Page 13 of Pregnant Bratva Wife
I sat rigid in the passenger seat, each mile taking me farther from my old life and closer to whatever twisted fairy tale I had just agreed to. But this wasn’t a fairy tale. It was a transaction. And yet… my skin prickled every time his fingers tapped the wheel. Every time he adjusted his cuff. Every time he asked softly, “You doing okay?”
No, I wasn’t doing okay. I was moving into a stranger’s home to marry him for money.
How do you answer that?
So I just said, “Mm-hmm.”
Forty minutes later, we turned onto a drive, and the houses began to change. Bigger. Newer. The kind with gates and security systems. I sat up straighter, taking it all in. I’d never been to this part of town.
Federico glanced over at me. “We’ll be home soon.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Home. My home. The panic rose like a tsunami.
“What the hell did I just agree to?” I mumbled under my breath, not thinking straight.
His head snapped in my direction, and I bit my lip as I winced. “Shit. Did I just say that out loud?”
Way to go, Autumn. Antagonize the rich guy who’s paying your debts. Smart move.
To my surprise, he chuckled. “I appreciate your honesty.”
“Yeah, well, it’s free. About the only thing I can afford right now,” I said.
For some reason, his jaw twitched.
Once again, we fell into silence.
Soon enough, we pulled up outside a double-sided, huge iron wrought gate. Two men appeared, guards, I think, who let us through.
The man had guards. Like some fucking billionaire or politician. Actual armed men.
Federico drove down a long, winding driveway.
And I do mean long.
Until finally, the car stopped in front of the main entrance to a mansion. I stared out of the window and had to literallyforce my mouth to stay glued shut. His house—or rather, estate—looked like something out of a billionaire’s wet dream. Three stories high. Marble columns. Actual fountains. The kind of place with more bathrooms than people. The kind of place that had a staff. That too, by the banks of a goddamn actual lake.
I took a few calming, purposeful breaths, as if that would somehow shrink it all down into something more digestible.
My fingers dug into the seatbelt as he got out and circled around to open my door.
“I can get it,” I mumbled, but he ignored me, holding it open.
The moment my feet hit the ground, I felt out of place. The kind of out of place that went bone-deep.
This wasn’t just a nicer neighborhood. This was another planet.
“You live here?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief from my voice as I continued to gawk at the surroundings.
“We live here now,” he corrected.
Holy crap, I just agreed to marry Bruce Wayne.
“You okay?” he asked, watching me.
I lifted my chin. “Just wondering how many trust funds it took to build this place.”
