Page 8 of The Bratva's Arranged Virgin Bride
I had to wonder, but since I wasn’t supposed to know anything, I couldn’t bring Mila into it. It was understandable if they didn’t want her to know something, but I’d already been warned not to speak of certain things with her, and I’d stuck to it.
“Then you think I’ll screw things up,” I said. “Whatever you’ve got going on. Nobody in this family thinks I’m capable.”
Masha’s pause lasted a beat too long. “No one thinks that.”
“Then why are you keeping me in the dark?”
She closed her eyes like she was trying to decide something. “I’m getting married,” she admitted, quickly adding that it was only going to be a temporary arrangement. “It won’t even be real. Probably not, anyway,” she said, glancing away.
I gasped. Masha was treating, possibly having to sleep with Kolya, like it was no big deal, just another assignment.
“You can’t,” I said, way too forcefully, shocking myself and her. She thought I was judging her and shook her head.
“Arranged marriages happen all the time in the Bratva. I’ll get the intel we need and get out fast. It probably won’t come to that.”
There was that word again. Probably. I studied Masha, with her big brown eyes and long dark hair. In looks, she was the complete opposite of me. Well, in capability, too, but that was because she’d been raised for life in the family business while I’d been sheltered from its dangers. But she had no idea just how dangerous the charms of someone like Kolya could be. What if her temporary arrangement turned out to be something more?
Bile rose in my throat as I realized the sick feeling that was eating at me was jealousy. No, not possible. I pushed it down, sure I was just worried about Masha. There was no way I was jealous that she’d be getting to spend time with him. If anything, I was jealous that she’d be the one to be in close proximity to him, able to make him suffer in all sorts of ways. Of course, she wouldn’t, since it wasn’t part of their plan.
The perfect opportunity to get revenge went to waste. That was the only reason that I felt so sick.
And just like that, it was as if a light snapped on, scattering all the dark shadows of anger and betrayal away. I smiled and took Masha’s hand.
“At least let me be there for the wedding. You’ll need support.”
Masha explained what I already knew from spying. It was just going to be her and Matvey at a small chapel. There was no reason to make a big deal out of it since it was agreed it was just going to be a business arrangement.
Probably.
“I’m not even going to wear anything special,” she said. “It’s not real, remember?”
Oh, but it was suddenly very real to me. And I was going to be there at that wedding, one way or another.
