Page 7 of Pregnant Bratva Wife
I knew what sort ofa clubthey meant. Never in a million years would I let Megan into such a place.
The anger made it hard to breathe. The rage, even harder. These monsters were circling my baby sister, the girl I’d practically raised after our father died and our mother disappeared into a world of drinking and gambling.
This was Megan. My baby sister. The one I promised to protest.
“Listen to me, Megan. Don’t go anywhere alone, understand? Stay with friends, stay in public places.”
“What about the money?” she asked, desperation in her voice. “I could take a semester off, get a job—”
“No,” I cut her off firmly. “You are not dropping out. That’s exactly what I’ve been working to prevent.”
I stared at the bills scattered around me, at my zero bank balance on my phone screen.
Even if I somehow landed a job tomorrow, there was no way I could come up with $5,000 by Friday.
Not legitimately.
“I’ll figure something out,” I promised, though I had no idea how. “Just focus on your classes. I’ve got this.”
After hanging up, I sat motionless, my mind racing through increasingly desperate options. I could ask Chloe for a loan, but she was a grad student with her own mountain of debt. I could sell my car, but it was barely worth two grand. I could try to get a loan from the bank, but I had no assets to show for it.
Or...
The business card was still in my wallet. I’d kept it, telling myself it was just in case I needed to arrange payment for the car damage. Not because I’d been thinking about his offer. Not because I’d found myself wondering what life would be like married to a man like Federico Lebedev.
“This is insane,” I muttered to myself, pulling out the card and staring at the number.
But was it any more insane than allowing my sister to fall into the clutches of loan sharks? Than watching all her hard work and dreams disappear because of our mother’s mistakes?
I thought about Megan at eighteen, sobbing at our mother’s funeral, clinging to me like I was the only solid thing in her world. I remembered promising her that I’d make sure she got through college, that she’d have the opportunities I never did. That she wouldn’t end up stuck like me, barely scraping by without a degree.
“Fuck,” I whispered. I’d rather work three jobs and live in my car than be some rich guy’s trophy wife.
But this wasn’t about me anymore.
Before I could change my mind, I dialed the number.
“Lebedev,” he answered, and my stomach dropped to my toes.
“Hi,” I said, my voice embarrassingly small. I cleared my throat. “This is Autumn. Autumn Malone? I, um, damaged your car last week.”
“I remember.”
Of course, he remembered. I’d turned him down flat and walked away like he was some creep.
“Right. Well.” I closed my eyes, summoning every ounce of courage I possessed. “I was wondering if your... offer... still stands?”
Chapter 3 - Federico
She haunted me.
That was the only way to describe it.
From the moment Autumn Malone turned those impossibly blue eyes on me, I was hooked. And when she walked away, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
I knew how it might have looked to an outsider—that I saw a beautiful woman and turned into a man obsessed. But none of what I did had been about having her. There were plenty of other beautiful women I could have had.
No. It was her contradictions that got under my skin. How fearful and apologetic and stuck she’d seemed in her situation, yet obstinate. One where most women would have signed up for what I proposed. But, despite having her back to the wall, she still chose to walk away. She held her head high with pride and offered to pay me back in installments. She told me no when every other woman I’d met would’ve jumped at the chance to be mine.
