Page 76 of The Bratva's Arranged Virgin Bride
Chapter 43 - Nat
I should have been brimming over with happiness, and I mostly was. All thoughts of revenge were truly gone, and I had forgiven Kolya. It was easy to do now that I had my painting back, and it made my heart extra full that he had treasured it all this time, honestly believing it was a good piece of work.
I understood his little petty need to keep it from me when I first accused him of taking all the paintings in the gallery. I was being petty myself at the time, plotting his downfall.
By the time he returned from taking care of Vissarion, I was too worked up about the meeting with Mila to ask him about it. I trusted him now. He told me no one would ever hurt me again, and I believed him. But I worried that he and his brother would never come to terms with their problems, and that would leave my relationship with Mila under strain. I was still angry with her, but was willing to hear her out and see what she had to say.
I spent half the night reorganizing the kitchen, not so much that I cared where the pots and pans went, but to keep my mind off the meeting. Kolya finally ordered me to bed at about midnight. Of course, I ignored him until he cajoled me into it with kisses. As usual, I couldn’t resist him.
The next day, I waffled about what to wear, again not caring, but feeling a sense of dread about what was going to happen at lunch. Kolya put on one of his suits without a second thought, dropped me off at the restaurant, and said he’d be back in an hour. If he was nervous, he was doing a better job of hiding it than I was.
The restaurant was one of Mila’s and my favorites, with a shady outdoor terrace and gourmet sandwiches that rivaledthe ones Kolya whipped up. My aunt was already waiting for me, seated under one of the lively yellow and white-striped umbrellas, sipping lemonade.
“Is that spiked?” I asked, just joking and trying to break the ice. There shouldn’t have been any ice. We were best friends, family. There was never a moment in my life when I didn’t remember her being part of it.
“What?” she asked, shocked. “Oh, no, just plain old lemonade. You go ahead, though.”
I decided not to order wine or a cocktail. If she could get through this without liquid courage, so could I. A chipper waitress came around, and I knew the place’s menu by heart, so I ordered my favorite grilled chicken and pomegranate salad, while Mila ordered steak tacos. We congratulated each other nervously on what great choices we made, then wondered if we shouldn’t have gotten the daily special instead.
Then Mila finally set her glass down a little too hard, her cheeks red. “I know you’re pissed off at me,” she said.
Good, we weren’t going to beat around the bush anymore.
“I was,” I admitted, then admitted it all. “I still am, I guess. I just don’t—”
“You don’t know why I hid the fact that Kolya is Arkadi’s brother,” she finished for me. “I hated every minute of it, but I’m not trying to weasel out of the responsibility, either.”
“Then why?” I asked, feeling all the old embarrassment of spilling my guts to her, begging for help to find the man who swindled me. “All that time, and Arkadi only had to make one phone call and—”
“And you’d have gotten your revenge,” she said. She looked at me for a long time. Did she know I didn’t want itanymore, that I got what I wanted. “We were keeping it from you, because Arkadi wanted to find him first. To keep him away from you. And despite what you might think, it wasn’t as easy as one phone call. Those two brothers know how to stay hidden if they don’t want someone to find them.”
“I get it,” I said begrudgingly, because I did. But it still hurt.
Mila pushed aside our bread basket and grabbed my hand, squeezing it. “I could explain all day, but what I really want to say is I’m sorry. I should have told you the truth and let you be pissed at me for not helping you find him. I really am sorry, Nat.”
The simple apology wiped the slate clean, and I squeezed her hand back. “I guess this way worked out better.”
She sucked in a breath, leaning back and shaking her head. “I still can’t believe you did that. I heard it all from Katie, she’s the only one still talking to me, and not very much.”
“What? None of the other wives?” I knew my uncles were being stubborn, but it seemed like everyone had completely cut her off.
“They’re just trying to keep the peace.” She shrugged, but I could see how it broke her heart.
“I get it,” I said. I did. No one was talking to me, either. I had been messaging my uncles and Mat for a meeting, but their only response was to wait until my father came home from Russia.
“That’s also why we wanted to find Kolya first and take care of him ourselves,” she said earnestly. “I can’t stand being cut off, and we thought that might happen to you if you took matters into your own hands.”
I felt tears prickle the backs of my eyes. “You were right about that.” I blinked back the tears and sighed. “Do you think they’ll ever come around and forgive us for marrying their enemies?”
She nodded, leaning close like she had a secret, then frowned fiercely at me. “I do. But tell me first, are you honestly happy with Kolya? You trust him not to leave you high and dry this time around?”
Did I? It didn’t take much soul searching to have the answer spilling out of my mouth. “I am happy with him, and I do trust him. He’s been proving himself to me. But what does that have to do with getting everyone to start talking to us again? They see how happy you are with Arkadi, and that hasn’t stopped them from being buttheads.”
“I’m pregnant,” she said, her smile lighting up her face.
My mouth fell open, but how didn’t I see it right away? She was positively glowing. I jumped up, scampering around the table to give her a hug.
“They’ll never be able to ignore a new baby in the family,” she said smugly. “Even if it’s half Mikhailov.”
