Page 114 of Bratva's Vow
“It takes time.”
I looked at him sharply, raising an eyebrow. “You can find a brigadier in less than forty-eight hours, but not a PA?”
“Look, I was thinking,” he said. “Why not find someone else to handle things in Chicago, and I continue working as your PA. No one else knows your business—all facets of it—better than me.”
He had a point there, but that was the reason I valued him being in Chicago. He was the only one I trusted enough to run things there without me having to worry.
After a knock on the door, it cracked open. Wren poked his head in as if testing the waters, then grinned and sauntered in.
“Still lacking etiquette, I see,” Archie muttered, eyesflicking to Wren’s sneakers, his jacket. He had a casual confidence that came from being loved too well.
Wren faltered for a beat, his smile dimming as he glanced between us. “Uh… sorry. If it’s important, I can wait on?—”
“You’re fine,” I said before he could shrink any further. I hadn’t built his self-confidence over the time we’d been together for Archie to destroy it. “Knock it off, Archie.”
I crossed the room and pressed a kiss to Wren’s cheek, then his lips. “You look incredible. Come in, solnyshko. I want to hear everything about your first day.”
That earned me a small grin, the tension easing from his shoulders. He pushed up to the tips of his toes, twined his arms around my neck, and kissed me deeply. It ended way too soon, and I kept my arm around his waist so he stayed next to me.
Archie cleared his throat, visibly swallowing whatever he wanted to say.
“Is there anything else?”
His eyes met mine. Cold. Tight. “No. Enjoy your lunch.”
He turned and left without another word, shutting the door a little too hard behind him.
Wren chuckled and drifted over to the table. “I think he meant to say he hopes I choke on my lunch.”
A sleek side cart stood next to the table, polished chrome and matte black edges framing its subtle elegance. Beneath the domed lid, soft heat radiated upward, keeping the dishes perfectly warm without drying them out.
I pulled out a chair for Wren, then went over to the side cart to transfer the dishes to the table. The spread was great: rosemary seared lamb, truffle butter vegetables, and a saffron risotto.
Wren’s eyes grew big as saucers. “Maxim, you didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me. I would have been fine with a burger and some fries.”
“Of course I have to. The day I make only half an effort with you is the day I no longer deserve you.”
“Are you sure you’re Bratva?” he asked as I took my seat across from him and raised the bottle of wine. “Aren’t you guys supposed to be emotionally unavailable? You’re so comfortable talking about your feelings.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No, I love it. It’s just weird sometimes thinking of you being a Pakhan.”
A laugh burst from me. “I hope you never see that side of me.”
But how could I prevent it? One day, someone would cross the line when he was with me, and I would have no choice but to let him see me at my worst. He’d already gotten a hint with Bradley.
“This has been the best first day of college that I’ve had.” He took the glass of wine I handed him but extended it toward me. “Let’s make a toast.”
“To what?”
“For making a nobody like me feel really special. Like I deserve all this.”
“Kroshka, you do.” We clinked our glasses together. “To us.”
While we ate, we chatted about his day. He wasn’t feeling too confident about one of his classes, since his campus friends, as he called them, weren’t taking those courses, so he had to make new friends. The other two were okay, although one of them was taught by a professor he had last term, who graded really hard. At which point I asked him if he wanted me to speak to the professor, and he laughed until he saw how serious I was.
“They all fawned over my car.” He giggled, a little flushed from the wine. “How much did you spend on that thing anyway?”
