Page 21 of Innocent Plus-Size Bride of the Bratva
I sink back into my chair, telling myself to focus. I need to work, need to cover my tracks, need to finish hiding the files I found. The spreadsheet glares at me from the screen, all fake numbers and tidy cells. I try to pick up where I left off—searching, scrolling, copying files into my hidden folder—but the lines blur and swim. I cannot concentrate.
My mind keeps looping back. Not to the evidence, not to the mission, but to the kiss. The sound of his breath. The way he made me feel—powerless and powerful all at once. I don’t know what’s real anymore.
Is it part of the game, another layer of manipulation? Or did he mean it, even for a heartbeat? The possibility shakes me.
I remind myself why I’m here. I came for Eli. For the truth. For revenge. My purpose has always been clear: get close to Adrian Sharov, collect proof of what happened, destroy him if I must. My loyalty is to my brother, to the promise I made over an empty bed and a string of unanswered messages.
Tonight, for the first time, something fractures inside me. The certainty that once guided every step wavers. There’s something dangerous here now, something warm and disorienting. I want to believe I can control it, that I can use it to get closer, to finish what I started.
I touch my lips again, memory sparking through me. I see the way he looked at me—lost, searching, furious at himself as much as at me. That look will haunt me. I know it.
For a while, I sit motionless at my desk, surrounded by the blue glow of the screen, the silent stacks of papers, the city’s distant pulse. I am alone, but I do not feel alone. I feel watched, claimed, changed. A part of me is terrified by how much I want more. How much I want him.
I force myself to type, to focus on the facts, on the paper trail of crime and complicity I’ve been building for months. The names of traffickers and payoffs. The coded emails and shadow accounts.
The words slip through my mind like water. Adrian’s presence lingers, his absence as loud as his body was against mine.
I close my eyes and remember Eli—his laughter, his endless patience, the way he always looked out for me. I remember what this costs. I promise myself I will not forget.
Yet I cannot deny it anymore. There’s a fault line running through me now, a crack where his mouth met mine. Something bright and treacherous. Something that could burn us both if I let it.
Eventually, I shut the laptop, stacking files into careful piles. The office is empty, dark except for the city lights smearing across the windows. My reflection floats in the glass: hairtangled, cheeks flushed, lips swollen. I look nothing like the woman who walked in tonight.
Maybe that’s the danger. Maybe that’s the truth.
For the first time since Eli vanished, I do not know which side of the game I’m playing. Or what I will do if he ever kisses me like that again.
***
My phone buzzes just after noon on Sunday, breaking up the monotony of spreadsheets and the hush of the inner archive office. I glance at the screen: Jessa. For a heartbeat I consider letting it ring out—every conversation with her lately feels like a tightrope walk, every word another chance to slip and shatter everything.
I swipe to answer, desperate for some piece of the world outside these walls.
“Tali!” Jessa’s voice is bright as ever, full of city noise and caffeinated energy. “I haven’t heard from you in days. Are you alive?”
I manage a weak laugh, sinking back in my chair and pinching the bridge of my nose. “Alive, more or less. Busy. How’s Brooklyn?”
She launches into a rundown about her neighbor’s new rooftop chickens, the disastrous Tinder date from last night, and a street artist she wants to drag me out to see. I listen with half an ear, letting her words wrap around me like a comforter, holding the phone close. For a little while I let myself drift—until Jessa’s voice sharpens.
“Okay, your turn. You sound weird. Is everything alright?”
I hesitate. “Yeah. Just… work stuff.” The old habit of deflection kicks in, but I’m too tired for lies today. I bite my lip,stare at the sunlight slanting through the window. My chest is still tight from last night, my lips sensitive every time I press them together.
Jessa sighs, not fooled. “Talia. Don’t you dare lie to me. Spill.”
I breathe in, shaky. “I—look, you can’t tell anyone, okay? Not a word. Seriously.”
“I’m a vault. Promise.”
I lower my voice, as if anyone in this cavernous estate could overhear. “I kissed my boss.”
There’s a pause, then a shriek so loud I have to yank the phone away from my ear. “What? Oh my God, Tali, you kissed the evil overlord? The one you hate?”
I wince. “I didn’t mean to. I mean he kissed me. It just… happened.”
She makes a strangled sound. “Are you in trouble? Wait. Wait. You hate this guy. Didn’t you say he was like, a Bond villain with better hair?”
I let out a helpless laugh, nerves fizzing. “Yeah. He’s still the worst. He’s cold, he’s impossible, he’s got everyone terrified. He probably kicks puppies for fun. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
