Page 17 of Unwilling Bratva Bride

Relief flooded through me, cool as water on a hot day, and I didn’t want to examine why I was so glad that he didn’t have a house full of other women waiting for him.It wasn’t jealousy. Don’t be stupid.

“Brothers?” I raised my brows. “I assumed you were hatched.”

He laughed. “Like a bird?”

“Like a snake,” I countered.

Ivan refocused on the road, but I could see the lingering smirk he wore, and there was a not-too-small part of me that wanted to smack it off his face.

“Well, anyway, you’ll meet them soon enough, but I thought I’d give you a heads-up.”

“Thanks.” But my tone was short and dry as I stared forward through the windshield.

The faster I could get this part over with, the faster I could go to bed for the day and maybe wake up to a world where Ivan was bored with me already.

***

It was a long fucking drive, and my legs ached for a stretch after being cooped up in the car for so long. And yeah, Ivan had nice wheels, but there was nothing aside from walking around again that was going to get my ass to stop tingling.

We were way out past the edges of the city, where the houses stopped being lined up all next to each other in tight rows. We’d followed the interstate to where the fields began tostretch, no city blocks in sight, and that futile part of me that had hoped I might be able to escape back home was squashed.

“Jesus, you live in bumfuck nowhere.”

Ivan laughed again, and every time he did, I cursed how wonderful it sounded.

“We wanted room to stretch our legs, so…”

He let it hang there as we pulled into an exceedingly long driveway. As the SUV rumbled over the gravel path, the rock crunching beneath the tires, I looked around the plot of land, which was populated by a fair amount of trees to provide more privacy.

What appeared at the end of the drive, where it curved back around on itself, was nothing like I imagined.

The tall three-story house featured thick black metal beams. They made up all the sections of the walls and roof, but what made my mouth hang open was the floor-to-ceiling windows between those beams. And in some cases, those ceilings stretched at least twenty feet up.

This odd combination of a traditional Victorian shape with a triangular pointed roof, a wrap-around porch on the second floor, and the modern industrial look of all those strong I-beams was spectacular.

“Holy shit.”

Ivan was laughing at me again, but I didn’t care. I was too struck by the enormity of the gorgeous house with all that glass. I could see into the floors, each room looking well furnished and somehow still cozy.

God, it’s a good thing they do have all these trees. Zero privacy without them.

My blood chilled at that thought. Ivan definitely had plans for what we might be doing behind those walls, and now that I knew he had two brothers, the idea of them seeing what we were up to had me feeling preemptive mortification.

My eyes roamed the rooms as we got out of the car, and Ivan grabbed my bag from the back.

From where I stood, there was a living room on the right side of the house, and I could see massive couches and what I guessed was a kitchen tucked behind it. Right in the middle was an enormous foyer, where I could see stairs heading up to the next floor. On the left side was another sitting area, and I could just make out a large dining table in the considerable spot behind that.

“Well, stop craning your neck. Let’s go in.”

I snapped my attention to Ivan, and the cat had thoroughly gotten my tongue because all I could do was nod. Following him, Ivan led me up to the main door, which was up a long set of stairs, and he pushed inside.

I was a little surprised the door wasn’t locked, but as I stepped in, I saw the security feed to my right behind the door. Ivan and his brothers could see everything around the property for at least a mile, so I guess they were covered.

The downstairs was how I’d see it as I came in. Still, I was again surprised to see that the furnishings were a combination of modern convenience and rustic, cabin-like style. Nothing looked too breakable or so ornate that it was sure to be horrendously uncomfortable.

The couches looked used, clean but plush and slightly worn. The large dark wood table across the house from it looked ready to entertain a fleet of hungry Russians, and now that I was inside, I could see a patio out the back of the house.

It was so much bigger than anything I’d ever seen before. A small house would fit there. Outside on it, I could see a seating area with a table, which had a tree growing through it, a large walkway that seemed to stretch around to the side of the house, and flickering with sunlight just below was—

---