Page 10 of The Bratva's Forced Innocent Bride

“Why aren’t you freaking out?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I’ve seen some things during my time in foster care. Plenty of crimes, believe me, though they weren’t usually all that organized.” She snorted at her little joke, but I didn’t find it funny.

“How long were you in the system?” I asked.

“My whole life,” she answered, her eyes seeming to look inward. “I was taken from my mom because she couldn’t stay sober or keep a job, and she ended up leaving me in a car unattended. Don’t know who my bio dad is, or was. I almost got adopted when I was six, but that family had a financial crisis andlost their house, and I was back to bouncing around.” She looked up, saw my grim face, and smiled. “Sorry, am I being a buzzkill?”

“Not at all,” I assured her, wanting to erase all those bad memories and replace them with new, better ones. Of course I couldn’t do that, but I was sure as hell going to make sure her future was brighter than her past. Stunned by this realization and how certain I was about it, I frowned hard at her. “Since you know how bad guys operate, you should know to stay far away from Luca from now on.”

“As if I’ll ever see him again,” she snorted, back to her sunny self. Her face softened as she looked at me, her eyes intense. “Shouldn’t I stay far away from you, too? Aren’t you a bad guy?”

She leaned closer. Was she flirting for the first time all day? It certainly seemed like she was, and I was there for it.

“Very bad,” I agreed, making her laugh.

I stopped the laughter with a long, searing look, and she bit her lip and dropped her gaze. I kept my eyes locked on her until she raised her chin, that plump lower lip still tight between her teeth.

“Yes, you seem very bad,” she whispered, edging closer.

The neon lights from the street side of the diner cast a glow into her side of the car, almost giving her a halo effect around her shiny, loose hair. I reached out and ran my fingers through it, tightening my grip at the nape of her neck. Very slowly tilting her head back until her lips parted and her eyes closed.

A second later, my mouth was on hers, both of us groaning with satisfaction as our lips collided. My hand sliddown her smooth neck to her shoulder, her hot skin under her dress burning my palm and setting my blood on fire.

She tugged at my shirt, then ran her hand up my chest to grip my shoulder, twisting in her seat until her seatbelt locked. I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so inflamed, but only reached to unclasp it. This wasn’t the LA summer night; this was pure passion heating us up to the point we were both gasping.

As soon as she was free from the seatbelt, she launched herself at me, her soft curves pressed against my chest and her arms locked around my neck. My tongue met hers, and she moaned softly, lacing her fingers into my hair. She was so soft, so giving, and my hands couldn’t get enough of her flesh hidden beneath that damn silk dress.

Just like that, she pulled away, blinking in the dim, pink light. She twisted back into her seat, patting her cheeks and clearing her throat.

“That was, um… It’s really late…”

“I better get you back,” I said, unable to take my eyes off her blazing cheeks. I had the whole week, there was plenty of time.

“Yes, that,” she said, staring straight ahead, fighting the smile that tried to curve her lips.

We drove home in charged silence, and I could only speak for my own thoughts, but I wanted more. Much, much more. I wasn’t sure a week was going to be enough.

Chapter 5 - Brooke

I could barely look at Max as he drove but kept sneaking peeks at his rugged profile. I was buzzing from the potent drinks and also the heady feelings he’d awakened in me. How did he do that so fast? I had been so focused on keeping things together since I got put on the street by my last foster family that there was never any time for a relationship.

In high school, I kept my head down, often shunned for having the most shabby clothes and for always being the new student when I was shifted to yet another family. The only boys who tried to show me attention back then clearly didn’t have good intentions, assuming I’d be easy to use and discard, so it was no problem to dismiss them.

Now, though… Oh, I couldn’t dismiss what just happened with Max.

The whirlwind day and night was impossible to keep straight in my tumbling thoughts. Dancing with a movie star! Making out with a… crime boss? It was beyond crazy and way out of my comfort zone, yet I was having the time of my life. I was so intrigued by what Max admitted he did for a living that it was on the tip of my tongue to ask him a dozen outrageous questions, but I was still a little drunk and didn’t want to have to hide in shame from him for the rest of the week.

Would I even get to see him again while I was here in LA?

We finally arrived at Katie’s house, and I was so flustered, wanting to kiss him again but fearing Jenna would jump out of the rhododendron bushes. He had barely stopped the car, and I jumped out, squeaking out a thanks and a goodnight before flying to the door.

Thankfully Katie opened it right away, as if she’d been waiting up for me, but really, she was just up and pacing with Alina, who was being colicky, whatever that was.

“Wow, that’s a gorgeous dress,” she said, looking over my new outfit. “We thought we might have to send a search party for you.”

I blushed, not sure how to explain accepting such an extravagant gift or coming home well after midnight when we were just supposed to take an afternoon tour of the city.

“I was having so much fun dancing to my favorite band that Max took pity on me and didn’t make me leave,” I said, thinking that sounded innocent and plausible. “I’m sorry for missing dinner,” I added when she kept peering at me with concern.

---