Page 21 of The Bratva’s Arranged Virgin Bride (Fokin Bratva #8)

After I ran away and hid in my room to recover from that bizarre burst of emotion, starting to think I was in too deep and unable to get out before I drowned, I heard Kolya go into his office.

Creeping back into my studio, I grabbed the diary to distract me.

It was just the thing to take my mind off everything, and it was working until he had to come in and give me an impossible task.

Like I had never calmed down, I was all worked up again.

I watched him walk out, quietly closing my door behind him. To say the very least, I was disconcerted by his odd tone, his teasing manner. Was he messing with me? He had to be. Just when I was beginning to think I had the upper hand, too. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

Rolling onto my back, I stared at the ceiling. No answers there.

He was nuts if he thought anyone in my family was just going to blithely invite us over to Sunday dinner. Expecting me to finagle it was bad enough, but I hated being estranged from them. I wanted them to be on my side, even though I couldn’t tell them why I did what I did.

And I really wanted that car.

There was nothing to learn at the beach house, so the only way I could continue to spy on Kolya was to follow him around and learn what he was doing.

I supposed he would let me go on shopping expeditions with a guard in tow, but that wasn’t what I wanted or needed.

I needed complete freedom, and I was shocked that he was going to give it to me.

He probably knew deep down it was impossible and was still messing with me.

Or maybe he really did trust me. Ha.

After staring at the ceiling for a long time, I decided Mat would be my best bet. He was the only one who thought I could handle the mission now that I had stuck myself in the middle of it, and he was the least angry with me.

As soon as I had him on the phone and presented the request, I had to wait a solid minute for him to stop laughing.

“Wait, are you serious?” he finally asked. “Because you can’t be serious. Masha’s still so pissed off at you that you might be in actual danger. At least from a stinging lecture.”

“Do I have to remind you who my father is?” I sighed.

“I’m no stranger to stinging lectures.” It was time to admit the truth, or part of it.

I lowered my voice. “Listen, I’m at a dead end here.

He’s got this place locked down, so there’s not ever going to be anything to report.

Kolya said he’ll give me a car of my own if I can manage this. ”

“Is he holding you there?” Mat bellowed.

“No, he’s not, at least I don’t think so, but—”

“If you need a car, I’ll send you one right now. Just tell me where you are.”

Wow, it looked like Kolya really did have this place locked down if my uncles’ experts hadn’t found it yet. “Nice try,” I said. “I can’t have you rushing through the doors waving guns. I thought you said I could handle this.”

“I do think that,” he said, not very convincingly. “Nobody will break down any doors.”

There was no way I was risking it when I suspected they were trying to pull me out. I was in too deep now to back down.

“It’s just dinner,” I said, ignoring his insistence on knowing my location and getting back to the invitation. “Isn’t Emerson hosting them while Katie’s in Russia? Go over Nik’s head and ask her.”

“I won’t even try, Nat,” he told me, a bit mournfully. “Your uncles are still too angry. They’d blow the whole thing trying to extract you.”

“I don’t need extracting,” I huffed. “I’m perfectly fine. More than fine.” Maybe my voice turned a little too dreamy when I said that.

“I don’t like the sound of that. Is he sticking to the terms of the alliance?”

“Yes. Perfect gentleman.” My words were clipped. I didn’t have to share that I was the one breaking the rules. If any of them knew how I dissolved into jelly whenever Kolya was near, I would have been in Russia under my father’s direct supervision by now.

It was infuriating.

“I need that car,” I told Mat. There was a long pause as he thought it over.

“Lilia isn’t too upset with you,” he said slowly. “I could probably get her to agree to it. It would just be the two of us, though. Would that appease him?”

“It’s worth a try.” I breathed a sigh of relief. It had to work.

“I’m going out on a limb for you,” he said.

“You don’t trust me,” I accused him, furious.

“No, it’s not that. I don’t trust Kolya, or any Mikhailov. And you don’t have the intense training it takes to be undercover like that. It wouldn’t be your fault if he got the upper hand, and that’s what we’re trying to prevent.”

I wanted to argue, but didn’t want to risk losing the small compromise I had won.

“I get it,” I said, ending the call before he could back out.

What he’d suggested would be the best plan, the more I thought about it.

Mat was the most even-keeled of his brothers.

Daniil and Rurik were as hotheaded as my two remaining uncles.

Ivan and Nik would blow it the second they came into contact with Kolya, and he’d make things worse with his obnoxious sarcasm and teasing, all but begging for a punch in the nose.

Lilia was Masha’s sister, younger by just a year and a half.

They looked similar, almost like twins, but were as different as chalk and cheese.

The daughters of my grandfather’s youngest son were much younger than our male cousins and were not just doted on but given the very best training.

Masha was always the overachiever, taking on every task with gusto, while Lilia was quieter and more introverted.

She still had a competitive streak and took on her sister whenever she could, which wasn’t often.

Because Mat, Dan, and Rurik were significantly older, I wasn’t particularly close to them. However, during my visits to Moscow as a kid, Masha, Lilia, and I had become fast friends. I hoped Masha would forgive me one day, but if Lilia was on my side, she was definitely an asset.

I hurried to find Kolya in his room and stood outside the doorway as if just entering his lair would have me melting into his arms again. I told him we were meeting Mat and Lilia that weekend, and it was obvious he wasn’t expecting a victory from me so soon. Or ever.

He jumped up and swept me into his room, and into his arms, whirling me around. Oh no, this wasn’t good. Almost instantly, I could feel my emotions stirring, about to go haywire again. I held myself still, remaining business-like until my feet were back on the floor.

“I guess you’re pretty happy about it,” I said. “So, how about the car?”

“Get on your phone and pick out whichever kind you want,” he said. “I’ll have it here by tomorrow.”

Tomorrow? That was better than I hoped. “I don’t care,” I spluttered, taken aback by his happiness and generosity. Could he really just want to be part of my family? Impossible. “No, wait, something simple.”

If I let him go all out like I suspected he would, it would be much harder to tail him in a flashy red convertible or decked-out SUV.

He reached out and slid his fingers down the length of my arm, thankfully shielded by the thick terry cloth of my robe. I still felt the heat, and it began to spread, making me yearn for what I now knew he could do to me. Glancing up, I saw a gleam in his eyes.

“How about we do a little more painting?” he suggested.

Oh no, I knew exactly what would happen if we ended up in my art room. I had to get my feelings firmly under control before I allowed myself to go that deep undercover again.

But then I was back in his arms, and he was kissing me. I forgot everything except the feel of his mouth on mine, the way his tongue urged my lips to part. Everything drifted into the background, unimportant, as his hands roamed around my waist and down my backside, drawing me to him.

My hands ran up his chest to curve over his shoulders, then into his hair.

The feel of the soft strands between my fingers had me lifting myself onto my toes, as I needed to be closer.

I sighed into his mouth and smiled against his lips at the sound of his soft, answering laugh.

Okay, this was okay. I could handle this for a few minutes, maybe a little longer. Just until…

His phone buzzed, then buzzed again. He pulled back, swearing under his breath as he read the message. “I’m sorry, I forgot about a meeting. I can’t miss it.” He did look sorry, and seemed genuinely irritated, but he still pulled away. He was still going to leave.

I kept a firm grip on his shoulders, not wanting to stop now that I had decided I could handle it this time.

Looking down at me, he lowered his head and gave me another searing kiss, so deep I thought I had won.

But no, I was set aside as he grumbled all the way out the bedroom door.

I hurried after him, watching as he went downstairs, put on his shoes, and grabbed his keys. He was still going.

Was it all an act? What kind of meeting was he having at nine o’clock at night? I cursed the fact that I didn’t have my car yet. All I could do was watch him storm out the door.