Page 66 of Pregnant Bratva Wife
“Military training, martial arts, and good genetics.” I grinned at her. “Why? You like what you see, Mrs. Lebedev?”
Her cheeks flushed, but she didn’t look away. “You know I do. That’s not the issue.”
“What is the issue, then?”
“The issue is I married a criminal who kills people.”
“Fair point.”
We finished our food in silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable anymore. Just thoughtful.
“One more question,” she said as we walked back to the car.
“Shoot.”
“Why’d you bring me here? To this specific place?”
I considered lying, but she deserved the truth. “Because I wanted you to see that you can still move around freely. That being married to me doesn’t mean you’re trapped in that house.” I opened the car door for her. “And because I like their carnitas.”
She laughed, the sound warming me from the inside out. “It was good. Thank you.”
The drive home was quiet, but not tense. Autumn gazed out the window, lost in thought. When her hand slid across the seat and brushed against mine, I didn’t pull away. Neither did she.
Back at the house, I walked her to her bedroom door. We hadn’t discussed where things stood between us, but something had shifted. Some of the fear had left her eyes, replaced with a little camaraderie.
“Thank you for tonight,” she said, lingering in her doorway. “It was... nice to talk. Really talk.”
“Anytime.” I took a step back, fighting the urge to touch her. To pull her close and feel her body against mine again. “Goodnight, Autumn.”
She looked up at me, and maybe I imagined it, but she looked disappointed. “You’re heading to bed?”
I wanted nothing more than to follow her inside, to lose myself in her again. But I was afraid of being with her alone after tonight. She was the first woman in the world I opened up to in that way.
And feeling vulnerable? It confused the hell out of me.
“Yes, to bed,” I said, the words painful to speak.
I wanted to touch her. To kiss her. To pull her into me and forget everything ugly between us.
But I didn’t. Too complicated.
I stepped back. “Goodnight, Autumn.”
Her eyes searched mine. “Goodnight.”
I walked away before I could change my mind.
Chapter 16 - Autumn
For a week straight, I found it impossible to stop thinking about our little taco dinner.
It had been fun, of course. But that’s not what stayed with me. Something changed in how I viewed Federico and his life after he opened up to me about his family, parents,everything.
He finally told me the truth. And for those few hours, I forgot to be afraid of him and his world.
And then I started wondering, had there ever been anything to be afraid of in the first place?
Perhaps what I needed most was to gain a deeper understanding of the world I had married into.
