Page 22 of The Bratva's Forced Innocent Bride

“Um, okay,” she said, her obvious confusion making me grin wider. Was that yearning in her voice?

Would she follow me?

I’d have to wait and see how long it took, but one thing was certain. She’d come around.

Chapter 14 - Brooke

There was no point in trying to beat my giant of a new husband because I didn’t stand a chance against him physically, so I decided to bide my time. Lull him into complacency and then find a way out of there. It didn’t take long, and it kind of tugged at my heart how quick he was to want things to be happy between us.

He made some sandwiches that were almost too big to eat, but I somehow managed, along with a salad full of colorful veggies and the kind of croutons that weren’t tiny little squares that disintegrated at the first bite. My home salads consisted of chopped iceberg lettuce and sometimes a cucumber if they were on sale. Leafy baby greens, juicy red peppers, avocados, and sun-dried tomatoes were out of my reach at the grocery store, so even simmering with anger, I wasn’t about to miss out.

After his security officer called and I heard that Luca was out there, biding his time, I wanted to shrivel up with fear. Not even the temporary loss of my beloved job would have had me leaving Max’s side.

Then he just left to go to bed. No pushing me to join him, not even the slightest attempt to get me back in the position of crawling all over him and gasping for his touch. Not even a damn peck on the cheek. Why did that piss me off when I should have been relieved?

I must have still been loopy, but I knew I was fine, just confused as hell. I was in yet another situation I had no control over, safe, but at what cost? My job would be in danger if I didn’t get out soon and find a phone.

After waiting around in my guest room for what seemed like an eternity, I was pretty sure Max must be fast asleep, astired as he acted when he left me in the kitchen to stew in my thoughts. I snuck out into the hall, wearing shorts and a t-shirt that had magically appeared, among a bunch of toiletries and a new toothbrush.

No sounds were coming from his room, and I carefully tiptoed down the stairs, pausing at the bottom until I was certain I hadn’t disturbed his sleep. After some more hushed and slow movement, I was out the front door and feeling pretty pleased with myself. I was out, free as a bird, and just had to face the long slog down the hill to find the nearest civilized person I could ask for a phone.

Did I dare call Jenna and get her involved or find a way to get to the airport without her help? I hadn’t really thought things through, and I didn’t have any money, phone, or even my wallet with my ID on me, since my purse was probably still in Luca’s apartment.

I also didn’t think about the gatehouse at the end of the drive. It had completely slipped my mind until I saw the light through the trees.

“Oh, hell,” I whispered, turning back before the guy working in there spotted me.

His presence reminded me that Luca might still lurk on the other side, and I almost scrambled back into the house. But hours had passed, and I could keep to the cover of the trees that lined this woodsy area. I just had to find a way over the high stone wall surrounding Max’s property.

The place was a fortress, and I muttered swear words as I followed along the perimeter. I was way at the back of the property when I finally came to a tree that overhung the wall. I hadn’t climbed a tree in years, but I used to be pretty good at it whenever I lived in a house with one in its yard.

I scrambled up, the muscle memory of reaching for branches and finding footholds not failing me, and soon, I was close to being level with the top of the wall. It was a good eight feet up, and I didn’t remember ever being squeamish about heights when I was a kid, but the darkness and utter quiet was getting to me.

For a moment, I was frozen, not sure if I should attempt jumping to the wall and sliding down the other side to freedom, or inching my way back down before an owl came after me for invading its space.

The decision was clear, I had to move forward, and I edged my way further out onto the branch overhanging the wall. A couple more inches, and I could drop and plant my feet. Except there was a sudden, sickening cracking noise, and I was plummeting toward the ground.

Straight into a strong pair of arms and hearing a familiar grunt as I slammed into Max. He tightened his grip around me and stumbled back a step, but didn’t falter, keeping me from splatting on the hard-packed earth beneath the tree.

“Damn it, Brooke,” he said, holding me close as he walked back toward the house. My heart beat like I’d run a mile from the shock of the fall and I was furious and embarrassed as he laughed at me. “I was alerted the moment you stepped out of the house,” he said smugly. “It’s been fun practicing my stealth moves to follow you all this time.”

I smacked him in the shoulder to get him to let me down. “I’m fine,” I said, wriggling ineffectively against his firm grasp on me.

“Hmm, why is that?” he asked, making my cheeks feel even hotter from humiliation.

He wanted me to thank him for saving my life. Again. I kept my lips clamped shut but continued to struggle to get down. In the end, he insisted on carrying me all the way to one of the back doors, and I gave up the futile effort. As he made his way through part of the garden that was a bit more manicured and less wild than where I’d ended up, I relaxed against his chest.

It was starting to be too warm in his arms, and it had nothing to do with the steamy LA weather, and that made me want to start struggling to get away from him all over again. Out of the frying pan and into the fire didn’t even begin to explain my predicament.

Back in the house, he still didn’t put me down but carried me to an office with several monitors showing camera views around the house. Holding me tight, he pointed to one frozen on a still frame. A sleek sports car passed in front of the house. Luca’s car.

“That was less than an hour ago. He went away for a while but came back. He’s not going to leave you alone, Brooke.”

Seeing the image and hearing the stark tone of Max’s voice made me hang my head. I nodded bleakly, and he finally let me go, sliding me slowly down his big, hard body. His hands remained at my waist to steady me, and I looked up at him. Huge mistake. His face was stern, intense, and his eyes were full of heat that instantly transferred to me.

Look away, Brooke.

It would have been the smart thing to do. Instead, I tilted my chin a bit higher, just as he lowered his face to mine. Our lips came together, our tongues tangled, and I clawed at his hair, not in anger but desperation this time. I needed every inch of him pressed against me, and he seemed happy to oblige.

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