Page 67 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride
I laugh, shaking my head. “Will you stop talking and just listen?” I say.
This shuts her up, and she stares at me in surprise.
“Angel, that’s the point right there. I didn’t agree to marry you because I was doing it for my family. It had nothing to do with them. I want it. For me. I was fully willing to marry you. No hesitation. Zero. In fact… I really want it.”
Her mouth drops open.
Behind her, I see Timofey walking into the bar with friends. “Shit,” I blurt out. “Tim is here, don’t turn around.”
Angelika’s breathing sharpens, she bites her lip, and stands up slowly. “There’s a back way out, near the bathrooms,” she says.
“Go, I’ll stay and distract him from seeing you if you get too close.”
“Dio…”
“Go, princess. We can talk soon.”
She leans over and kisses my cheek, sending a tidal wave of heat and need through me. I force myself to keep my hands to myself; otherwise, we will get caught, and whatever happens from here on out, I need to do this properly if I ever want a chance with her.
“Go, Angel,” I smile, gesturing for her to leave.
It’s hard not to turn around and watch her slip away, but I keep my eyes focused on my brother. When he spots me, I wave, throwing him a sheepish smile. Timofey wanders over to me. “Drowning your sorrows?” he teases.
“Nothing else left to do,” I shrug.
“We were pretty hard on you the other night. Are you ok?”
“It’s not like I didn’t deserve it, man. I could have done things differently.”
He smiles, nodding, his eyes locked with mine. “We still love you, even when you’re an idiot,” he grins.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Yeah, I know.”
“You want to join us? We’re just grabbing a drink or two. It’s not going to be a late night, but you look miserable enough to need some company.”
I stand up, picking up my drink, finally stealing a glance behind me. She’s gone. “I could do with some company,” I say, following Timofey to the table where his friends are sitting.
Chapter 20 - Angelika
I stare at the cleaning uniform hanging on my closet door that I’m going to be wearing later tonight. It’s understated, dreary, and grey. Which is exactly what we need it to be.
My stomach flips anxiously, and I squirm in my seat by my bedroom window. The book on my lap is closed; I haven’t even been able to open it to start reading.
No matter what I try to do to distract myself, I’m so nervous that I can’t think about anything other than tonight’s auction.
My anxiety has been bad the last few days since Diomid told me about it, but today, the day of the auction, it’s through the roof.
I could easily call him and tell him to take his brothers instead of me. But I won’t.
I need this. I need to do this; otherwise, I’ll never get myself back on track. My strength. To fight back like this is the best way I can think of to help myself realize that those monsters are just men. They bleed. They feel fear and pain, and I can beat them.
Besides, Diomid trusted me with this, and I’m determined not to fail him—or myself.
He believed in me.
I wonder what he meant when he said he was willingly going to marry me?
I have so many questions, but our time was cut short, and even though I’ve been tempted, I don’t want to bring it up over a message. It doesn’t feel right.
