Page 38 of Claimed By the Bratva

She rose to her toes and kissed my cheek as she spoke. “Thank you.”

We quickly drank our coffee and then headed out. As I helped her into the passenger seat, she spoke softly, smiling broadly at me. “Please tell me where we are going?”

I winked at her and grinned. “Nope, you will see,” I responded, closing her door. Sliding my hand over the bonnet as I moved around to the driver’s side, I saw her watching me. It almost looked like she was pouting.

“You will enjoy it, you’ll see,” I said, starting my truck. As we drove through town, she stared out the window. I was burning to tell her. But I wanted her to see it, not just take my word for it.

Pulling into the parking area of one of the biggest buildings in town, Joyce glanced at me. “What place is this?” she aske,d studying the enormous office block.

“Well,” I started saying as I got out. I moved around and opened her door. Holding my hand for her, I continued to explain. “After all our talks, I figured you may have a certain idea of organizations like ours. I want to show you another side I am confident you don’t know about.”

As I spoke, I could see she was intrigued. Yet, her eyes were weary and portrayed her suspicions. Today, I would wipe out any doubt she may have about who we are. Holding her hand, I led her up a set of rounding stairs to the entrance.

Opening the door, I ushered her inside. Joyce lit up as she looked at the white and gold walls and flooring. “This is beautiful,” she breathed out.

“This is one of our buildings, and the bottom floor hosts our accounting firm,” I added. Taking her hand, I led her through the offices. I introduced her to the staff before taking a seat in the lounge. “This firm contributes ninety percent of their income to a chain of orphanages. It is our way of giving something back.”

Joyce’s eyes widened as pure shock took over. The doors opened, and Joe came waltzing in. Rising, I held out my hand as I introduced her. “This is Joe, the man in charge of operations and a close personal friend.”

Joyce shook his hand still, seemingly speechless. “Joe,” I added. “This is Joyce.”

“Please to meet you, Joyce if there are any questions, don’t hesitate to ask,” Joe said as he was about to take a seat. The doors opened, and a scrawny brunette peeked through the doors. She smiled broadly as she nodded.

“Joe,” she said softly. “We have a situation.”

Joe stood as quickly as he sat down. “Sorry, it appears work is calling. Anton, we’ll talk later?” he commented, heading for the doors.

“Sure, no problem,” I called after him.

Turning to Joyce, I shrugged. “Everywhere is always busy,” I commented. “Would you like to see more or talk to some of the other staff?”

“No,” she replied shortly. As we headed out, Joyce stopped at the entrance. Turning back, she looked at me, tiltingher head to the side. “But, if it’s all the same to you, I would like to visit the orphanage?” she asked.

“Of course,” I replied, smiling. “There are about five, but only two are close by.”

Taking her hand, I felt my heart melting as she smiled warmly at me. The drive to the first orphanage was quiet. I noticed she was fidgeting with the seam of her shirt and wondered if something was bugging her.

I stopped at the large iron gates and let the caretaker know I was at the gate. I hadn’t been here in a while but felt good as we pulled in, and the place looked cared for. It was an old Victorian-styled three-story house.

We had built a ten-foot wall around the property to ensure the kids' safety. As we stopped, Lorin came out to greet us. “Hi, Lorin,” I said as we met halfway.

“Nice to see you again,” Lorin replied as we shook hands.

“Lorin, this is Joyce. Joyce, this is Lorin, one of the managers at this house.” I said, introducing them.

“Nice to meet you, Joyce,” Lorin said as they shook hands. Turning and heading back, she spoke over her shoulder as we followed. “I take it you would like a tour?”

“Oh, yes, I would,” Joyce replied excitedly.

Stepping through the double entrance doors, Joyce smiled at me. The entrance hall was quite small. There were three doors, one to each side and one leading to the back. We followed Lorin as she took us down the left passageway.

There were three rooms. One was a library study room, one a play area, and the last a community room. At the end of the hall were stairs that led up. On the second floor, there were two rooms for the staff and four that held two children each. Thethird floor also had two rooms for staff and four, holding three kids each.

As we headed back down, Joyce spoke with interest. “Are all the rooms full?”

“No,” Lorin replied. “We currently only have fifteen and not twenty kids. We have them together according to age.”

Lorin led us through the door on the right, which opened to the kitchen, dining hall, and a small gymnasium. “The place holds everything kids could need to live a normal, healthy life,” Lorin said as we walked back to the entrance hall.

---