Page 10 of Bratva's Stolen Bride
His brows lower. “Never apologise for enjoying something that doesn’t hurt anyone else.”
Oh. Oh, that’s… Okay. I guess I often feel guilty about lots of things. Selling the gifts from Ivan for starters, or anytime I’m reading instead of studying, because I know how important it is to Hayley that I get a good education.
I glance out of the window again, and the sunshine above the clouds really is amazing. It’s been there all along, even when I’ve been on the ground, in the drizzly London rain.
All it took was for Feliks to bring me up here.
“Where are we going?” I look back at Feliks, because compelling as the view is, he has my curiosity piqued more.
“My private island, south-west of London.”
Another infuriatingly vague answer. “And how long will it take for us to get there?”
“Long enough for you to have your fill of cloud-watching, and have a nap as well. And there are films you can watch if you get bored of looking out of the window.”
My excitement must show on my face, because Feliks laughs indulgently. He shows me the personal mini-screen that pops out of the arm rest, and gives me headphones for it.
There are recent releases, and games, and this massive leather seat is actually really comfy. I alternate watching a romcom I wanted to see at the cinema but couldn’t afford to, and the view from the window. By the time the cloud clears to reveal the ground again, we’re over the ocean, and it’s endless blue.
Feliks sits beside me, his arm draped onto our shared armrest and though there’s plenty of space, I don’t know why, but I have to put my arm there too. So we’re almost brushing sleeves.
I lose track of time, because the flight attendant brings drinks—I don’t have any more Champagne, but I had enough to make me light-headed and not as worried as I should be—and snacks, and what turns out to be a seven course lunch that we eat in comfortable silence, Feliks working on a laptop, and me watching a second film.
The stewardess shows me to a toilet with a full shower that’s bigger than the one in Hayley’s and my rented house, and a bedroom. But I’m not tired. So it’s only after that, when I really can’t eat any more food, and I’ve tried all the games that interest me and read the descriptions of half the movies available, that I begin to get bored, curious, and a bit anxious.
“Why have you kidnapped me?” I take the earbuds out and ask my captor.
Feliks sighs and puts his laptop away, turning to look at me. “I told you.”
That Ivan was dangerous, and a threat. I chew my lower lip as I think. “But you said you were going to go and sort out Ivan?”
I don’t say murder, even though I’m pretty sure that’s what he meant.
Feliks grits his teeth, and I wait.
Nope. Nothing.
“Truth or dare,” I say on impulse. The Champagne really must have gone to my head.
“You really are twenty-one, aren’t you?” he drawls, leaning back in his seat and regarding me with a wry expression.
“Yes,” I reply promptly. “I’ll take that as your first truth question, now I get one. How old are you?”
He has more grey than black in his hair, and he’s Ivan’s dad, so obviously he’s older than me, but I want to know how much.
He huffs with laughter. “Twice your age plus twice the number of babies I accidentally fathered when I was your age.”
“Uh…” He has Ivan, but does he have any other children? And is that jealousy of whoever he loved when I was a baby? Wild. I’m losing my mind.
“Forty-four.” He has a wry tilt to his mouth.
Oooohhh. I know it’s totally inappropriate, but I find it hot that he’s so much older than me. But given I’m still coping with my terrible response to being kidnapped, manhandled, and seeing him pull a gun on a person who was very annoying, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
“Why did you hire a PI to look for your sister?” he asks after a second.
“We’re not doing dares?” I reply.
He raises one totally unimpressed eyebrow.
