Page 36 of The Bratva’s Innocent Sold Bride (Fokin Bratva #9)

I woke up the next morning a bit stiff, with a residual headache from the hit to the head with a board, but nothing could have dimmed my good mood.

Still smug and happy from the evidence that CJ cared about my well-being, I was secretly proud of her, too.

It was as if she were meant to be a Bratva wife.

Even my fury that Daria had put her in harm’s way was receding after CJ assured me plenty of ways that she was fine.

She wasn’t in bed with me now, and the light streaming through the window showed it must be late.

She wasn’t in the suite, but Artem was missing too, so I figured she took him for his morning walk and stopped to get a coffee.

The hotel was owned by my cousin, so I knew the security was top-notch.

After my lecture last night, she swore she wouldn’t leave the grounds without me.

The discreet guard at the door to our suite told me she’d only just left a few minutes ago, so I hurried to get dressed and go find her.

The boutique hotel was ultra high-end, with a small shopping area full of goodies she might like, and I thought I’d take a detour at the jewelry shop before looking for her in the restaurant or the enclosed outdoor area.

As I headed toward the elevator, I got a message from Masha and breathed a sigh of relief. By some miracle, almost as if he wanted to be found, Anatoli popped up on our radar again. He’d shown up at a gallery opening under the guise of Terrence Hendricks, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

The bad news was that he’d also taken out my newly acquired storage area shortly after that.

Masha let me know the place was emptied out, two of my men were dead, and one was in the hospital, too injured to tell what happened.

As pissed off as that made me, I was just glad we had a location for him, and for the moment, he was far away from CJ.

I spotted her ducking down a hallway, but when I caught up with her, ready to surprise her, I hung back when I saw she wasn’t alone. Zipping out of sight before the dog spotted me and gave me away, I leaned against the wall to listen.

She was with her father. The shock of seeing Gordon in LA, when I’d told no one besides Masha where we’d be going, was like a blow. Had she arranged this? I crept closer to try to overhear what they were saying.

“Damn it, Dad, I told you this was a bad idea,” she hissed.

“Come with me, CJ,” he said, his voice breaking.

I wished I could see her face, her reaction. Was she as shocked to find him there as I was? And what was a bad idea?

“Are you kidding me?” she asked him, then sighed. “Look at you, you’re a mess. When was the last time you ate a proper meal?”

“How can I eat after what I did? I got you into this, let me get you out.”

He was trying to rescue her? That most certainly was a bad idea. It remained to be seen if she’d relent and go with him. A tightness gripped my chest as I waited for her to stop fussing over his health.

“Just go home, Dad,” she said. “Now.”

I heard her take a few steps and retreat further down the hall, ducking around another corner.

“Fine,” her father said morosely. “For now.”

She had no answer to that, and as she rounded the corner, I made it seem like I was just getting off the elevator, forcing a look of surprise onto my face. She jumped a half a foot in the air, her head whipping around to make sure her father really was gone before calming down enough to greet me.

“Hey, just in time to get some breakfast. I’ll put Artem back in his room and meet you,” she said, edging past me to get to the elevators.

“I’ll go with you,” I said. “How about room service? I’m in no mood for a crowd.”

She readily agreed, still jumpy, but by the time we got back to our room and had a spread of scrambled eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit laid out on the table, I never would have known she’d met secretly with her father if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.

Was she really planning to try to leave with him at another time?

She’d told him forcefully to leave, and her tone had been angry and upset, but was it just a timing issue?

I wanted to believe she was finally coming around, caring when I was hurt, enjoying my family, and deciding she actually wanted to be my wife.

Was she still only staying with me to keep her father alive?