Page 55 of Plus-Size Bride Forced By the Bratva
“You’re awfully quiet,” I said to her, initiating a conversation for the first time.
She lifted her eyes and met my gaze, chewing gently. “Funny, I was about to say the same about you.”
“I’m always awfully quiet.”
She hesitated. “True. But it’s different this time.”
“Why do you mean?”
Ravyn dropped her cutlery and let out a soft sigh. “Well, for starters, you’ve been distant since….” Her voice trailed off on the last word, a subtle hint at the sex in the library.
I raised my brows, waiting for her to say it, but she didn’t; instead, she avoided it like a plague.
“Something’s on your mind,” she said, looking right into my eyes. “And whatever it is, it’s eating you up.”
“What’re you—a psychologist now?” I teased, a faint grin playing on my lips.
“I don’t need to be one to know that you’re haunted by something,” she added, her gaze unwavering.
Have I become so transparent that she can easily see right through me? What else does she know?
She speared a slice of crispy bacon with her fork. “Is there something you wanna tell me?” She brought it to her lips and took a bite.
My heart skipped a beat, but I maintained my composure. She asked the question like she already knew what was happening, but just needed to hear it from me.
Her expression was blank, so there was no telling whether my assumptions were true. But I wasn’t about to play her game.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” I replied, reaching for the half-empty glass on the table.
Ravyn stared at me for a moment, almost unconvinced by my response, but she didn’t press on. “Okay.” That was all she said, and she went back to focusing on her food.
She was too good, too smart, and I wasn’t letting her go. Ever. In that moment, I decided to make sure her loyalty was cemented by any means possible.
As for Viktor, I’d deal with his treachery decisively. This was a family matter, and it would be resolved as such.
Chapter 25 —Ravyn
He was keeping something from me.
Well, of course he was. We hadn’t reached that point where he’d trust me as his wife or even ask for my opinion on things. I wasn’t sure why, but I had a feeling he wasn’t stable right now.
He didn’t have to say a word for me to know that something was eating him up. Maybe it was the thing with the mole amongst his men, or maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, I wished I could help.
I didn’t understand why his pain affected me—I shouldn’t give a shit, I shouldn’t care at all. Lev was a monster who tricked me into marrying him for his own personal gain. I should hate him. I should rejoice in his pain, bask in his misery as he did in mine.
Maybe this was the universe’s way of dealing with him, of making him pay for what he did to me. The man ruined my life and turned me into a housewife. This was only the beginning of his pain; there would be a lot more to come in the near future, and he’d get what he deserved.
These were exactly the kinds of thoughts thatshouldbe running through my mind. The only thing that I should feel for this monster should be hate. And for a long time, that was what I truly felt for him. Hate. Pure, unadulterated hate.
However, that wasn’t the case anymore.
Had I grown so weak that I was willing to forget everything I lost because of that man? He put me in a state of misery without empathy or any form of human sympathy at all.
And now that he was going through a little phase in his monstrous life, I couldn’t even bring myself to smile at his suffering. What the hell was wrong with me? Why couldn’t Iloathe the man like I used to? Why was I so worried about his feelings?
Wait. I thought he didn’t have any.
I wished I could make him talk, make him open up to me, and maybe I could help.
