Page 31 of BRATVA'S Avenging Bride
Fuck.
I’m in love with Matvey.
This time when the elevator doors open, Matvey is grinning at me from behind two chatty girls who both look as though they’ve been so thoroughly pampered I almost don’t recognize them.
“Lena?” I ask, incredulous that the woman standing before me was the same girl I was pushing out of a window less than a week ago.
She stops chatting and looks at me, then throws herself onto me, wrapping her spindly arms around my neck.
“Kat! I didn’t think I’d ever see you again!” When she pulls back, there are tears in her eyes. Mira joins us, holding both our hands.
“The other girls got out and scattered. None of them stayed in touch,” she says, her voice edged with sadness.
I look at Matvey.
“As promised,” he says, walking past us with a wink. “I’ll put the coffee on.”
“So,” Lena says, eyeing the robe I’m wearing. “You look…well.”
Laughter bubbles up from my belly. “You could say that.”
I change quickly and the girls stay for lunch, which Matvey orders in for us. He leaves us to catch up and they tell me all about how Emil has been looking after them. That he is like a big brother and has made sure they have everything they need for their new place.
“What new place?” I ask between bites of chicken salad.
“Matvey put us up in one of his apartments after you left with him the morning after…” she pauses and looks around the apartment as though someone might be listening in. “The fire. That’s where we’ve been staying.”
“He said—” Mira cuts in, “that we can stay there as long as we want, no cost.” She punctuates this with a flash of her eyebrows. “And he actually means it. Emil is nothing like Boris or Abram.” She shudders at her final statement.
“Thank God,” Lena adds with finality. She looks across to where Matvey disappeared into his office an hour or so ago. “He seems like one of the good ones, and we all know how rare they are.”
The afternoon fades away in laughter and sad reminiscing, but it’s cathartic. When Emil arrives to take them back to their place, it doesn’t feel like the end of something horrendous, but the start of something beautiful.
“Emil has enrolled us in night school,” Mira says as she hugs me goodbye. “And we all know how much I love math.” She rolls her eyes and I smile.
Lena tilts her head as she considers me for a moment, then she hugs me tight. “Thanks, Kitty Kat, for what you did,” her wordsare barely more than a whisper and I hold her tighter just for a second. “We owe you.”
“No, you don’t.” I wave goodbye as the door to the elevator closes on their chatter with Emil looking pained behind them. It can’t be easy suddenly having to look after two young women who are half fire cracker and half spinning wheel.
“You look happy.”
I spin to find Matvey leaning against the wall.
“I am. Thank you.” I really mean it.
“You might not thank me when I tell you what my father said,” Matvey closes the distance between us and takes my hands in his. “You know how you burned down my club and killed my men…”
“That little thing…” I say, trying not to let my voice sound as strangled as I feel.
“Well, I can protect you from so much, but there has to be a price that you pay…” The way Matvey can’t quite hold my gaze is making me feel anxious.
“Okay,” I say. Cold acceptance washes over me. “Whatever it is, I’ll figure it out.”
Matvey nods as he reaches into his trouser pocket and pulls out a small box.
“You need to marry me.”
“That’s it?” I ask, incredulously. He flips open the box and the glint of the diamond is enough to stun me. “You can’t be serious.”
