We ended up at a fancy pizza restaurant, and there were so many questions I wanted to ask that I couldn’t think of where to start. Their kindness was overwhelming to an orphaned only child like me. My aunt tried her best to be everything to me, but I always wished for a big family.
“We’re not here to put any pressure on you,” Nat said when our red wine and salads arrived. “We honestly think you’re the best thing to ever happen to Rurik.”
“So, basically, what’s the problem?” Mila asked, making Lilia give her a harsh look. So much for no pressure.
“I don’t want to offend you,” I started and stopped.
“Can’t happen,” Nat assured me. “Katie was my best friend growing up. She married my dad for goodness’ sake, and we’re still besties.”
I blinked a few times upon hearing that, then lowered my voice. “You’re Bratva,” I whispered. “I didn’t even know what that was before last week.”
“You don’t have to be part of it. My gallery is one hundred percent legit,” Nat said, then wrinkled her nose. “Okay, more like ninety-eight percent. But still. You get what I mean.”
“He did say he’d never let it touch me,” I said, more to myself than them, but they all vociferously agreed he’d go to the ends of the earth to protect me. I let out a long sigh. “He tricked me into marrying him,” I said, waiting for them to be shocked.
They weren’t. Not even a little bit. I found out why when they began regaling me with their own stories about how they ended up married to men who’d previously been their family’s worst enemies. And yeah, after those tales full of kidnappings, explosions, and shootouts, signing some documents I wasn’t given time to read didn’t sound like such a big deal anymore.
In fact, Mila and Nat seemed more offended by the fact that I didn’t get a real wedding than the fact that I never got asked in the first place.
“You should demand a big winter wedding,” Mila said while Nat nodded. “We can have it at my place. Katie will definitely jump to do the food. We can be ready by then, right?”
“Piece of cake,” Nat said, pulling out her phone and scrolling to a designer’s website that she seemed to already have ready to show me. “Look at these gowns. I think a corset waist and long sleeves, and velvet, of course.”
“Oh, of course, velvet,” I said sarcastically, making Lilia laugh.
“It’s easier to go along with them,” she said, then turned serious, reaching out to pat my hand. “If you love him, that is.”
They paused, silent for the first time during the entire lunch, waiting for my answer. My eyes filled with tears that I blinked away, giving them the answer they needed. My new family members, who accepted me wholeheartedly solely because Rurik loved me, handed me tissues and hugged me.
“Cheesecake,” Mila called to a passing server. “We need cheesecake, stat.”
The server rolled her eyes, but smiled at our little display, and pretty soon we were all eating dessert, and somehow I was scrolling through a florist’s website.
This family might be involved in crime, but they had huge, loving hearts. I would have given anything to be part of what they had. I realized I already was, and when the day was over, I asked them to take me home.
“Not the apartment,” I clarified. “Rurik’s house.” Our house. Home.
A little tipsy from the wine at lunch and the champagne the high-end shops plied us with to help pad their commissions, Mila, Nat, and Lilia all cheered my decision. I asked them not to tell Rurik, and they begged to come in and help me plan a surprise, but I told them I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.
“I just want to settle in,” I said, waving as they crowded back into the limo, disappointed but happy for me at the same time.
The quiet of the huge mansion settled over me. Now that I wasn’t bolstered by Rurik’s exuberant cousins, I began to comeback down to earth. I loved Rurik, and he loved me, but could I handle his life? Not just where the money came from, but the violence he dealt with on a regular basis.
Now that I knew for sure what sorts of things went on when he left in the middle of the night, could I deal with the worry and fear that would bring? What if he returned one morning with worse than cuts and bruises?
What if he didn’t return at all?
Now I wasn’t so sure I made the right decision. Was I really cut out to be a Bratva bride?
Chapter 42 - Rurik
Going another full day without seeing Clem took its toll, and I probably owed apologies to a couple of my employees for impatiently snapping at them, but I survived it. I had told her I’d be back the next evening with dinner, and I wanted her to see I meant what I said.
I rolled up with her favorite takeout, shaking my head that this was supposed to be the meal we shared before she got spooked and ran off. No more of that. We were on our way back to what we should be. Those rings would be back on her finger soon enough.
I wasn’t too shocked she hadn’t turned up at the office in her state of mind, but I was still disappointed and missed her so much I raced up the steps and pounded on her door. No answer, and when I peeked in through the cracks in the blinds, it was clear she wasn’t at home. Since I was in such a hurry, I hadn’t paused to speak with her guard, and I called him now, still hoping perhaps she was only in the shower as I continued tapping on her door.
“She left around lunch time and hasn’t returned yet,” he informed me.