Page 1 of The Bratva King's Auctioned Bride

Chapter 1 - Mila

I pulled into the valet lane at Hollywood’s hottest diner, jumping out when one of the eager young men hurried over despite me being third in line. I handed over my keys, used to getting the VIP treatment there. My eldest brother owned the place, after all.

It was a shock that it was still standing, since my family had just been through a turf war that had razed many of my brothers’ businesses to the ground. Our arch-rival had been ruthless and thorough, and while we certainly did our fair share of damage, we were still picking up the pieces. Warehouses, bars, shops—all rubble, but the diner and my other brother Nik’s upscale restaurant in Beverly Hills had both escaped the carnage.

They joked it was because the food was so sublime that not even our worst enemies could go without it. It was probably partly true, based on the long line of people waiting to get in and get a taste of one of the diner’s gourmet burgers and signature cocktails. I breezed past them, safe in the knowledge that none of those people were part of Arkadi Mikhailov’s crew. Not after we’d gone scorched earth on them for daring to try to take what was ours.

Arkadi was wily, cunning, and cruel. He despised us, and carving his organization down to the bare bones while he went on the run didn’t mean he was done with us yet. On the contrary, someone like him was just biding his time. I grew up around some of the most stubborn men on the planet, and I’d been accused of the trait a fair few times myself. Whenever I had the misfortune of coming face to face with the man who tried to destroy everything I loved, he’d had stubborn determination written in every pore.

He was far from giving up.

My brothers might have acted like they were taking it in stride now, but I was still seething mad. We’d lost good men during those long days and nights of unending attacks. All of my brothers had been hit hard and I’d been helping pick up the pieces as best as I could. And as much as they’d let me.

Despite being twenty-three and growing up with the same training as my six older brothers, they still tended to treat me like I was a fragile flower. They’d been letting me do a bit more while we were strapped for people, but as soon as things were fully back to normal, I expected them to relegate me to the bookkeeping end of things again. Something they deemed safe, but that I found utterly dull.

Before I got to the restaurant’s showy entrance, Nataliye jumped up from a bench outside to greet me with a secretive smile she couldn’t hide. Nat was actually my niece, but was only a year younger, and we’d been raised as close as sisters. She had come home to LA for a visit a little more than a month ago, when everything popped off with Arkadi. She opted not to return to her studies in Milan right away, especially since there was a big wedding to plan on top of all the rebuilding. The last of my bachelor brothers had finally tied the knot, so we were going to make it a day to remember, no matter what else was going on.

Normally, I would have been delighted to see Nat, but that secretive look she couldn’t keep off her face made me instantly suspect that a surprise party was waiting for me inside. I felt my own face start to fall and had to keep myself from outwardly groaning. It wasn’t like I didn’t love being the center of attention or that I didn’t appreciate my family rallying around me, but I just wasn’t in the mood.

Helping with the rebuilding process had kept my mind off losing the boutique I had worked so hard to open, but failure still haunted me, no matter what anyone did to help. How I had loved that place, scouring the country for promising new designers, choosing every earring and bracelet and pair of shoes, picking out fabrics for my own fledgling line of loungewear. I missed the hustle and bustle, and just having something of my own. Maybe it was the economy, maybe it was the location, or maybe it had been me not being good enough, but I was forced to close it after less than a year.

I hated not being good enough.

The fact that my doting family was trying so hard to help often made it worse. It was difficult not to see their offers of vast amounts of money, so I could start again as anything other than pity—or an opportunity to put a smile that wasn’t forced back on my face.

Kind of like how they’d always given me a piece of candy to cheer me up when I was little.

Nat gave me a welcoming hug and squeezed my hand as she led me toward the diner entrance. The upbeat music already wafted out to us, along with the delicious aromas of grilling burgers. I groaned, pressing on the much-too-snug waistband of my jeans. After the downfall of my boutique, I found out I was a stress and sadness eater and had been overindulging to try to drown my sorrows.

“If I order fries with my salad, I want you to slap me,” I told Nat.

She laughed and tossed her hair behind her shoulder. The long blond waves were about the only thing we had in common to show we were related in any way. She was fiery whereas I tried to keep the peace, and possessive about those she held dear. Andfiercely loyal. Once she was on your side, you were golden. If you crossed her, God help you, because none of us would.

“You look amazing as usual, so quit it. You’re getting the special of the day, and you’ll be ordering cake for dessert,” she said, eyeing me up and down.

Leave it to Nat to instantly lift my flagging spirits. As soon as we walked in, the house band, which generally wasn’t even there for lunchtime, immediately changed to one of my favorite songs.

Ha, I knew it. I was walking into a surprise party. It was probably the main reason Nat hadn’t returned to her studies in Milan yet, now that things were calming down and Nik and Emerson’s wedding was over. We maneuvered through the crowds toward the special section in the back and I tried to fix my face to properly convey both surprise and delight. I’d never been what anyone would call a great actress, especially not to the people who knew me the best, and I would have rather just eaten a few boxed cupcakes in my own apartment instead of having to face a lavish celebration.

It was going to take a lot more than a birthday lunch to drag me out of the depression from the heartbreaking failure of my beautiful little shop, but it was sweet that my family was trying. I braced myself for everyone jumping out from crouching behind tables and waited for the shouts.

However, it was only my eldest brother, Aleks, at the small table in the back. Not a single balloon or flower arrangement in sight. Not even his wife Katie, who had been Nat’s best friend in high school.

Yeah, that had been a tumultuous time, trying to keep Nat from going off on her father for the supposed betrayal of falling hopelessly in love. It had been rough getting used to, but nowNat and Katie were as close as ever, and Nat spoiled her baby half-sister Alina rotten, while I adored my second niece.

Where were they, if this was supposed to be a party? Nat would have never let me walk in if everyone wasn’t already in position to jump out and embarrass the hell out of me. I craned my neck down the hallway leading to the kitchen, looking around for my other brothers and their wives crammed against the doorways, but nope, it was just Aleks, Nat, and me.

“Don’t bother looking disappointed,” Aleks said needlessly, able to read me like a book. “Katie’s going to throw you a bash this weekend, so you can use your fake surprised face then.”

“I’m not disappointed,” I assured him, sliding into my seat. My favorite peach bellini was waiting for me, and I took a sip. I started to argue that I didn’t need a party at all, but it wasn’t worth it. My family wanted me happy, so I had to be happy. Or at least make them believe I was.

I studied Aleks, hardly looking a day of his advanced age of forty-seven. There was only the slightest smattering of gray in his dark hair, and only a few crinkles around the same blue eyes we inherited from our mother. He was already grown and working side by side with our father when I was born. I didn’t resent being the youngest so much as I wished I hadn’t been a happy accident later in my parents’ lives, andso muchyounger than the rest of them. The way they still treated me, I’d be in my thirties before they realized I was an adult.

We ordered, and yes, I got the special burger, loaded with bacon and three different cheeses. Aleks took pride in his diner and had a hand in planning the menus. It would have been rude to only get a salad. Nat prattled on about her classes and the fledgling gallery she had just opened in Milan, but as muchas my brother and niece tried to keep things normal, there was still that dancing light in her eyes. Even Aleks acted like he was waiting around for something.

I finally put my hands on either side of my plate and gave them both scathing looks. “You’re killing me. Just get it over with.”

What are you talking about?” they both asked at once, clearly in on something. Nat looked falsely innocent, and my brother looked falsely annoyed.

---