Page 55 of The Bratva's Arranged Bride

“Space?” Tia countered incredulously, finally turning to face me with a mix of pain and anger in her eyes. “Am I supposed to thank you for dragging me into this and forcing me to marry you? For lying to me about who you really are?”

Even if she had every right to hate the situation that was forced upon her, every word felt like a slap to the face anyway.

“I know you were thrown into this without a say of your own, but I tried to make the most of it for both of us,” I returned, trying not to let my anger get out of hand. “When I went to your dad about starting the club, he wouldn’t agree to it unless I married you. I have no intention of following through with it, but the moment I met you, that all changed.”

Tia hesitated at that, unable to find the right words.

Instead, I continued, allowing my conviction to propel me forward. “When I met you at that damn gala, I saw someone so different from everyone else I had ever known. I found a fire in you I had been waiting for, even if I didn’t know it yet. And I wanted you. I still do. But I can’t change what I do—I can’t change the way my family’s empire was built. And while I know the life I have is dangerous and reckless, I won’t apologize for being proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

Despite looking almost touched by my honesty at first, Tia physically recoiled.

“Proud? You’reproudof committing crimes every day?” she asked with that unrelenting heat I would’ve otherwise admired.

“Yes, I am. If it weren’t for my family and the work we’ve done, we wouldn’t have this house or everything inside it—we wouldn’t be able to live the way we do. And if it weren’t for our business, I never would’ve met you.”

Her brows furrowed as if the very mention of it pained her.

“I know what you’re trying to do, Val, but it’s too late. The damage has already been done, and I don’t know what to do—who to trust. How can we move forward when all you’ve done is lie to me?”

I could feel the safe, defensive walls around me starting to crumble. There was so much more I could sling at her, but that wasn’t what I wanted.

As angry as I was for finding her trying to leave, I didn’t want to push her away even further.

“Tia…please hear me out. I didn’t mean to hurt you, even if it was inevitable. I wanted to protect you,” I began, talking as sincerely as I could. “I should’ve been honest from the start, but the position you were put in was precarious enough already. Even if you hated me, I just wanted to make things easier for you. I wanted us tobesomething. And I know you felt it…the connection between us. The attraction. Is that not enough to build from?”

Tia swallowed hard and averted her gaze from mine. A bitter, humorless huff escaped her. “Attraction…it means nothing when I can’t trust you. When all you can do is lie to me.”

“Don’t say that,” I murmured, voice thicker with emotion than I intended to reveal. I took a step towards her. “Tia, please…I know you likely have all these preconceived notions of what my work makes me, but I’m not that brutal man. Not really. But I can’t let you leave like this.”

A moment of silence lingered between us, allowing the tension to grow twice as big.

There was so much more I needed to say, and so many things I wanted her to tell me in return, but neither of us said anything.

As a pained look crossed her features, Tia closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath.

“Val…I’m pregnant.”

Those almost whispered words rammed into me, and it was all I could do to stay on my feet.

Pregnant.

That word rang through my head on an endless loop that felt hours long. And yet, mere seconds passed.

I tried to process it, and I tried to make sense of it all, but it was too huge to tackle all at once.

Blinking back at her, it took me some time before I found my voice again. “You’re…sure?”

As tears gathered in her eyes, she pulled in a hard breath and nodded. “The test was positive…”

I couldn’t trust my legs, but I couldn’t will myself to move, either. I was stuck there, lost in what I was supposed to say or do.

She was pregnant…with my baby. Our baby.

After what felt like an eternity, something clicked into place in my mind, and I reached for her.

With a hand secured against her waist, I pulled her closer and cupped her face with the opposite one while I stared down at her with a new, unshakable determination.

“Tia,” I murmured, keeping her close with a sense of urgency thrumming beneath my skin. “There’s no way I’m letting you walk away…not like this. Not now—not ever. You’re my wife, and that isn’t changing.”

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