Page 27 of Brutal Bratva King

“What did you come to do?” his eyes are like daggers into my mind as though he is trying to read my thoughts.

“I was just curious,” I sigh, raising my hands in the air and flopping them back down at my side. “That’s all. Honestly, I was just curious about your business.”

“What would make a pretty little thing like you curious about business?”

He reaches out and brushes his fingers beneath my chin and my body sparks with desire.

Dammit.

One touch.

That’s all it takes from him.

I pull my head to the side because I can’t think straight when he is touching me like that.

“I was curious because my brothers always hid the business stuff from me. I wasn’t allowed near it. I think they were trying to protect me, but I don’t see the harm in learning about how things work.” I bite my lip, hoping he believes me.

He looks down at me for a long time. I can see his mind churning as he tries to figure out what to do with me.

Finally, just as I’m about to sigh and walk away because I can’t take the silent treatment, he says “Do you want to learn more?”

Is this a trick question?

My eyes narrow towards him. I scrunch my nose, watching his expression. But he appears calm and without any trace of anger towards me.

“I would like to learn—“ I hesitate.

“You only needed to ask, Anya. I’m sure there is a lot I can teach you.”

“Really?” I can’t hide the excitement in my voice.

He chuckles, one corner of his mouth lifting into a half smile. “Why does that surprise you?”

“Because my brothers were so adamant about it.”

“Well, I am not one of your brothers. I see value in you knowing about the world you live in. Knowledge is power no matter where you are or what you do.”

***

I’m grinning like an idiot, excited about him letting me do this, and relieved that he wasn’t angry. But then I realize that I’m standing at his office door just grinning—and I feel silly.

“I’ll, um, let you get back to work then,” I say quickly, taking a step back.

He watches me, noting my discomfort. It looks like he is amused by it.

“Anya, join me for dinner tonight,” he says.

“Ok,” I answer. Then, after another tense moment of silence, I smile and walk away.

I can feel his eyes on me all the way to the end of the passageway, right until I turn the corner and breathe a sigh of relief.

It was awkward, because of what happened between us before, but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it could have been.

In fact, I think bumping into him like that might have eased away some of the tension that has been building in this house over the last few days.

He did invite me to have dinner with him. So, that’s a good thing.

If we can find some common ground, then life will be a lot more pleasant here.

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