Page 30 of Stolen By the Bratva

“I’ve always known I would be arranged in a marriage someday.”

I peered at her, intrigued about her tone and her choice of words. “Why do you say it like that?”

She licked her lips, seeming bothered to speak up about it. “I… My father has always criticized me. He’s told me many times that he would struggle to find a man who would want me for a bride. He implied that offering me to a man would be an insult.”

Ah. Her comments from yesterday were starting to make sense. Sergei Kastava had filled his daughter’s head with lies and garbage, but she wasn’t fooling me. Mila knew her worth. She appreciated her body and had taken care to work what she had. I saw it in that office, when she wore such sex kitten clothes tailored just to suit her delectable curves.

“Why does this marriage matter so much?”

She furrowed her brows, staring at me like I was the one who’d know the answer to that. Pavel preached that Andrey and Mila’s marriage would unify our bratvas. That with them joined as a couple, the families could no longer be enemies. I was convinced something else had to be at play.

“I… I don’t know what you mean.” She shrugged again, and I was distracted with a loose, wavy strand of her hair tumbling over her bare shoulder.

“What do the Kastavas stand to gain with your marrying Andrey?”

She smirked, letting a slow, naughty smile curve her lips. “Well, I didn’t marry him, did I?”

I deadpanned, not in the mood to join in her sarcasm.

Shaking her head slightly, she tried to get more comfortable with her bound hands. “I’m not sure what you’re asking. And I’m not sure how to answer that. I assumed marrying Andrey would just be a way to align our families and unite us all. But…” She sighed, frowning once more.

“But what?”

She worked her mouth open and closed, struggling to know what to say as she seemed to search for words. “But my father has never been one to…”

What are you hiding? Out with it.

“Be a team player. He’s not even that dedicated to keeping our family united. He cuts his losses easily, and I truly can’t understand why he would want to align with another bratva. Especially a larger one that’s been around far longer than ours.”

I watched her, studying her closely for a tell. That strange feeling was back. My gut was warning me that she wasn’t being completely honest, and I loathed how uneasy it made me feel. It would be stupid to think that I wanted to trust her. I couldn’t. I never would, and it was a sign of my own weakness that I wanted her confidence.

“What else?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. That’s all I can think of.”

“What are you hiding?”

She rolled her eyes. “Nothing.”

Despite her insistence, I couldn’t shake that nagging suspicion, just like what I felt when I saw her at that shipping office. She was no fool.

“I’m certain it’s no different in the Valkov Bratva.” She huffed, looking away for a moment. “Bratva women are to please their men. We aren’t included in things that matter, like making decisions or contributing to plans. I know nothing.”

“Even though you are his daughter?”

Her hair fell out of the last of that braided knot with her nod. “He didn’t trust me.”

Neither will I.

“He trusted you to run that office where I met you.”

“Barely. It’s just a front, a company to make it look legit.”

“And you still want to claim that you’re ignorant of why you were expected to marry Andrey?”

She nodded.

“And you want to insist that you know nothing about that big shipment coming up? The trade that is supposed to mark the beginning of the Valkovs and the Kastavas as allies?”

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