Page 73 of The Bratva's Sold Bride

She wanted simple and elegant; I wanted to look more elaborate than a three-tiered wedding cake. Dima threatened to take me to Vegas and rent out a casino for the whole family to witness us be married amongst the slot machines while we wore jeans and t-shirts if we didn’t agree soon.

“Just put your foot down and tell her what dress you want,” he told me.

“Um, have you ever met your sister?” I replied.

The next day, a miracle happened, and the newest designer arrived with a simple column dress that was encrusted with sparkling gems and shiny pearls. Both Mila and I gasped at its beauty, and then cracked up. We found the one, and it felt like we’d summited Mount Everest; it had been such a journey.

Mila wasn’t the only family member throwing all her energy into making sure the wedding was the event of the century. When we arrived back in San Diego, I had been anxious to face Max, who I’d run out on. He forgave my unprofessionalism and couldn’t stop laughing that he never once suspected his missing brother and runaway assistant might have been hiding out in the same place together.

Facing him was nothing compared to speaking to Brooke again. She had always been so sweet to me, and we’d become friends when I gave her a nonjudgmental shoulder to cry on during her similar situation with Max. It was hard to believe, butthere was a time when she wanted to get away from him, too, and no one was more delighted than me that they got their much—deserved happiness.

At first, she was mad at me for not confiding my problems with my dad to her, but then she realized if she’d been able to help me out, I wouldn’t be her new sister-in-law. After I swore I’d never keep secrets again, we fell back into our comfortable friendship, and she was saving my life, helping me pick out a wedding gift for Dima, the man who had everything.

“Have you heard anything about the Ivan situation?” she asked as we pored over watches in a department store.

That was how we were referring to the fact that no one had heard a peep out of him since Dima had ordered him to take care of Rurik and his sister. The only thing that kept me from worrying about him was the fact that Dima wasn’t worried.

“If we haven’t been deluged by the Kuzmins, then everything is probably fine,” I said, parroting what Dima had told me just the night before.

“I hope they’re not just biding their time,” she said, pointing to some cufflinks.

I shook my head, both at her fears and the cufflinks. I wanted a watch so I could have something gooey and romantic engraved on the back.

“Don’t put that out there,” I said. “Nothing bad can happen until after the wedding.”

We joked around about how that wasn’t giving us a very big window of peace and quiet, since Dima was throwing money at everyone to fast-track our big day to take place in only a month.

“Nothing’s going to happen, even after the wedding,” Brooke said, the worry in her eyes not quite matching her words. “I just hope Ivan’s all right. And I know he can handle himself. I mean here.”

She touched her heart and scowled, as pissed as I still was since I told her how Kuzmin’s sister had really laid it on thick with him. He was enamored with who he believed her to be, poor guy.

“The whole thing is such a mess,” I said as we gave up on that shop and headed to find coffee. “And I know Dima’s more upset about it than he lets on. He blames himself for that kid dying, and all those years he thought maybe he deserved whatever Rurik threw at him because he thought he’d killed his sister, too.”

“Well, Max told me that none of it was his fault. It’s a shame, but we both know he never would have set the bomb off if he knew anyone was in the building.”

I agreed, and was glad Dima continued to share his feelings with me. My sensitive Bratva king.

We both got text messages at the same time. Mine told me to look up, and Brooke’s must have been the same. We both looked around and saw our handsome husbands on the opposite side of the street from the coffee shop where we had settled in after shopping. They hurried across, but didn’t sit with us. Max had a twinkle in his eye as he pulled Brooke away, telling me Dima had to take me to an important meeting.

A few minutes later we were driving to the beach, where we came to my favorite fancy restaurant, but it was closed, with not a soul in sight.

“Are we watching the sunset?” I asked, but it was still a good two hours away. “Taking a swim?”

“Just wait and see,” he told me, pulling me around to the back of the swanky place.

To be honest, I was glad it was closed. I loved their food and the decor was divine, but I was a little bitter that they hadn’t been available for our reception. It was silly since a place like that was booked up for years in advance, and not even Dima could work his magic to get the date we wanted.

When he shoved open the unlocked back door and told me to hurry up and follow him through the kitchen, I wondered if there was a surprise party I forgot about in all the wedding hubbub. But no one was in the main dining area either, and I gasped at the change in the place.

The magnificent columns were wrapped with rose garlands, the exact color I wanted for my bouquet. Most of the tables had been rearranged to line the walls, and the center had been transformed into a dance floor.

“You and Mila can have the planner decorate it better,” Dima said sheepishly. “I just wanted to give you an idea how it would look for the reception.”

“How?” I asked. “You said there was no way the owner would cancel any of his previous reservations for us.”

He puffed up his chest. “I’m the owner now. Made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. And don’t worry about the food. All the kitchen staff and the chef agreed to stay on and work for me.”

“Are you crazy?” I threw myself into his arms, beyond shocked at the lengths he would go to make me happy.

---