Page 60 of Cruel Bratva King

I had social anxiety, and the only place I could hold my head up high was in the courtroom. The fact that most of the people in this gathering were the elites of the society didn’t do any good to my nervous system either. Everyone here was above my social status, and while I had a decent level of self-esteem, I knew I didn’t belong here.

“Are you okay?” Sergey asked, his brows marred with concern.

I smiled anxiously as air drained from my lungs due to anxiety. “I’m fine,” I answered. I glanced around, refusing to meet his eyes so he couldn’t see through my lie. I made to walk, but Sergey held me back.

“Hey.” He looked deeply into my eyes, seeing through my tough girl act. “Look at me.”

I looked at him.

“Who are you?” he asked, flattening his palm lightly on my cheeks. “What’s your name?”

“Lilianna Anderson.”

He shook his head. “No, you’re not Lilianna Anderson. Not anymore. You’re Lilianna Vadim. You’re my wife, and you will not let anyone in this room intimidate you. You will hold your head high like the fucking queen you are.”

“Sergey—”

“I’m yours, and what is mine is yours as well. You’re the queen of this city, and everyone in this fucking room will bow to their queen as they should. Do you understand?”

I shut my eyes and took two deep breaths, allowing Sergey’s brutal encouragement to simmer in my stomach. My nerves calmed, and my anxiety vanished in a matter of seconds. They said a married couple had many similarities, and it seemed like Sergey and I were becoming the same.

I despised the brutality of the mafia, yet his violent words were nerve soothing. At this rate, I would sooner be holding a gun and torturing people in the basement as well. Tearing my eyes open, I bobbed my head in agreement. “You’re right. I’m your wife, and I will not cower in fear.”

Sergey rewarded my newfound braveness by patting my head. “Good girl.” He opened his arm, and I looped my hands through it. We walked into the party together.

“My good friend, Sergey,” a voice said behind us. We both twirled, and an older man stood in front of us. He looked like he was way into his sixties, and a girl who looked like she was his daughter stood behind him. “I’m glad you were able to make it.”

Sergey’s lips formed a barely noticeable smirk. “How could I miss such an ironic occasion.” His eyes darted to the younger girl by the man’s side. “I suppose this is your lovely wife.”

I held back a gasp.Lovely wife?Hello, did I miss something? Weren’t we in the twenty-first century? The girl beside him looked like she’d barely reached nineteen, and what, she was his wife?

Disgusting.

Sergey looked just as disgusted as I was and didn’t care to hide it.

“And I suppose this is yours.” The man reached his hand to shake me. “Good evening, beautiful. I’m Paul Diego. It’s lovely to meet you.”

I tried to force a smile, but it wasn’t forthcoming. “I’m Mrs. Vadim. Thanks for inviting us to this occasion.” I would have been happier without an invite, though.

“The pleasure is mine.” He held my hand, bringing it up to his mouth for a kiss but paused when he met Sergey’s glare. He dropped my hand at the speed of lightning and cleared his throat. “I hope you both enjoy the evening.”

Sergey’s reply was a slight quirking of his lips.

“I’ll be off then.” Paul walked off, and his teenage wife followed him like a scolded toddler. If I knew her parents, I would give them a piece of my mind. Who in the world would allow their daughter to marry a man four times her age? My nostrils flared, and I was seconds away from running to them and ripping the girl from his side.

She didn’t belong there. She was meant to be in school or something, not married to a man like Paul.

“Who was that?” I breathed out the question like a dragon that would breathe fire.

“Paul Diego,” Sergey repeated his name. “Former chief of the police department. He’s running for the seat of vice mayor in the coming elections. His influence stretches around Chicago. An alliance with him means the cops aren’t all up in my business.”

He squeezed my hand softly, taking in my sour expression. “You don’t look impressed,” he said.

I sighed, almost rolling my eyes. “I’m not.” I’d been so excited about the party, but now I wanted to go home and sleep. I was disgusted to the core of my spine, and my evening was ruined by the atrocity I’d just witnessed. “Is this how this world works? That man looks like he could be her grandfather.”

“That’s how our world works,moy tsvetok.You can’t change anything.”

“A man like that can’t become vice mayor. The people won’t vote for a pervert.”

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