Page 31 of Plus-Size Curves for the Bratva

"Of course I'll stay," she says, her voice gentle. Her touch lingers, sending a pleasant shiver through me. "Someone needs to make sure you don't get into any more trouble tonight."

Relief floods through me, so intense it's almost dizzying. I feel a surge of gratitude, an emotion I rarely allow myself to experience. "Thank you," I murmur, covering her hand with mine.

Natalia's eyes soften further. "You don't need to thank me, Denis. I want to be here."

Her words wrap around me like a warm embrace, and I find myself smiling despite the pain still throbbing through my body.

Natalia settles beside me on the bed, her leg touches mine. The warmth of her body seeps into mine, and I feel the tension in my muscles begin to unwind.

"Are you comfortable?" she asks, her voice a gentle murmur in the quiet room.

“Mm-hmm,” I mumble, sleep slowly taking over. The scent of her hair—floral and sweet—wafts over me, and I find myself so at peace.

I find myself relaxing further into the pillows, my body heavy with exhaustion but my mind surprisingly at ease.

"Good night," I murmur, my eyes growing heavy. The steady rhythm of Natalia's breathing is lulling me toward sleep, a deep, peaceful slumber I haven't known in a long time.

As I drift off, I feel her small hand intertwine with mine. It's a gesture so simple, yet so profound. In this moment, with Natalia by my side, I feel something I thought I'd lost long ago—safe.

My breathing steadies, matching hers. The last thing I'm aware of before sleep claims me is the gentle pressure of her arm against mine, a constant reassurance in the quiet night.

I jolt awake a few hours later, my eyes snapping open in the darkness. For a moment, disorientation grips me, but then I feel a warm weight against my side. Natalia. My vision adjusts, and I see her silhouette outlined by the soft moonlight filtering through the curtains.

She's still here. I watch the gentle rise and fall of her chest, her face peaceful in sleep. Her blonde hair cascades over her shoulder, catching the silvery light.

“Thank god,” I whisper.

Natalia stirs slightly, mumbling something incoherent. I hold my breath, not wanting to wake her. But she simply snuggles closer, her curves fitting perfectly against me.

I allow myself a small smile and go right back to sleep.

Chapter 13 - Natalia

I can't shake the image of Denis stumbling back home that night, his body a mess of blood and bruises, his skin burning with fever. Even now, two weeks later, as I watch him head back to work all mended and healed with the pain far behind him, the memory sends a chill down my spine.

My sister Sofia's words echo in my mind: “I handle this life because I have to. Because there's no way I'm leaving our family to face the dangers alone.”

I twist a strand of my hair around my finger, chewing my lower lip. Denis has healed now, back to his enigmatic, brooding self. But for how long?

The clock on the mantle ticks away the minutes until he returns home. My stomach churns with worry. What dangers does he face out there, all alone? And from how I’ve reacted in the past, he’s obviously never going to tell me the worst of his day, in fear that I’d judge him and wall off.

A sadness tugs at my heart when I put myself in his shoes. Were the roles reversed, he’d be there to ease my mind without a second thought. I’ve seen how far he’s capable of going to make my dreams come true, and how much he sacrifices to hear my fears, to help me overcome them by forcing me to push my creative boundaries.

But that same door isn’t open to him, and that seems totally unfair.

I've been naive, blind to the harsh realities of this world I've married into, and ignorant of all Denis faces. No more. I need to see what we're up against and Denis’s offer comes to mind from back when he asked me to see all thegoodhe does. Once again, I think of Sofia and how she felt that families like ours were a necessary evil to keep the worst from happening.

In a strange way, she was convinced we act as protectors by fighting groups far worse than us, and that’s something I’d like to see. Suddenly, I realize, I might be ready to take Denis up on his offer. It’s time I see the world he’s been impatient to show me.

***

That evening, the front door opens and Denis's tall frame fills the entryway. His hair is slightly disheveled, but otherwise, he looks impeccable in his tailored suit.

"Natalia," he says, a rare smile softening his chiseled features as he crosses the hallway to me.

I stand, my curvy frame dwarfed by his muscular build as he pulls me into an embrace.

"How was your day?" I ask, my voice muffled against his chest as I take a deep breath to smell him as well as I can. It’s strange, and I don’t know when we started hugging, but somewhere between being worried sick at seeing him so hurt and watching him leave for work like nothing ever happened, I started waiting for him to come back home. I began hugging him goodbye and he switched up hellos for warm, lingering embraces.

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