Page 25 of The Bratva's Plus-Size Bride

I cleared my throat and took up a gentler tone. “I’ve been thinking the last few days about my childhood, and how different things have been since then. But growing up in Russia, Ari practically raised all of us. After Mom died, Dad couldn’t take it, and he relied on substances to cope. When he fucked off, Ari was the one who stood up and made sure we were taken care of. Because Kir and Lara were so young, that meant Ari had to drop out of high school to take care of them, but he made sure we went all the way through. One time, I was so tired of reading boring classics in English, I skipped class, forgetting he would be home when the school inevitably called. I ended up getting a ride with a friend, but one of the faculty saw and assumed I was in a dangerous situation, so they called Ari right away.

“Before I could even make it across town, he somehow knew exactly where I would try to end up—a rundown skatepark I usually went to in my downtime. I just needed the chance to clear my head, but Ari, being Ari, wasn’t prepared to let that fly. So, by the time I got there, he already had our uncle and his guys waiting for me at the skatepark like it was some kind of shakedown. I wasn’t familiar enough with the business yet to be comfortable around them, so needless to say, I was scared shitless. They gave me a stern talking-to, and by the end of it, I was terrified of skipping. From that day on, I never needlessly skipped a class again, and I became a top student in all of my classes.”

While Gemma listened to my recounting, her expression didn’t give away her thoughts until the end, when her brows went up in question as she propped her chin up on her fist. “You were at the top of your class?”

I nodded with a chuckle at the thought. “Surprising, I know. But it turns out that threatening a kid with big, domineering guys is highly effective. It helped that Ari wrung me out for it when I got home, too. You’ve seen him—even as a teenager, he was far too much muscle for his own good.”

Gemma managed to crack a small smile at that. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”

“One good thing about it is it only took Ari picking me up from school once for my peers to decide to leave me be. As irritating and bossy as he can be at times, he’s not such a bad brother to have in your corner.”

“You said he raised all of you…how did he manage that on his own?” she asked, sounding genuinely curious.

I nodded, recalling it easily despite all the time that had passed. “Honestly, I don’t know. He made a lot of sacrifices just to make sure the rest of us turned out alright, and he had some help from our uncle whenever he could spare it. But all in all, it was up to Ari, and he did a pretty damn good job considering the circumstances.”

Gemma seemed to soften at my words, nodding along quietly as she listened. “That must’ve been very tough on him, but he seems to really care for all of you.”

“Even if we were a handful, he made sure to keep us grounded. By the time he was old enough and everyone was in school, Ari took up the family business, and it took off from there,” I continued, smiling faintly at the reminder of how far we had come. “We didn’t have much before, but with some luck and Ari’s ability to make it happen, we’ve found ourselves in a very different place.”

“It sounds like you’ve been through a lot so far,” she murmured with a glimmer of awe in her eyes—at the very least, a tinge of respect. “My experience seems to pale in comparison.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” I returned gently, shrugging off the idea. “You’re in a competitive industry and managed to land an internship. I bet they don’t just hand those out for free.”

A small yet easy smile moved across her lips, and she nodded absently to herself. “That’s true, at least. I had to make miracles just to get there.”

Aware that I didn’t know anything about her other than her career, I leaned back in my chair. “If you don’t mind me asking, where did you come from?”

“I grew up in Michigan and went to school there. I lived with my grandparents after my parents passed suddenly from carbon monoxide poisoning. I was an only child, so I relied on them to get me through it,” she explained with a tinge of sadness in her eyes. “When I managed to land the internship and moved here, my grandparents got sick and died within months of each other. So, it’s been just me out here ever since.”

The more she revealed to me, the worse I felt for her, even if I was glad she felt comfortable enough to share it with me. She experienced a heavy childhood too, and that wasn’t an easy thing to stomach.

Looking at her with genuine sympathy, I reached across the table and placed a gentle hand against hers. “I’m sorry for your losses. I don’t imagine any of that was easy to manage.”

Gemma nodded again, accepting the contact as she let out a sigh. “That’s why the internship means so much to me…without it, I don’t have anyone else. No fall-backs. It was always just me against the world here.”

My heart went out to her as I let my thumb gently graze the back of her hand. “It doesn’t have to be anymore, Gemma. I know this is a tall promise to make, but you’re my wife, and you don’t need to worry about anything ever again. You’ll be taken care of here.”

As she met my gaze with less disdain, she nodded and let go of a breath. She pulled a light smile for me, and as faint as it may have been, it was enough.

Satisfied to have bridged more of a connection, I was left with a positive feeling in my chest. With that step forward, it gave me the hope that our marriage wasn’t completely baseless. That there was a chance we could become something stronger.

To my surprise, the very idea made my heart warm, and it became easier to see a genuine future with her.

I just had to be patient.

Chapter 13 - Gemma

I didn’t want to admit it, but Ben was beginning to lower my defenses whether I liked it or not.

After the article had been cleared and published, I noticed a shift in Ben and his demeanor towards me. He was trying more than I expected him to. I assumed that he forced me to marry him for his gain, just to toss me aside and move on to the next one. But that didn’t seem to be the case.

Wherever he could, he was trying to get to know me, and little by little, he was sharing pieces of his life with me, too.

It was nicer than I expected, and it left me feeling less conflicted about the whole ordeal.

Of course, telling me about his childhood and hardships wasn’t enough to build that trust, but it was a start. At least being able to know things about my husband seemed better than being completely clueless, even if I was still trying to get into the swing of things.

I could say that things were better than I assumed they would be, regardless of the kinks that needed to be worked out.

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