Page 3 of The Bratva's Plus-Size Bride

“Negligence isn’t something we save room for.”

Her gaze landed on me for a moment with the faintest gleam in her eyes—something resembling a challenge. “Your forces are something to be revered. I’d imagine with numbers like those, that empire might feel impenetrable.”

“An empire that isn’t afraid to push back whenever necessary,” Ari cut in, allowing some of his performative niceties to fall away. “There’s a delicate balance between the top families in this city, as you know, and we’re not known for pulling our punches.”

Adrik breathed deeply, with a passive grin tugging on his lips. “You are among friends, Aristarkh. Or, at the very least, associates. You can give it to us frankly.”

I watched as my brother’s gaze focused on him, still calculating as he considered his words. With a sigh, he leaned forward, looking between them both. “I see. In that case, we’re aware you’ve been expanding your operations and vying for more ground, but this is a casual reminder to respect our turf. We fought for what we have, dominating smaller families and forming alliances to get there.”

The Ivanovs let those words hang in the air for a moment, listening as they seemed to calculate their next move. Alina’s eyes narrowed by an almost imperceptible fraction.

“We are not currently looking to make more enemies,” Ari continued, otherwise tame words undercut with a warning. “That being said, you can either respect our territory or expect to find yourselves in the company of many others. The choice is yours, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

Silence lingered between our two parties as they assessed us, as if pondering just how much depth his statements truly held.

Then, that almost defensive air slipped away, overtaken by complacency once more.

Alina tilted her head slightly with a cool smile. “Your warning is loud and clear, Levov.”

“We’ll keep the peace,” Adrik murmured, gaze still brimming with cockiness. “No need to rope us in with the others just yet.”

We both took them in, letting that assertion settle between us.

Of course, we weren’t ready to trust the other families so freely, especially not when their desire for expansion was crystal clear, but our message had been delivered nonetheless.

“A wise choice.”

A measure of skepticism lingered between us, but remaining steadfast in our promise to remain neutral unless provoked, the tension in the air retreated a measure as Adrik downed the rest of his whiskey and sighed. Alina seemed to ease somewhat as well.

An understanding apparently reached, the twins eventually left, and Ari got to his feet shortly after.

“That should do it for tonight, I’d say,” he uttered with a tone of finality as he exhaled.

I snickered. “What, not sticking around for the show?”

With our view finally uninterrupted by the Ivanovs, the dancers on stage were clear as day, and I was prepared to settle in for the time being.

Taking notice, Ari scoffed and straightened out his cuffs. “The wife’s waiting for me at home. I’m not prepared to be whipped into shape over some dancers.”

Chuckling at the new reality he lived, I shook my head. “Your loss.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, giving me a rare but brotherly push against my forehead as he passed by. “Whatever makes you feel better. Don’t get into any trouble, alright?”

“No promises.”

With a final amused smile, Ari saw his way out of the reserved section and disappeared into the crowd, leaving me to my usual show.

Lounging into the leather seat, I watched as the dancers did their thing, surrounded by other men with the same idea as myself. Despite their usual allure, the longer my gaze remained on them, the more I found my mind drifting to another place.

The wife’s waiting for me.

Ari’s words seemed to attach themselves to me, and I just couldn’t shake them.

Even as the women in front of me swayed their hips, beacons of seduction and temptation, I wanted more than that. I wanted a wife—not just some temporary distraction.

I had been saying it for quite some time, even if it had mostly been in jest, either by me or my brothers during their teasing. Yet, I wouldn’t accept just anyone. No, that wouldn’t work for me.

Growing bored, I let go of a deep breath as one of the dancers who frequented the floor came over, flashing a sensual smile at me. She was mostly naked and beautiful, and while that normally would’ve done it for me, in that moment, I couldn’t care less.

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