Page 33 of The Bratva's Hunted Bride
For all of the people we’ve passed, no one has exclaimed over Talia. This circle of people can’t be too far from the ones her family interacts with, so that’s been a surprise to me. Just how cloistered did her brothers keep her? No wonder she was sneaking out each chance she got.
“They don’t,” she replies, bluntly, turning to look over the crowd. “I don’t recognize a single person here, actually. My brothers would never let me go to a party like this. Not in a million years.”
She takes a nibble of food. I want to reach out and pull her in closer to show her that she can be here, out in this world, without anything happening to her. I want her to know that I can protect her. That impulse, that protective force that rises up in me whenever I’m around her, tells me that what I feel for her is growing, morphing. She’s not just a possession. Not just something I need to claim as my own to soothe the part of me that obsesses over her.
She’s more than that. What would my family think? They always watched my obsessions come with trepidation. Things got ugly quickly each time before, when the object of my interest would throw around words like stalking or psychopath. Inevitably, my family would intervene. This time, with Talia, things are different. It’s not just a fixation.
What I have with Talia can turn into something long-lasting, I know it. We could rule this city. I’ve spent so many nights awake imagining that—ruling over it all with Talia at my side.
I force myself back to the present. “They don’t trust themselves to keep you safe.”
She eyes me. “And you do?”
“I’d protect you with my life,” I tell her earnestly. “And the lives of many others.”
She almost smiles at that, even as she shakes her head. “Sometimes, I can almost forget that I’m living with a murderous psycho. Then you always go and remind me.”
“Would you have it any other way?” I tease.
To my surprise, she hesitates, that smile going wry. “I might make some changes,” she says, tone light, “but I’d keep a few things, too.”
“I’ll take that as a win,” I say.
It feels like a victory to no longer see the fear in her eyes anytime she looks at me. She doesn’t trust me, not yet, but at least she isn’t afraid of me. As betrayed as I feel by her lies, I have to admit that she wasn’t entirely in the wrong to keep her pregnancy from me. If I can put myself in her shoes for just a minute, I can see why she didn’t. It doesn’t make the sting any less, but it does make me want to forgive, in time.
“That man over there?” I say, pointing out a rotund man in a too-tight suit with a woman half his age clinging to his arm, “owns half the beachfront property in the city.”
She follows my finger, then grabs my hand to lower it before anyone notices. “You can’t just point at people like that, Timofey, they’ll know you’re talking about them,” she hisses at me. “Honestly, it’s like taking a poorly socialized puppy out in the world, and I’m the one that’s forced to be a recluse.”
Her fingers linger in mine for a moment before she seems to realize what she’s doing and drops them. “Is he part of the mafia?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Surprisingly, no. Corrupt as they come, though. Can solve anything with that man if you’ve got the proper bribe,” I nod at the woman. “And he prefers bribes in the form of women, not money.”
I like this, sharing a part of my world with her. It’s not the intense, pulse-pounding rush of a car chase or a shootout, but it’s still something she hasn’t dipped her toes into before.There’s a thrill in being the one to show her something she’s never seen before.
She cocks her head to the side, considering the older man. “Sleazy, but not at all surprising. Makes him easy to control, as long as you can control the women.”
That glimpse of a calculating Talia is exactly what makes me think she’s perfect to rule by my side. Under that sweet, girl-next-door façade, there’s an iron core. I saw it when she pulled the trigger in the car. When push comes to shove, there’s a whole other Talia underneath just waiting to be revealed. I want to be the one to bring it out.
“Exactly,” I agree.
There’s the sound of raised voices and a clatter as a tray is dropped. I spin around, placing Talia behind me, and find the source of the commotion. Two men are arguing, and a waiter seems to have gotten in between. He’s clutching a mostly empty glass in his hand, and the contents of it are spilled on his shirt.
“Do you know them?” Talia asks, looking more intrigued than worried. I think she’s starting to enjoy herself.
I study the two men. One of them is vaguely familiar, but I can’t seem to place his face to a name. It’s on the tip of my tongue, and it grates me that I can’t call it to mind. The other is a stranger. I tell her as much.
“Hmm,” she says, watching as another man steps in between them and pushes the men apart. “I wonder what that was about. Maybe we should go over there and ask some of the bystanders what they heard?”
The familiar man straightens his jacket and shoots an angry glare over his shoulder at the other man before stalkingoff. He must be Bratva. Matvey would know him; I’m sure of it, but I never spent much of these social events actually socializing.
“I’m surprised,” I tell her, holding out my arm for her to take, “that you want to get involved. I got the impression you didn’t enjoy being around this many people.”
“You mean because I spent my night at that club on my own?” she asks, lacing her good arm through mine.”
“Yes, it wasn’t a difficult assumption to make. You looked like you were ready to run for the door the first chance you got,” I muse.
She grins and shakes her head. “I’m just not one for drinking or groping all over random men I’ve only met that night. I love my friends, but that side of them… I fit in better with the side of them that loves being in the salty ocean, catching waves, grabbing a coffee afterwards. I’d rather be home reading a book than drinking in a club…” She glances at me and narrows her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t like people,” she says defensively.
