Page 43 of Owned Bratva Bride

The room was empty, and only rows of tall shelves greeted me from left and right.

The center of the room was just empty space. There were chairs and tables by the wall facing the door.

I looked through the shelves.

From the alphabetically arranged entries to the tags over each shelf, the study proved to be a library of international standards. I didn’t know what to expect when I heard about the study, but it was definitely not this. Which made it another unbelievable facet of the multilayered man who was Eduard.

What kind of mob boss would keep such an amazing library, consisting not only of books about power and war, but also fiction and science books?

Pushing the thought to the back of my mind, I looked through the fiction shelves and eventually decided on a novel. The blurb on the back page drew me in.

I went over to one of the chairs by the window and settled there. Minutes turned into hours, and I wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for my rumbling stomach.

I yawned, not just hungry but thirsty.

I considered taking the book with me, but decided against it.

Who knows what attracts what kind of penalty here?

I heard the sound of the door as I returned the book to its place.

Coming out to the center of the room, I found Eduard walking in my direction.

I was stunned. I had expected to see Ruslan or even Agatha; they had told me they frequented the study.

His face was inexpressive.

Why should I be any different?

I walked on like running into him was the most common thing that could happen.

Then, something happened that shook my calm.

Our hands brushed.

He pushed me back to the shelf behind me before I could blink.

I saw his jaws clench before he warned, “Don’t tempt me. You have no idea what you’re getting into.”

Refusing to show any hints of what effect our closeness did to me, I smirked.

As I walked past him and left the room, the tips of my fingers that touched his cool ones tingled.

***

After eating and chatting for hours in the kitchen, I returned to the study. When I asked her, Agatha had assured me that I could take the book to my room.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the book; I doubted I’d be able to sleep if I didn’t reach the end of the gripping story. There was also the teeny weeny bit of excitement at the thought of meeting Eduard there.

The study was empty.

I picked up the book and left.

As I went back toward my room, the tranquility of the hallway made me change my mind.

I’ll just read here.

So I brought a blanket from the room and wrapped it around my legs as I sat close to my door.