Page 18 of The Bratva's Forced Innocent Bride

Nobody messed with my woman.

I felt a smile growing even as I paced in irritation, alone in my room while Brooke slept, far away from that madman. I should have been upset because my enemy had effectively manipulated me into doing something. That didn’t happen.

The thing was, though, it was something I really wanted to do and the shock of it had me reeling. I could have just beat the crap out of Luca to get us out of there. It wouldn’t have takenmuch to disarm the little piece of shit. But I saw an opening, and I took it. Pounced on, it was more like it. It wasn’t just to get us out of there, not really. I wanted to marry that woman, peacefully snoozing down the hall. I had to make her mine, really, truly mine.

So, didn’t that mean I had actually manipulated Luca into helping forward my plan to get closer to Brooke? I was leaping over several very crucial steps, going straight to the endgame of marriage, but now that the plan was in motion, no one could have stopped me.

It wasn’t ideal, and it was clear Brooke was fuming under all her grogginess from the drugs. Fucking hell, he’d actually drugged her. Now I had proof that Luca was the worst scum of the earth. It was only a matter of time until I figured out how to remove him from the face of it without getting embroiled in a scandal, or getting dragged into prison for murdering one of the most popular men in the world. His days were numbered, but for now, he’d prove useful.

I got a notification from the gatehouse and went to check the security cameras dotted around my property. As I suspected, the obsessed psychopath had followed us, which was one of the reasons I brought Brooke to my house instead of Aleks and Katie’s. The main reason was that I needed her nearby to make sure she was safe. There was no depth Luca wouldn’t stoop to in order to get whatever he thought he deserved. And that would never be Brooke.

Not while I was alive.

I watched on the security camera as Luca drove back and forth a few times, then called the man stationed in the gatehouse.

“Call the cops if he passes one more time.”

“You got it, boss,” he answered.

I hung up, only half satisfied. It would be nice if Luca had a few too many drinks at dinner and got hauled in for drunk driving, making him have to lay low for a while to stay out of the vicious celebrity gossip news.

But then he wouldn’t be around to be a witness to Brooke’s and my wedding tomorrow. He needed to see that I was serious, that Brooke was family. Not many things scared me, but the thought of someone I cared about being hurt set me off. When I burst into that bedroom where Luca had locked her up, the terror on her face was emblazoned into my memory. I never wanted to see that look in her eyes again, only the relief when she saw that it was me.

God, I was in deep, and I was okay with it for whatever reason. More than okay. I could have told myself I was only going forward to keep her safe, but that was only part of it. Sure, it was a big part of it, but it was deeper than that. Something so deep I didn’t want to face it yet. It was easier to keep the ball rolling in the proper direction. Keep my girl safe and close to me.

Despite the late hour, I called my assistant, Olivia. She had only been working for me for a short time, but she was a pro and jumped at every chance to prove herself. As expected, she answered right away, with barely any sound of sleep in her voice.

I outlined everything I needed to have done by early afternoon, and there was only a slight quaver in her voice at the seeming impossibility of it. She knew by now that the Fokin name, combined with copious amounts of money, could accomplish just about anything.

With everything settled, I peeked in on Brooke, who was fast asleep and looking like a slightly rumpled angel with her hair strewn all over the pillow and only half covered by thesheets. As much as I wanted to step in and smooth the covers around her, I didn’t want to wake her and bring back the trauma of the night.

“It’s all over now,” I whispered, carefully shutting the door and letting her get some much-needed rest.

In truth, it was only the beginning for us, and I went to my own room to fall into a contented sleep. My last night as a single man.

Chapter 12 - Brooke

When I opened my eyes, I didn’t know where I was. All I knew was it wasn’t my apartment, because the sheets were way too nice. They were the kind of sheets I stared at longingly at the department store I hung out at on my work breaks. The kind that were softer than a cloud, smooth and cool under my clammy skin.

The sheets were heaven, but I felt like hell, and the memories rushed back. Luca Ross had actually drugged me, abducted me, and there was a very good chance he would have killed me if it weren’t for…

Max. I was in Max’s palatial mansion, and in danger of puking on his top-quality sheets. Sitting up made me feel marginally better, and I tried to focus on my surroundings. The furniture was either actually from the eighteenth century or excellent reproductions, but somehow still managed to look clean and modern with the warm, neutral wall coverings and low-key landscape paintings. My feet dangled half a foot off the ground in the huge bed, and my eyes alighted on a chair near one of the doors in the room.

It had a pretty blue dress draped across it, with new shoes tucked under it and even a set of lacy lingerie laid on top. I looked down at the rumpled dress I’d passed out in more than once last night and was just glad I hadn’t puked on myself.

Fresh anger curled my insides as I tried to shove away the memories. It was over, and would be really over soon. I looked around for my purse or my phone, certain I had the phone at least at one point, but it was nowhere to be found. The other door in the room led to an enticing bathroom, the big tub crying out my name.

I chugged cold water from the tap, feeling better by the second. This had been a humiliating learning experience, but soon, I’d be on a plane back home. I could pick up extra shifts, start studying in advance for my upcoming summer classes, and pretend this vacation had never happened.

Foregoing a steamy bubble bath to save time, I let the hot jets of the big marble shower sluice away the last remnants of my awful date with a movie star. Not wanting to put on the dress that was a lot worse for wear and laden with bad memories, I decided to accept one more gift from Max. For now, anyway. I could always have it dry cleaned and send it back.

Wrapping myself in a plush towel, I slipped into the bedroom, where Max was waiting, sitting on the edge of the bed with a tray of food next to him. With a yelp, I pulled the towel tighter around me and could only gape at him.

“You’re going to make a beautiful bride,” he said, barely seeming to notice I was damp and naked and only covered with a towel.

“Haha, except that’s not funny.” Oh, I’d either forgotten the bargaining tool he’d used to get us out of the highrise of terror last night or blocked it out.

I retreated toward the bathroom, expecting him to be gone when I came back out, but he rose from his position and crossed the room in two strides of his long, powerful legs. A second later, I was caged against the wall by his well-muscled arms, and he was smiling down at me.

---