Page 26 of The Bratva's Forced Innocent Bride

By the time I gave up the search, I was ready to punch something. My blood was boiling that Max had been so thorough. I sank down on a big leather chair in the open-plan living area, staring out the length of glass doors that led out to the pool. The crystal blue water looked inviting, and I needed to cool off before I really did have a heart attack. I could feel the pressure building up and making me want to scream, and the last thing I needed was for any of the lurking, discreet staff to make a call to their boss, telling him I’d finally lost it.

It was better to dive into the deep end of that gorgeous pool than metaphorically go off the deep end, so I went upstairs to rummage through Max’s drawers to find something to swim in. The shorts and top that had appeared yesterday had just as mysteriously disappeared, probably to be laundered, but I found a pair of running shorts and a dark tank top.

With the waistband rolled and the top tied in a knot at my waist to keep it from floating away, I headed back downstairs, already feeling lighter at the prospect of plunging into the cool water. Until I nearly ran smack into Max as he was headingup. To check on me? I swerved him, ignoring his chuckle at my appearance.

“I’m glad you’re settling in and feeling comfortable enough to go through my things,” he said.

“California is a community property state,” I quipped tartly, continuing to trot past him.

He kept laughing and stepped aside, waving his hand at a couple of his security team hauling in boxes and shopping bags.

“You might be more comfortable in one of the new swimsuits my assistant ordered for you. I’m sure they’re in there somewhere with your other new things.”

I stood there gaping at the seemingly never ending flow of packages being brought in, and Max continued on his way upstairs, breezing past me as if I was another member of his staff.

Well, what did I expect? A kiss? Did I want a kiss?

Yes, I did, and that pissed me off all over again, along with the curiosity welling in me about the contents of the bags and boxes. As if all those gifts piling up in the entrance hall were worth my freedom. I left all of them unopened and went for my swim in Max’s clothes, which were much too big. I sliced through the water until I was too exhausted to register the rage that I couldn’t seem to shake.

Falling into a lounge chair under a cluster of palm trees, I reached for the ice-cold pitcher of water that had been placed there. I looked around to see if there was one next to every chair, but no, someone had anticipated I’d fall into this one. It was bizarre, just this side of creepy, but mostly pretty nice, since I was dying of thirst after my rigorous workout.

I hadn’t had the time to swim in ages, and I forgot how much I enjoyed it. I grabbed every opportunity when I was a kid, which was few and far between. Certainly never in a pool like this, with a waterfall feature and all that beautiful foliage shading it from the blazing sun.

I made the decision to make more time to use the pool on campus once I got back, and no sooner had the thought filled my head than I went cold all over. Dragging the towel over my skin to dry the droplets that still clung to me did nothing to warm me up, not even the sun could break through the chill that enveloped me.

What if I never got back to campus again? Losing my job was bad, but I could always find another if it came to it. But someone like Max could never understand how hard I had worked to get my scholarships, how many derogatory remarks I had to put up with by people who didn’t understand the concept of bettering oneself. I had studied late into the night with only the light of a candle, as if I was in the damned eighteenth century because one of my foster families begrudged the cost of a lightbulb kept on after ten o’clock.

The happiest day of my life had been when I received the notification that I was not only accepted to Berkeley but also qualified for the much-needed financial aid required to make that dream a reality. Besides working at the boutique, I did deliveries, babysitting, and whatever anyone offered me to stay in school.

I hadn’t even picked a major yet and I was about to lose it all if I couldn’t get out of here.

As much as I tried, I couldn’t get that familiar anger back, anger that I’d found difficult to deal with. This was much worse,this was real fear. My chin dropped to my chest as tears slid silently down my cheeks.

Chapter 17 - Max

After finalizing some things online, I headed back downstairs to find Brooke, rolling my eyes at the packages left untouched in the entrance hall. It had been several hours since I returned home from meeting up with Dima to see if he was still in on the idea of expanding down south, and I hadn’t heard a peep out of my bride.

It was time to either rile her up enough to get her to throw herself at me again, or just see if she was willing to talk to me without a death glare on her pretty face. I braced myself for what I might encounter when I found her, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.

Sitting out by the pool all alone and crying? Was she sick or hurt somehow that she’d been keeping from me? I cursed the damn doctor as I rushed to her side to find out what was the matter.

As soon as I was beside her, crouching by her lounge chair, she hastily swiped away her tears and recoiled from my attempt to reach for her. She was obviously upset that I found her crying, but this was no time for pride.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

That same fierce pride that had her continuing to wipe away the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing had her squaring her shoulders and glaring at me. She was about to fight.

“Do you really have to ask?” she spat. “This is because of you. You made me lose my job, which I loved, by the way. You’re keeping me here and lying to my best friend.”

“When things have settled, I’ll get you another job, in any field you choose.”

That didn’t make her happy or come close to appeasing her. In fact, it only twisted her face into a snarl. “Of course, everything comes so easy to you. You’ll buy my place back at Berkeley, too? You’ll make up the classes I miss and the respect I lose when I don’t show up? Don’t you know how hard I worked—no, of course, you don’t because everything was always handed to you and…”

I waited patiently as she continued to rail at me. Some of her points hit a bit close to home, but she was dead wrong about many of them. I knew what it meant to fight for something I cared about. I was doing it right now, even though she didn’t see it yet.

“I have to be back for summer classes, I just have to,” she finally finished, her shoulders wilting. “This might be one big joke to you, but it’s not to me. This is my life.”

I stood, looming over her. She didn’t cower, but stared up at me with fire in her tear-filled eyes. “This isn’t a joke to me, either,” I said, reaching to take her hand.

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