Page 45 of The Bratva's Plus-Size Bride

He may have avoided relationships like the plague, but it seemed whoever this woman was, she left her mark, and he wasn’t too happy about it. Obviously, he was in deeper than he thought, and it didn’t end well.

“See? Touchy.”

I did everything in my power to not laugh out loud, especially as Kir grumbled to himself thanks to Lukyan’s usual pestering. I didn’t need to make matters worse.

Luckily, before Kir could throw himself across the table at Luk in retaliation, the conference room door opened, and Ari pushed his way inside with a coffee in hand.

Despite how tense matters had been with everything unfolding recently, our eldest brother still managed to come back to work looking mostly refreshed and prepared to shoulder it all for the sake of the business. I had no doubt it was because of his family.

Before, I couldn’t understand how or why that was the case. I didn’t know the very real effects and healing qualities that came with having a significant other until I experienced it for myself. I had been completely clueless about how effective of a balm it was to give and receive affection regularly before Gemma.

But thanks to her, I could finally grasp what it meant to find a home in someone else. To not only show up for them in every way but to desire being able to offer them the entire world.

I had never been a sappy man before, but she changed me, and I was okay with that.

As Ari approached the table and did a quick scan over each of us, Lukyan concealed his knowing smirk as best as he could, and Kir chose to bury whatever difficult emotions he was dealing with for the time being. Even if he suspected something had been up, he apparently didn’t care to ask. I didn’t blame him.

A part of me was tempted to bring it up and tease the life out of Kir, as was the norm for us, but I decided against it. I was already on thin ice with Ari, and I didn’t want to keep the antics up. It wasn’t risk raising that delicate tension even more.

“Alright,” Ari began as he took his seat and reached for one of the folios of printouts that sat in front of him. “The meeting has officially begun.”

“What’s today’s business?” Luk asked casually as he leaned back in his seat, smug and nonchalant like usual.

“Since it has been on everyone’s mind recently, yet we haven’t been able to make any solid strides in bringing it all to a close, we’re diving into the Ivanov situation,” he began, pulling out various papers with crucial information on both of them, as well as the details we had on their operations. “We’ll go over what we have on them so far and go from there. Regardless, we will be getting to the bottom of this before it reaches a point of no return. So buckle in.”

I felt the slightest sting from his words, aware that despite my constant deliberation with myself over the matter, I still hadn’t come up with a way to amend the situation. At least, I hadn’t voiced my ideas yet.

Deciding it was as good of a time as any, I cleared my throat. “After we touch on all the details, I think I have the beginnings of a plan that might help us get back at them for good.”

While he had been somewhat on the fence about trusting me recently, there was no missing the obvious intrigue in Ari’s features. He cocked a brow at that. “Good. We’ll hear it after, but for now, let’s get started.”

Strapping in and feeling the desire to help sort the matter out, I reminded myself that despite how I had been pulling my weight, I had a job to do, and I was determined to see it through for both my family and for my wife.

Chapter 23 - Gemma

Ever since Ben suggested I get started putting together my own publication, regardless of what form it might take, I had been a flurry of movement and action.

Down to the most minute detail, I was doing my best to work it all out and find a way to make it all happen. Fortunately, Ben already had plenty of connections, and he had no qualms about making new ones if it meant creating a successful business venture.

Even if it was my passion and not Ben’s, he was still being incredibly supportive. Knowing that he was there in my corner, prepared to offer encouragement or help in any way he could to get it off the ground brought a completely new sense of gratitude to me.

While my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of starting the business, I still had room to consider just how far Ben and I had come. How different he seemed to be, all thanks to his willingness to hear me out and try.

I almost didn’t recognize the man who forced my hand to the point of making me wonder if I’d ever be happy again. Fortunately, I was able to say that the tides were turning, and I was looking forward to every moment ahead of us.

With Ben at work for the day, I didn’t waste any time getting to it.

Perched comfortably on the couch with my laptop, I was busy scrolling through real estate ads and inspiration to give me some ideas to pull from later. Given that I would need a suitable team to help me keep everything moving, I needed an office space. Ben tasked me with hunting a suitable one down, and if I was interested in any, then we would be able to go take a look.

Of course, the office space was another risk-free investment for him, so he didn’t mind if I took some creative liberties and decided to shape it the way I wanted.

The prospect of finding a building and being able to make it mine was more thrilling than I anticipated.

So much so that I started getting ahead of myself to some degree. I was so excited about the thought of crafting the perfect space and taking it in the direction I wanted that I started dreaming up exactly what that might look like.

It seemed like I was jumping the gun, given how I didn’t even have a building selected yet, but I didn’t mind indulging myself for the time being. Besides, I wanted all facets of the business to be perfect, and if that meant envisioning what I wanted the inside of my office to be, so be it.

While I scrolled online for inspiration photos, my eyes landed on a vintage typewriter, and it immediately reminded me of the one I had. Nostalgia swirled in my chest as I pictured it in my mind’s eye—the old typewriter I had been given by my grandfather.

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