Page 44 of The Bratva's Plus-Size Bride

We were playing the waiting game with the Ivanov twins while we gathered more intel and tried to get a better grasp on what we were up against. During their moments of quiet, when we received nothing but radio silence on their operations, we were left to both question and try to anticipate their next move.

While we could’ve tried to arrange our manpower appropriately and storm in to cut them down, Ari wanted to handle it with more poise.

The Ivanovs had been a more neutral party before, and while they weren’t friend or foe at the time, they had been somewhat useful to us at one point. If it weren’t for them stepping on toes and causing problems with their ambition, we never would’ve injected ourselves into the situation.

Things would’ve been perfectly fine, but that was the problem with greed.

They couldn’t help themselves. The twins wanted more and more, and they were willing to put themselves up against us just to get it.

As lenient as we had been with them in the beginning, there was only so much bending we could do before that patience would inevitably snap.

Of course, I didn’t help matters by using Gemma’s article to paint a target on their backs and force them into hiding, but I couldn’t change what happened. I could only move forward and do everything in my power to guide us to the other side.

Finding myself in a conference with Luk and Kir while we waited for Ari to arrive so we could start our meeting, my mind lingered on Gemma, as it seemed to more and more with every passing day.

I couldn’t help but consider not only her ambition but also her tenacity in putting the new business venture together. Even if she had her internship to extract experience from, there was still a lot she needed to learn, and regardless of how monstrous of a feat that was, she was still prepared to shoulder that work.

With that fresh in my head still, realizing I hadn’t said anything about it to my brothers yet, I glanced between them.

“What do you think about publications as a business model?”

Lukyan and Kir both looked at me like I had too many heads before glancing at each other.

Luk shrugged and fiddled with the phone in his hand absently. “I can’t say I’ve put much thought into that before.”

“What I do know is we’ve been dodging reporters and bad press since day one. Why?” Kir questioned somewhat skeptically before he reached for his coffee and leaned back in his seat.

“Gemma was let go from her internship the other day because of me, so I suggested she start an outlet of her own. She’s been working hard on gathering the necessary information, but I wanted to run the idea by you guys,” I explained, trying to maintain a casual air about me as if her pursuing her dreams wasn’t consuming my thoughts. “I’d be backing her, of course, but the family has never dabbled in that sector before.”

They both looked surprised at first, as if wondering what happened to the Benedikt they had known their whole lives. I could see it written on their faces, and I didn’t blame them for it.

It wasn’t every day that I was volunteering my time and money for someone else’s dream. It was even rarer for me to take an interest in the first place.

As usual, Lukyan couldn’t hold back his smirk as he absently tapped his fingers against his armrest. “Color me impressed, Ben. You must really care about that wife of yours to take on that kind of endeavor.”

Kir snickered, clearly agreeing with the teasing sentiment. “It seems our tragically independent brother is turning soft after all. I didn’t think it was possible, but I guess I was wrong.”

Letting go of an unimpressed breath, I waved them off as usual and tried to keep the conversation on track. While I was dismissive of them, I knew they were right. I did care about Gemma, and ever since we were legally married, I had changed in ways I never expected to.

Whether or not that made me soft, I didn’t care. So long as I was physically able to make her happy, that remained my goal.

She had been through enough in her life, and seeing as I had caused some of that more recent trauma, it was the least I could do to try and make amends.

I wanted her to know that there was more to life than struggle. That while married to me, she had a world of opportunity ahead of her, and so long as she wanted it, I would do my best to give it to her.

That was a foreign concept to me, but the more time we spent together and the more natural things seemed to become between us, the easier it became to swallow. The new business venture was exactly what Gemma needed, and regardless of how different my willingness to help made me seem, I wouldn’t stop until I helped her bring it to fruition.

“This whole ‘being a husband’ thing has some kick to it. You two should try it sometime,” I suggested in an attempt to return the jokes they so easily flung around.

Lukyan only chuckled while Kir scoffed and mumbled, “Yeah, right. You enjoy that all you like. You won’t catch me fussing over trying to make some woman happy.”

My brows went up at that, and I snorted. “Damn, Kir. I knew you were non-committal, but I didn’t think you felt that strongly about it.”

Luk pulled a knowing smirk. “He’s feeling particularly sensitive these days. His most recent plaything dropped him for a designer’s son or something.”

More surprise entered my features at that. It was the first I had heard anything about him entertaining someone behind the scenes. “What the hell did you do to manage that?”

Kir scowled and shook his head, clearly not amused. “This conversation is over.”

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