Page 54 of The Bratva's Arranged Virgin Bride
Chapter 29 - Kolya
It was going to take everything I had to tear myself away from Nat, but I had a plan, one that went beyond flowers and dinner. I was playing a long game now, and it had nothing to do with taking over the Fokin empire. I wanted Nat’s heart.
As she lay in my arms, smiling at me wistfully, I knew we were still on unstable ground. We had obviously made up, but how long would it last this time? No amount of apologetic words would make up for the past, which was why I had to show her how I felt. I just needed some time.
Extricating myself from the tangle of her limbs, I rolled from the blanket and stood up, holding out my hand to her.
“Let’s stay out a little longer,” she said. “It’s so breezy and nice.”
If she still didn’t look so sad underneath it all, maybe I would have. No matter how many screams I wrung out of her, she was still pissed off at me, and she had every right to be.
“I promised I’d check back in at the club after they opened,” I said. A tiny white lie for the greater good. “I won’t be long. If you wait up…”
She sighed, but stood up, dusting sand off her legs. I had to look away, or I’d never get started. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said, giving me a playful look that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
I leaned down to kiss her, then hurried up to the house to get what I needed and get out before she saw.
As much as I loved the beach house, I had a much bigger place that was closer to her uncles and father. I imagined that would be our permanent residence once things settled down a bit. Nat’s family had to know about the beach house by now, andsince they hadn’t raided the place to take her away from me, they were probably going to keep respecting the alliance no matter where we lived.
At least for now.
It was a daunting task, infiltrating their organization, and at the moment, it was the last thing on my mind. If I was to succeed, I needed their trust, but more than that, I wanted Nat’s. I wanted everything from her. It was a fine line I was walking, but for the moment, I was willing to put her first.
The lie I told became the truth just about as soon as I got in my car. The manager of my club called, telling me there was a problem. A group that was known to give the Fokins trouble had arrived, and while they were behaving themselves for the moment, they never left a place without causing some kind of problem.
“Do you want me to throw them out?” the manager asked.
“Let me get there first and talk to them,” I said.
Word had gotten out that I was aligned with the most powerful family in the city, and they must have thought I was going to make an easier target. It was up to me to show them how wrong they were. My club had a pristine reputation. People had fun there; they went to be seen among Hollywood’s elite. Not to be bothered by petty thugs who thrived on causing mayhem.
When I arrived, several more from their group were trying to get in, where their cronies were already waiting inside. I rolled up just as they were threatening the bouncer and scaring the other patrons in the line.
As soon as I tossed the car keys to the head valet, I jumped over the velvet rope and bashed the biggest one hardin the nose. Bone crunched under my knuckles, and blood flew everywhere, causing gasps and shrieks down the line. Before he could recover enough to hit me back, I was already rounding to get one of his friends in the gut. He went down like a bag of rocks. The third tried to swing on me, but I ducked under his fist and came up to slam him in the chin, rocking his head back. He went down on top of the other guy. At that point, the one with the broken nose decided he didn’t want in my club that much anymore and took off running.
“Take care of them,” I said to the bouncer, who looked irritated that he didn't get a chance to hit anyone. He dragged away the other two and dumped them on the curb. I headed inside without a backward glance to take care of the others.
Usually, I would never have caused a scene like that, but I had other things I wanted to be doing. Things that were far more important than dealing with upstarts trying to make a name for themselves by messing with me.
Inside, I waved for my security to show me where the others were, and we headed for the smaller bar on the far side of the dance floor. They were really doing nothing more than making nuisances of themselves, but their reputation and their friends’ actions outside had earned them a lifetime ban from my place.
It didn’t take long to figure out who was the boss of their little gang, as he squared up on me, all but daring me to break some more bones. I let the bouncers deal with the others and dragged the head guy to my office, where more of my security team waited to question him.
“I want to know why you chose this place,” I said, pacing back and forth in front of him. “I also want to know if you’ve gotanything planned against the Fokins. Let’s start with that, shall we?”
He refused to answer at first. Soon enough, he was singing like a canary. It was as I expected. They were low-level troublemakers, and this was their idea of fun. Well, maybe not so much anymore. When I was satisfied, he told me everything he knew. I let him limp out of there to tell his associates they better strike me off their list of easy targets.
After all that was dealt with, I got back in my car, wondering if too much time had passed to enact my plan to win Nat’s heart and trust. The longer I was gone, the longer she would stew. But this was important. Pulling out my phone, I sent her a text message, telling her I’d be a few more hours.
Wait up for me?I finished the text.
It was a long time before she replied, so long that I figured she had already gone to bed. I was halfway to the house in the hills before my phone pinged a reply. Her answer was simple and icy cold.
Do whatever you want.
I sighed. It was just as I expected. Flowers and dinner couldn’t erase what an ass I’d been. This was exactly why I had to keep moving forward with my original plan, instead of rushing home, where she would only ignore me.
Hopefully, it would be worth it and enough that she’d finally forgive.
