sit over here and sulk all night. You're a beautiful woman. I'm sure you're intelligent. Which means that you're going to go over there and you're going to make him see what he's missing.”

“Maybe you're right about that. Before I got married, I was a lot more confident than I am in this moment. My husband was giving me the time of the day. I wouldn't care and I would have gone on about my life doing whatever I pleased. I would've thought myself lucky.”

“Love makes fools of us all.”

“I don't know if I would call it love, more of an arrangement.”

“I saw the way you're watching him,” Elena says as she loops her arm around my waist, pushing me forward through the crowd. “If you're not in love with him already, you're halfway there, so you might as well go across this ballroom. Show him what he's missing. And if he doesn't get his act together? Make him regret it.”

“All right, okay. I'll go over there. If it doesn't work though and you see me sprinting out of here later grab a bottle of wine and come find me.”

“I think I can manage that. Now get your man.”

Holding my head high, I stride around the ballroom, weaving through the couples and starting to dance with each other. Whispers pass about why I'm not with my husband or why he's barely looked my way all night. People who know Maxim exchange long looks with each other, watching as I get closer to him.

I'm stopped in my tracks when a man bumps into me, his arm brushing against mine hard enough to send me stumbling back step. His hands shoot out, grabbing me by the wrist and holding me in place. “Nicolo wants to see you. He's outside.”

The man disappears as quickly as he appeared, mingling into the crowd around us.

A pit opens in the bottom of my stomach. I've been avoiding a meeting with Nicolo. He sent me a text two days ago telling me that he had a plan. He was ready to take Maxim down.

I broke the burner phone that day before burning it in the fireplace later that night. The debris from that phone is now sitting at the bottom of the lake, never to be found. There's no way I can go through with killing Maxim. I'm not ready. Even though I know it's a bad idea, I ignore what the man said and continue over to my husband.

One of the men with Maxim nods to me. As I approach and he turns, his gaze drags up and down my body, taking in the deep red dress. His eyes lock on the plunging neckline.

“I thought you were going to be waiting for me at our table,” he says, stepping away from the men he's with without another word to them.

“I got tired of waiting at the table. To be quite frank, I got tired of being ignored.”

He takes me by the hand, grip a little tighter than I'm comfortable with, dragging me through the room and out the back doors. “We're not doing this here. If you want to fight, we're going to go home and we're going to have it out.”

“I'm tired of fighting, aren't you?”

My shoulders slump, the anger that was bubbling to the surface slowly cooling down.

Maxim sighs and lets go of my hand, turning to face me, raking through his messy strands of hair. “I don't know what you want from me. I've done everything I can to make you trust me. I've given you a lovely home, giving you money to spend. I've given you a staff. I've promised you your safety. You have your freedom. What more can I give you?”

“I was thinking that I could give you something. Answers. I don't know, I'm tired of going home at night after spending some time with Aesha and coming to find an empty house. My husband has gone to who the fuck knows where.”

“Funny you haven't acted like this is a marriage, but now you want to.” Maxim throws sharp words, cutting me down to the quick. He shakes his head, storming around the side of the house the party is being held at heading for the parking lot.” You don't get to just come around to my business dealings because you're feeling a little ignored.”

“Maybe I won't have to come demand your attention if you just come home.”

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