Page 15 of Hating the Bratva

Delaney

The sound of a drill assaults my ears, and I roll over in the bed. I grab a pillow and push it over my head. What the hell is this? Satin. My pillows aren’t satin. I open my eyes and sit up. It takes me a moment to remember where I’m at. The last thing I remember is Alek making a U-turn after I begged him not to take me home. So he took me here? To his house? Even though my dad, Gavril, and everyone else will throw a fit once they find out?

The door swings open, and Alek steps through. He’s fully clothed with two coffee mugs in his hands. His short, blond hair is wild on top. He probably styled it like that on purpose. He must have shaved this morning, too, because his jawline is sharp and prominent. “Oh good, you’re up.”

I glare at him. “How could I sleep with this banging?”

He raises an eyebrow, and I drop my glare, remembering that he could have taken me home last night.

His muscles ripple underneath his shirt as he approaches the bed and hands me one of the mugs.

I take it between my hands. “Thank you.”

He nods and takes a seat in a chair across from my bed. The room is pretty bare. The bedding is satin, white. There’s a dresser and a TV, but not much else. The walls are white too. I wonder if he’ll leave it this way or if this is because the house is still under construction. Maybe this is a room he would have wanted my opinion on. I take a sip of my coffee, trying to distract myself from that thought. His eyes never leave mine as he lifts his cup to his lips and drinks.

“I can’t do this,” I say.

I can’t marry Ivan. I just can’t. There is nothing wrong with Ivan. I don’t know him very well, but he’s decent-looking, and he doesn’t seem to be a total jackass. His biggest flaw is that he isn’t Alek.

Alek looks away from me for a brief moment. It’s the only indication that he’s struggling with this too. I know he bought this house for us even if he won’t admit it.

“You have to.”

“Bullshit.”

“What are your other options? You already tried running,” he says.

“Ha! That wasn’t running. I just needed to get away to think.”

His eyes darken, and if I didn’t know him, I’d be scared right now. “And that’s where you went to think?”

I can tell he’s probably thinking about Kevin. Oh god, Kevin, I need to text him. “It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?”

I set my coffee down on the bedside table and stand up. “I don’t have to explain anything to you.”

He stands up to and crowds my space. He smells like fresh soap. I can almost feel the anger rolling off him. Anger seems to be his default setting. I notice I’m still wearing my clothes from last night, but I must have slipped my bra off in my sleep. My nipples harden against the glittery tank top, and I pray he doesn’t notice.

“Stay here. I have to clean up the mess you made,” he says, backing away from me.

“The mess I made?” Like it’s my fault that Gavril and my dad pulled the rug from under our feet?

“Yes, the mess you made because you ran, and now I have another man’s fiancée at my house.”

Tears form in my eyes, but I won’t allow them to spill over.

“That’s how you see me now? I’m just another man’s fiancée?”

He grimaces, but before he can answer me, I rush to the en suite bathroom and slam the door. Once I’m alone, I allow the tears to stream down my cheeks.

Out of everyone, I thought maybe Alek would be on my side. I should have known. He lives by the same code as everyone else. Now people will only see me as Ivan’s future wife, not a nursing student, a daughter, or anything else. The loss of my identity hits me so hard I feel like I can’t breathe. I gulp in deep breaths, but it’s like I can’t get the oxygen into my lungs. I try to concentrate on the constant noise of construction, matching my breath with the sound of a slow constant bang until I can breathe again. On the bathroom floor of Alek’s guest bedroom, I’ve never felt more alone.

Once I’m confident that my panic attack is under control, I wipe my face and stand on unsteady legs. The makeup from last night is still on my face, and it feels thick and uncomfortable. The guest bedroom is small, but it has modern upgrades. This must have been one of the first rooms finished during the construction process. I reach into the shower and turn the water on warm before stripping out of my clothes and stepping under the rainfall showerhead. The warm water puts me at ease, and my muscles relax a little bit. I find a bar of soap and use my hands to wash myself. Once I’m done, I feel a little bit better. I wrap a white, fluffy towel around myself and walk out of the bathroom. I’m glad to see that Alek is gone. It’s not like I brought an overnight bag, so I don’t have anything to wear. I crack open the bedroom door to the hallway. I look around, making sure none of the construction workers are on this floor, before stepping out. It seems like all the work on this floor is already finished, which means the master bedroom is probably up here. I follow the hallway until I come to a set of wooden double doors. I open the door and step inside the vast room. There’s an entire seating area in front of a fireplace. It would probably be beautiful in the winter months. Too bad I’ll never know.

I cross the room to the closet and find a pair of Alek’s sweatpants and a T-shirt. I pull them on even though they are way too big for my frame. Something about wearing his clothes feels scandalous, especially since I have nothing on underneath. Now what? I turn to face the room. There’s a remote on the unmade bed, and I pick it up. I press a button, and the curtains start to open up. The view is impressive. His room opens up to the backyard. I can see past the land to the trees beyond us. It’s like living in the mountains. It would have been beautiful to wake up to this view every morning. I throw the remote back on the bed and walk out of the room. It only reminds me of what I’ll never have. I make my way back to the guest room. My phone vibrates on the dresser, and I quickly pick it up.

“Hello.”

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