Page 21 of Hating the Bratva

Delaney

The sound of the front door opening and closing makes me snap my head up from the textbook in front of me. Janie, my classmate, emailed me all the notes I’ve missed from skipping the last couple of days. Finals start next week, and I have no time to waste since it’s not like I’ve had anything to do today. I studied on the four-post bed in the guest bedroom. I’d only caught a glimpse of Alek before he left this morning, and then he’s been gone all day. I push the textbook aside and get up from the bed. I’m in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. If I were at home, my mom would have a fit about me spending the entire day in basically PJs. But I don’t have to worry about that here. I take the stairs to the first floor, where Alek is kicking off his shoes by the front door.

“Where have you been?” I ask, hating how desperate the words sound. It’s weird being at his house without him in it. I feel like I don’t belong, but I don’t belong at my parents’ house either. I definitely won’t feel like I belong once I’m at Ivan’s home. Did he have a home? I know nothing about the man I’m promised to marry.

Alek doesn’t reply. I look over his clothes and realize they aren’t the ones he left in. His hair holds a couple of water droplets. Where else would he shower beside his home? The realization hits me like a ton of bricks. He was with a woman. I shouldn’t care, considering I have absolutely no hold on this man, but it still hurts. I know Alek isn’t a saint, so it shouldn’t surprise me. While I’m getting ready to be married off to someone else, he can go out and fuck whoever he wants. It isn’t fair.

“Did you shower?”

“Just a piece of advice: it’s better if you don’t ask questions,” he says, barely looking up.

“Fuck you.”

He straightens and walks into the kitchen. “I’ve been working. Things got a little messy, so I showered at the compound. I had to change my clothes.”

I shouldn’t feel a sense of relief, but I do. It’s better than him sleeping with someone else. I don’t know why that thought hurts so damn bad. He’s thirty years old. Of course he’s been sleeping with women, but now that I’m staying in his house, it feels different. I have to remind myself that Alek doesn’t owe me anything.

“I talked with Ivan about you staying here.”

I cringe at his words. “What did he say?”

Alek opens the fridge and then closes it again as if remembering that it’s empty. I lean against the now finished island as I wait for his response. “He wasn’t happy about the situation, but I convinced him that it’s the best option.”

I can smell the bullshit from here. There’s no way any man in the brotherhood would just wave off the fact that their fiancée wants to stay at another man’s house. Especially Alek’s, of all people. “Uh huh, now why did he let me stay here?”

“So that he could continue to bring girls back to his place and enjoy his remaining months of being single.”

I roll my eyes. “Of course. He better not have a fucking STI. Better yet, we can have a sexless marriage. I’m okay with that.”

Alek turns to face me, placing his palms on the counter behind him. The veins in his muscular arms raise around his tattoo, making him look like the dangerous man he is.

“Ivan wants kids.”

“I hate kids,” I blurt out.

Alek tilts his head to the side. “You do?”

“Not really, but I don’t want any of my own. It’s just not something I’m interested in.”

“Is this because of Ivan or—”

“No, I’ve known for a long time. I just have no desire to have children. I know that’s a sin in the Bratva world, but whatever.” If I didn’t want kids before, knowing that Ivan would be the father makes me want them even less. The little bit I do know about Ivan is that he isn’t exactly the most mature of the Bratva members, and that’s putting it lightly.

“Hmmm.”

“What?”

“Just thinking.”

“Do you want kids?” I ask him.

“I could go either way, but if my wife didn’t want kids, I wouldn’t pressure her.”

I smile for a moment and then let it drop because I remember that I won’t be his wife. It will be someone else who will get to decide if we have kids or not.

“You don’t have any food here,” I say, breaking the tension.

He pushes off the counter and walks back toward the door.

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