Page 19 of The Bratva's Sold Bride

It didn’t matter at all that I already was. It was just a matter of time until I figured something out, and then I’d make Dima pay for all of this. Since I had been too stubborn to eat, sleep seemed like the next best option in order to keep up my strength.

Ripping back the covers, I punched the pillow like it was my father, Kuzmin, and Dima combined, then forced myself to sleep so I could be rested enough tomorrow to devise an escape plan.

Chapter 12 - Dimitry

The next morning Olivia appeared in the kitchen bright and early, probably hoping to avoid me. But I was already there with fresh coffee brewing, frying up some eggs for breakfast. Bright red circles of mortification lit up her cheeks when our eyes met, and I offered her a smile.

I guess the smile was going too far, because she bristled with annoyance, hastily filled a coffee cup, and headed out back to drink it by the pool. I watched her through the windows for a moment, shocking the hell out of her when she surreptitiously turned to check out what I was doing.

With a huff I couldn’t hear but could clearly see, she turned away, twisting the chair to better pretend to ignore me. That was fine. For now.

I silently brought her a plate with two perfect, sunny-side-up eggs and set it on the table next to her, returning to the kitchen before she even had a chance to thank me. As if she would.

Unfortunately, I had things to do that weren’t quite as much fun as watching my wife grumpily eat her breakfast from afar, so I pulled out my phone to get started. The first order of business was deciding on who to bring down here. There currently wasn’t a single, solitary soul who knew where we were, and I liked it that way. It was an intoxicating feeling, as if Olivia and I were the only people left on earth. But it couldn’t stay that way for long, and at the least, I’d need to bring in a security team I could trust with my life. And now, Olivia’s life.

That only took a few calls before a group of my most dependable guys were on their way, then I had to face a more unsavory task. Tapping in Benedikt’s number, I waited for himto answer, trying to keep a positive attitude. Barely twenty-four hours had passed, so it was foolish to get my hopes up too high.

“Tell me what I want to hear,” I said as soon as he answered.

His voice was groggy and thick with drink. “Why don’t you tell me what you want to hear so I can tell you, then?” he asked.

“For starters, you’re not actually trying to joke around with me,” I snapped.

“Everything is fine,” he whined. “You know yourself that the money was added back to Aleks’s account.”

I started to tell him he had to make amends, because my brother already suspected he was no longer trustworthy. He needed to apologize profusely and back away from my family, but I had the sick suspicion he was going to try and stay around, all while looking for new opportunities to rip one of us off again. Of course that wouldn’t happen, and he’d end up getting in a world of hurt if he tried.

“And what about Rurik?” I asked when my suggestions fell on deaf ears. Paying off the head of the Kuzmin organization was non-negotiable.

“Everything is fine,” he said, more forcefully, and with a hint of aggravation in his tone. “It’s getting done.”

“No, I need it tobedone. Call me when it’s finalized.”

I looked down at the phone when there was nothing but silence after that final warning. The old fool had hung up on me. A glance at Olivia, who had set her empty plate on the table beside her and seemed much more relaxed as she tilted her pretty face up toward the morning sun, kept me from calling him back to set him straight.

I had won in this situation, because Olivia was no longer under his thumb. She was safe with me, and in a place where Rurik Kuzmin would never find her. I could afford to let the old drunk keep a tiny shred of pride while I waited for him to get his shit settled.

The last thing to do was order some things to be delivered, which wasn’t as easy as it sounded since we were so far from civilization. The new clothes for both of us, along with a new laptop for me and a few other necessities, had to be sent to the market in town, where I could either pick them up myself or pay one of the locals to make the trek out here with them.

With that done, I made a couple calls to get a gardening crew out to beat back the jungle and do some landscaping around the house. It seemed like this place was going to be home for a while, and I didn’t hate the idea, so why not make it up to my usual standards?

The place was definitely overgrown, but every bit as beautiful as I remembered it when Ivan and I stumbled across it, and I bought it on a whim. It would definitely make a great resort after a ton of work, but for right now, it was the perfect honeymoon haven.

Except it wasn’t much of a honeymoon, with my wife giving me dirty looks and fleeing from whatever room I was in. As I continued to watch her, she turned around once more to see me, and once again, I got the glare of death. She got up and stomped off to another lounge chair that was out of my sight. Not exactly anyone’s idea of a dream honeymoon.

What had I gotten myself into? Was Max on my back worth it when I didn’t turn up for our scheduled meetings and dodged every phone call? Even being the recipient of Olivia’sscowls, I knew it was. It was worth that and more to know she was out of Benedikt’s and Rurik’s clutches.

I had always liked her when she showed up as Max’s spunky new assistant. She’d been foisted on him by Aleks as a favor to her father, and it was clear in the beginning she didn’t have a clue about how to be an executive assistant, let alone someone who was high up in the most powerful Bratva family in the state.

She put her nose to the grindstone and learned the ropes, though, and I admired the hell out of her for never giving up. She excelled at the job and brightened up some of the more tedious aspects of being in business. She wasn’t just the cutest thing on two feet, but as beautiful as a goddess to me, and she’d been a welcome ear to spill out my grievances to when I thought Max was being a real dick. Deep down, I had just been biding my time, waiting for the right moment to take our friendship to the next level.

This was the next level, all right. We’d skipped every rung of the relationship ladder and landed straight on marriage. Was it any wonder she was a bit shaken up? Deciding to back up a little, I headed out to the pool, where she now sat with her feet dangling in the water. The jeans she’d been wearing when we hauled ass out of LA the day before were shoved up to her knees, and she wore the same t-shirt. The only other clothes she currently had were her wedding dress, and even with expedited delivery, her new things would take a few days.

“I come in peace,” I said, holding up my hands. “How about a trip into the village to explore and stock up on supplies? I seem to recall there’s a pretty good restaurant there, too.”

“Oh my God, absolutely,” she said, jumping up with a beaming smile on her face.

Not unlike a prisoner getting let out of solitary confinement and being given a chance to walk around the yard. I grumbled as she scampered past me and ran upstairs, returning in the pretty white dress she’d worn to our wedding ceremony.

---