Page 39 of Sold to the Bratva
“Don’t jinx it.” I laugh.
“So,” she says, tilting her head, “you’re not still planning to go back and end the whole thing?”
I shake my head. “No,” I admit. “I think I’m developing feelings for him.”
Evie blinks at me in surprise. “Feelings? The kind with a capital F?”
“I didn’t think it was possible,” I say, my voice quieter now. “Not after how it all started. Not with everything I told myself about him. I just assumed he couldn’t be a good guy if he was agreeing to marry me almost sight unseen.”
“And now?”
I shrug slightly, trying to buy myself some time to consider my words carefully. “Now he’s more than I ever expected. And I feel more than I ever thought was possible.”
A hush settles between us. Overhead, soft music hums, and distant laughter drifts from deeper in the store, the only sounds filling the space.
Evie eventually nudges my arm. “You know what I think?”
“Hmm?”
“I think you’re finally letting yourself be happy.”
I smile to myself, a small, private thing. “Maybe you’re right.”
“And maybe it’s about damn time,” she sing-songs. “Seriously, you’re due for happiness, especially with a man. And I’m glad to hear that he’s treating you well. Otherwise, I’d have to come over there and cut his balls off.”
I chuckle, but her words make me thoughtful. Balance has never existed in my world. There’s always been a push-and-pull, expectation versus freedom, loyalty versus individuality. I had resigned myself to the idea that I couldn’t have everything I wanted. I wouldn’t find love and still meet my father’s expectations for marriage, or I couldn’t be married and also pursue my dreams.
But Isaac has shown me that all my worrying was pointless. In a twist I never saw coming, I’ve ended up with a man who is both everything I once feared and everything I never dared hope for.
He’s ruthless in business, sharp as a blade and twice as cold when he needs to be. I’ve watched people shift around him, lowering their voices and their eyes. He’s the kind of man others are trained to fear.
But when he’s with me, he’s soft and gentle. He’s thoughtful in ways that feel almost dangerous because of how easily they make me fall. He listens when I speak. Not just with nods and grunts, but with focus, like what I say matters. LikeImatter.
I thought this marriage would steal everything I ever wanted, namely my future, my independence, my art. I braced myself for the cold, transactional life that comes with a forced union, but Isaac has done everything he can to make sure I don’t lose myself.
If anything, I’m more myself now than I’ve ever been.
“Do I even want to know what you’re daydreaming about?” Evie asks, nudging me with a shopping bag.
I blink back to reality, heat flooding my cheeks. “Sorry, I zoned out for a second.”
“Zoned out or were you having sex fantasies in the middle of the department store?”
I roll my eyes. “Shut up.”
“You’re smiling.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Youare.And you’re blushing.”
I laugh and duck my head as we exit the store.
“I can’t explain it, okay? I’m still figuring it out myself. But I’m happy, like, actually happy. I didn’t think I would be in this arrangement.”
Evie hooks her arm through mine. “That’s because you thought you were walking into a prison.”
“I did.” I glance at her and smile. “But the reality is, it feels like I’ve finally been let out of one.”
