Page 108 of Bratva's Vow
I slipped the laptop into my bag carefully and zipped it shut.
“There’s always later. In fact, I see your class ends at three. I’ll hold off on lunch, and you drop by the office. We’ll have lunch together.”
I wasn’t sure. Since Bradley’s death, I hadn’t gone back to the office. What if things felt weird there? At least one person must have questioned what had really happened on the roof.
“Wren?”
“Yeah, sure.” I moved back to the mirror and gave myself one last check. All good. “Babe?”
“Yes?”
“What if people notice?”
He didn’t ask what I meant. He knew.
“Let them,” he said simply. “You’re mine. And I take care of what’s mine.”
Warmth spread through me, even as my stomach flipped nervously. I wasn’t used to being seen. Not like this.
“Nik will be with you.” He shifted back into protective mode. “At all times.”
“Even when I need to pee?”
“He’ll check the bathroom, then let you in.”
I groaned. “Didn’t you say Chief Stone wouldn’t bother me anymore?”
“He won’t,” Maxim said, but his voice was tight. “Still, I’ll worry less if someone’s looking after you when I can’t.”
“Or you couldnotworry at all.”
“Negative,” he replied smoothly. “I’ll always worry about you.”
That landed somewhere deep inside me. I pressed my lips together and let myself feel it.
“Well, if I don’t leave in the next few minutes, I will be late.”
“Eat before you go,” he said firmly.
“I will.”
“I’m serious.”
“I said I will.” I smiled again. “You know… for a Mafia boss, you’re very motherly sometimes.”
“Wren.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going. I love you.”
“Love you more. Call me after class.”
“I will.”
I hung up and took one last look at myself. I looked like someone who belonged to someone powerful.
Because I did.
And no matter how much that scared me sometimes… it felt good to be loved this way.
