Page 36 of Knocked-up Bratva Bride
My jaw tightened.
From the second she sauntered into the halls, wearing that fucking black dress that interrupted my senses like a no-signal on an antenna, I’d known, and my eyes monitored her every movement closely while I’d wondered how she appeared at my exact location for the third time.
Then I’d seen her talk to Katya, and the pieces of the puzzle moved themselves together and fell into place too quickly.
This situation was a messy one for so many reasons, but the primary one being that, beyond being literally old enough to be the girl’s father, I now discovered that she had literal ties to my daughter.
Shit.
Katya thought, after the introductions, I’d scared off her friend with my negative energy and humorless joke, and while that might have been a factor, I knew the real reason she practically fled.
The Gipsy memories haunted her. They haunted me, too, tingling in my bones, the awareness cackling like an exposed livewire. I should have walked away from them first, sent a silent message that we could keep up the pretense that we didn’t know each other, and our paths never crossed.
But I didn’t want to.
And her Oscar-worthy acting skills proved she didn’t want to either.
“Surveillance systems are active and functioning. Crowd outside is cooperative. No suspicious behavior noted…/”
The crowd inside was more animated—livelier and rowdier. Katya danced with a group at the far left near the center stage, and my gaze kept wandering to her best friend, who was chatting with her plus one by the bar. It was the same man from the steakhouse.
He leaned into her, tucked her hair behind her ears, and whispered.
“We’ve got eyes on all key zones—main hall, guest wing, and service entrances. Staff have all cleared secondary security checks.”
She was laughing now, her hand brushing Robert’s arm, and something cold tightened in my chest. I shouldn’t be looking. She was Katya’s best friend. She was young and off-limits in every way that mattered.
But still, I watched.
And I felt the sizzle in the atmosphere when she looked at me directly. Her gaze didn’t waver, didn’t even fucking flinch, and from the distance, I saw the challenge there, the same fire she didn’t try to hide when we were alone in that private room.
And just like that, she leaned in and kissed him. Her lips on his, but her eyes locked on mine. He snuck his arm around the small of her back and pulled her close, deepening the fallacy she created, and she fucking closed her eyes like she enjoyed it.
The burn in my chest couldn’t be jealousy, but it made me hate that I wanted her. Hate that I couldn’t look away. Hate that she knew exactly what she was doing.
My feet moved before my brain had a chance to produce a more rational plan. I pushed past bodies, ignoring the curses some oblivious, ignorant younglings muttered under their breath.
And when I got to the bar, one shove was enough to detach them and send Robert stumbling off his high stool, startled but not enough to cause a scene.
“Hey, buddy, what the heck was that for, huh?” Robert was talking, but I was past listening.
Elena’s wide eyes met mine, and, despite Robert’s protests, I took her by the arm and dragged her away, through the hall, past the noise, and up the stairs to the bedroom Fedor had moved my things into.
No one noticed when the door clicked shut behind us. Only then, in the deafening quiet, did I try to let myself breathe. But the fire in me didn’t cool. I glowered at her heaving chest and forced my eyes up to her face.
“What the fuck was that?”
She yanked her arm back, her eyes blazing with a fury that surprised me. “What the fuck wasthat?Don’t you mean, what the hell is this?”
“No, Elena.” I marched up to her, eliminating every inch that kept us apart. “I meant what the fuck wasthat?”
“Oh, sonowyou care about what I do or who I’m with when, if I remember correctly, the reason I was rejected was becauseyoutold me you aren’t the right one for me.Youtold me to stay away! And tonight I can clearly see why.” The look in her eyes was accusing. “Did you know?”
She referred to her friendship with Katya.
“No, I didn’t. But I do now, and I still don’t appreciate seeing you with that bastard.”
“No, no, no. You don’t get a pass to do this. You don’t get to be jealous,” she hissed. “Who cares about what you appreciate? Robert is not a bastard. He’s my boss. You’ll show him respect.”
