Page 29 of The Bratva's Plus-Size Bride

Losing myself in that dilemma for the rest of the day, I found myself stuck on Ari’s words. While I didn’t realize it at the moment, I knew once I was driving down the highway that it had been a sort of test.

A moment of brotherly support. Even if he didn’t have an answer for me, and I didn’t have a complete one for him either, it was enough to put that bug in my ear. It got the gears turning.

While I had been unsure about how to approach it, it slowly became clearer as I sat in traffic and mauled it over in my mind.

Without a doubt, I couldn’t let Gemma go back to the office. That was a given. With her name linked to that article, they would find her in no time at all. And as much as I didn’t want to take that away from her, I wasn’t left with much choice.

Even if she hated me for it, I needed her to know exactly what was on the line. Hopefully, I could help her to see how imperative it was for her to stay as far away from that office as possible.

Wanting to make it up to her, or to soften her up before having to break the news, I stopped by a local restaurant and grabbed some takeout on the way home.

As hungry as I had been, I felt myself losing my appetite as I spread the food out and prepared the table while I waited for the driver to bring her back home. I silently reminded myself that I needed to be calm and level-headed. Assertive yet understanding. I needed her to be as receptive as possible, but all of that depended on me and my actions.

Sitting at the table and left alone with my thoughts, I couldn’t shake the damning thought that I had risked her life by forcing her to alter that article.

I found myself genuinely wanting to have a relationship with her, and to one day feel more like a real married couple. It was against my nature to be so concerned about her and the situation as a whole beyond what was necessary for the family business, and that fact alone was enough to prove to me that I had to safeguard her in any way possible.

Even if I was misguided at times, I cared about her, and I was trying the best that I could.

Chapter 15 - Gemma

Given hours to stew over what happened, my fear shifted to anger while I sat in the back of the SUV and watched as the city moved by me.

After being confronted by the Ivanovs, I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t tell my boss, call the cops, or text Ben about it. Instead, I tried to go about my day and pretend like it never happened at all. I didn’t want it to taint my experience there or let it get in the way of my work—not when it was such a sacred thing to me.

Even if I was still feeling sick about the whole thing, aware that I had a fairly significant crime family on my back and would likely never truly be safe again, I did my best to push through. I put a brave face on and kept going.

But the moment I got in the vehicle when the driver arrived out front, that mask slipped, and I could only feel that sheer, blinding rage.

Between the fear, worry, and anger consuming me, I just wanted to scream.

After everything with Ben and the wedding, being forced to alter the article, and finding out that the Ivanovs were in fact not okay with being framed for something they didn’t do, it felt like everything was building up and up inside me, making me pressurized.

I was ready to explode, and all the way back to the house, I couldn’t think about anything else.

Finally, as the driver pulled up and I climbed out, I made my way inside, still turning over everything in my mind.

I had been through enough traumatic experiences in the last week alone, and I was tired of it. I was tired of letting Ben think that he could move me all over the chessboard as he liked.

Closing the door behind me, I moved through the kitchen, catching the smell of takeout. Normally, my stomach would’ve been growling over the aroma, but at the moment, anger had it twisted in knots.

Heading straight to the dining room on a hunch, I stopped in the doorway to find Ben sitting at the table with food spread out and waiting for me. As he met my gaze, despite his neutral expression tinged with the slightest hint of uncertainty, I snapped.

There was nothing wrong with the scene—in fact, it should’ve been a nice one for me.

But after the culmination of the week's events and having to face the Ivanov twins alone, I just couldn’t hold back anymore.

Ben’s brows pinched together as he seemed to notice my lack of warmth upon entering the room. “Gemma?”

That anger pushed to the surface, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “I need you to listen to me right now and not say a word until I’m finished. Can you do that?”

Taken aback by the force in my voice, he didn’t say anything for a moment, looking confused instead, but he gave me a simple, wordless nod. Even if he agreed to it, I could tell he wasn’t used to being pushed around like that, and he certainly wasn’t prepared to receive it from me.

“Do you want to know what happened to me at work this morning?” I asked, not waiting for any response as I felt how my blood boiled. “After I was dropped off, Alina and Adrik Ivanov cornered me in the parking garage.”

As he listened, Ben’s expression fell.

Before he could sneak a word in, I continued, “He had a gun on him, Ben. A gun—right outside my place of work. They saw the article and they’re pissed about it. They’re demanding that I scrub their name from the article and issue a statement in the paper. They know we’re married and they’re planning on using that to their advantage if I don’t meet their demands. I don’t know if you’re aware of how absolutely terrifying that is to me.”

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