Page 30 of The Bratva's Forced Innocent Bride

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it. And he knows damn well who I am and what might happen to him if he crossed the line, too,” Max said. “But he still called me a worthless sack of shit when I burned a potato gratin for the third time.”

I gaped at him, sure he was teasing, but he went on to regale me of other times he’d jumped in on the line at the diner, until he finally got it right.

“And that’s what you consider fun?” I asked. “Getting yelled at while you suck at something?”

He shrugged. “How else are you going to excel at something without practice and a good teacher?” He looked at me for a long time, and I knew exactly where his thoughts were heading by the way his eyes darkened. “Then again, some people are naturally good at some things right off the bat.”

Why couldn’t I look away? Why was my skin tingling all over? “There’s always room for improvement, I guess,” I answered.

He laughed, leaning back in his chair, as always the master of all he surveyed. Including me, especially me. Still, we were being civil and even having a nice time. I considered bringing up school again and appealing to him one more time.The thought of being shut down again was too much, and I was too emotionally drained from the constant ups and downs. This was an up, but I could feel myself tipping over to begin the slide back down. He’d already told me I wasn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future. Why did I think a pleasant dinner would change anything?

I lifted my chin, determined to get a bit of control. “I’ve moved some of my things into the guest bedroom,” I said.

He dropped his gaze and sighed. “I thought we’d moved past that,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “This afternoon in my office.”

Hot and flustered at the way he made me remember every moment just by bringing it up, and confused at the conflicting feelings that threatened to make me falter, I could only scowl. Damn it, I was done faltering. The only thing that would protect me was my anger, and I held it close like a shield. He might have made me cry out in his office, but it was also because of him that I’d been crying by the pool.

He was stealing everything from me.

“I hate you,” I whispered, so low there was no way he could hear. “Can’t you see that?”

He stood up and rested his hand gently on my shoulder as he moved past me. “I don’t think you do,” he said mildly. Completely unconcerned. “You know where to find me. If you need anything.”

I sat there, seething, and forced myself not to turn or move a muscle until he was gone. That slight touch of his hand on my shoulder set me on fire, with every inch of me yearning to follow him, like a plant reaching for sunlight.

Like hell. That fire turned inward as I raged at myself. How did I let him steal every ounce of my self-control, along with my good sense?

Back in my room, I couldn’t sleep, only getting more frustrated by the second as I imagined him laughing and waiting for me in his room. Well, let him wait until he rotted because it’d be a cold day in hell before that happened.

It was more likely that he wasn’t waiting at all but was sleeping peacefully, without a care in the world. Certainly not pining for me the way I was—no, I wasn’t. I turned and punched my pillow and then flipped it to the cool side. The new pajamas that had fit perfectly when I first put them on now seemed too tight and overly hot, and I finally threw the covers off completely and got out of bed to pace.

Straight to the doorway, where my hand rested on the knob.

“Damn it,” I hissed, and kept cursing the whole way down the hall. Cursed some more when I tiptoed into Max’s room and carefully shut the door behind me. Nearly kicked it when I heard the same chuckle that had sent me into a rage that afternoon.

Whipping around, I saw him lying half under his sheets in the scant light of the moon streaming through a window. I almost started to drool seeing him shirtless and gleaming.

Damn it.

He wordlessly welcomed me into his arms when I scurried over to get in bed with him, and all I could do was sigh with relief as he kissed my frustrations away.

Chapter 19 - Max

The next two weeks were a roller coaster, and I didn’t particularly care for roller coasters. It seemed like the ups and downs, twists and turns that had become my life weren’t about to stop anytime soon, but there was no way I was ready to get off, either.

I still had Jenna tricked into believing Brooke was too busy to visit her now that she was back in San Francisco with Lev. She put up with excuse after excuse, finally suggesting they meet up near the shop Brooke worked at on one of her breaks. So, I had to hurriedly make up a new job to keep her from stopping by unannounced. It was only because she was busy with her new classes and getting ready for their new baby that she hadn’t already, and I was extremely grateful that she had so much keeping her occupied.

It was to the point that I was considering a spreadsheet to keep track of the lies I was feeding Brooke’s best friend and my sister-in-law, and I didn’t like thinking about the amount of shit that was going to hit the fan if I somehow slipped up. No, I couldn’t believe my life had come to that, but the only alternative was to give up my bride, which was something I wasn’t prepared to do.

Luca was still hovering on our periphery, and I had a team keeping tabs on him at all times, not that Brooke wasn’t completely safe on my property. However, she was clearly getting antsy, or antsier, thinking I was dragging my feet.

Biding my time was a better way to describe it.

Most of my time in the past two weeks had gone to finalizing the deal on a dream home down in the San Diego area, and today was finally the day we were making the move.My assistant Olivia had overseen everything with the utmost secrecy, and she was currently packing up Brooke’s things while my wife was downstairs having breakfast.

The only thing left to do was to tell her.

I had kept the purchase of the new property completely quiet, pulling every possible string and making some vague threats to keep the sale out of the public record. The only person who knew besides Olivia was my brother Dima, who was also moving down there, at least temporarily. He was excited to enact our plan to branch out but wasn’t going all in yet and buying a house. Instead, he’d already moved into one of the best hotels on the beach, living it up with a fresh supply of women to impress and nightlife to explore.

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