Page 41 of The Bratva's Forced Innocent Bride

“Because of you, I’m out of a very good job I actually loved. I haven’t spoken to anyone you don’t employ for a month. I can’t leave the house except to swim, and even then, I have Pavel hovering on the sand, watching my every move. And my scholarship is at risk if I don’t get back to classes when they start. So, yeah. Sometimes I want to slap you.”

I wasn’t expecting all that, and I would have preferred the smack. Nice and easy and wouldn’t make me think too much. Brooke made it sound like I was ruining her life, when all I was trying to do was save it. I opened my mouth, but it was as if she read my mind and held up her hand.

“And no, saving me doesn’t negate the fact I’m going to lose everything I worked for.”

Placing the ice pack on the bedside table, I sat up, propping the pillows behind me to give me a chance to think. An opportunity to try to see things from her perspective and not be so blinded by my main objective, which was to keep her safe at all costs.

“Can you take classes online?” I asked.

It meant giving her internet access, but that was a bridge I’d have to cross later. Now all I wanted was to erase that pain in her eyes. I wanted to give her everything, and she viewed me as only taking and destroying what she already had.

“No, I cannot, and that’s not what I want anyway. I need to get feedback from other students, speak to my professors, make contacts that can help me to…” she trailed off, biting her lip.

I carefully took her hand. It was a good sign she didn’t jerk away and I gave her fingers a soft squeeze. “Help you to do what?” I asked. “Tell me what your dream is, Brooke.”

With a deep sigh, she admitted she hadn’t chosen a major yet. “I’m interested in so many things,” she said. “One day, I think I might enjoy teaching kids, but then I get caught up in the idea of running a business. I loved the ordering process at the shop, but I love psychology too.”

Her eyes were far away as she listed all the possibilities ahead of her, if only I stopped interfering. My path had been laid out for me from the moment I was born, and I never questioned it, always going full steam ahead.

“Whatever you choose, I’m certain you’ll excel at it,” I said. Her head whipped up to focus on me, and I shrugged. “Let me think it over.” The look of happiness and hope on her face nearly knocked me back into the pillows, and I pulled her close.

“I don’t want to hurt your shoulder,” she said, trying to move.

I only held on tight. “You couldn’t hurt me if you tried,” I said, grinning when she balled up her fist. “And I don’t mind when you try.”

Softening against me, she got the covers over us and we settled together in the light of the bedside lamp. I was still a bit hungover and tired, so I was happy to let her snuggle up next to me as we talked about everything and nothing. Just idle chat, comfortable and warm.

This is what I’d been hoping for and I wanted to hold on with both hands and my toes, too. Maybe my dream of us becoming a normal couple was finally coming true.

Chapter 26 - Brooke

Max and I had somehow patched together some kind of understanding that neither of us brought up, probably for fear of it coming apart at its fragile seams. After that long day of worrying about his safety, he’d come home with a big bruise on his face, which disturbingly only added to how hot he was. Of course, I was shaken, but not to fiery lust that time. Instead, we just talked, like human beings who didn’t have it out for one another.

He hadn’t agreed to anything or made any promises but said he’d think it over when I made another plea to get back to school. It was what I wanted, and I think he finally realized how important it was to me, but after a week, there was still no definitive answer either way.

The last week wasn’t just peaceful but surprisingly amazing. Yes, amazing, and in a way, I never suspected. Olivia went to LA to visit her family and Max asked me if I wanted to tag along with him and fill in. He explained that I’d mostly just record meetings or take notes if necessary, and he swore up and down that I shouldn’t expect too much excitement. He actually looked like he thought I’d turn the offer down.

Was he kidding? For a chance to get out of the house, I would have done ten hours of data entry a day, and I’d done data entry my senior year of high school and thought my soul was withering, it was so dull.

It was anything but dull. We visited a few buildings that Max was considering buying—entire office buildings, all while he explained what he knew about real estate, letting the realtor chime in occasionally to point out what good investments the places would be. I’d never considered buying up property,because why would I when I could barely scrape enough extra for a pizza? But they made it sound fascinating, and I added it to my list of possible career choices.

If I was ever allowed to have a career.

I didn’t let any thoughts like that get in my way of enjoying being out of my pretty prison. We drove up and down the coast, had fancy lunches and quick picnics on the public beach, and he even let me in on a couple of meetings with Dima. I was positive they were holding back on my account, though, either to spare me the gory details or because they didn’t entirely trust me.

That stung a tiny bit, but it was fair enough. Wasn’t I using up all my free time plotting my escape and Max’s demise? If he went down, Dima was sure to get dragged into the mess, but I didn’t like thinking about that either, because I liked my easygoing brother-in-law.

“I love it here,” Max said, when it was just us. We skipped lunch and were having an early dinner at a casual beachside restaurant that was little more than a hut with a huge deck, but had the most delicious lobster tails.

“It’s pretty great,” I agreed, squinting out at the sun dropping lower and turning the sky into an inferno. “Maybe I am jealous of Olivia, after all.”

Oh, shit, did I just say that out loud? I did, and he picked up on it right away, his face transformed by a grin that brought out those dimples that made me weak in the knees.

“What?” he asked, completely incredulous. “She’s like my kid sister.” He rubbed his hands together with mock glee. “Tell me you’ve been having those thoughts, though. That’s very wifely.”

“Jealousy is always unbecoming,” I said primly. “And I only meant because she gets to go places and do things. It has very little to do with the company.”

It would have been more scathing if my cheeks weren’t as red as the setting sun. He cackled for a few seconds, then leaned back, eyeing me up and down in a way that made me feel like I had to put on armor to resist his unsettling, proprietary gaze. We were in public, after all.

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