Page 43 of The Bratva’s Innocent Sold Bride (Fokin Bratva #9)

The next few days were like a dream, so perfect it was hard to believe I’d been kidnapped and stuffed in a trailer in the middle of nowhere, at the whim of a madman who wanted to destroy my husband.

When I considered that things could have been so much worse, or gone so differently if Mat had gone to the scene of the ambush, I still stopped in my tracks wherever we were and shuddered.

Mat was always there to hold me close, never leaving my side, just like he promised.

We explored the property, vast acres of fields and woods on the other side of the fence that surrounded the mansion.

Artem trotted ahead of us as we walked hand in hand, looking back every once in a while to make sure we were still keeping up.

He got a taste for chasing squirrels and grew more bold, going further distances from us until I had to call him back.

“Let him be a dog,” Mat said. “He’ll be fine out of your sight for more than ten minutes.”

I knew he’d given up all pretense of being annoyed with Artem when I woke up the morning after the abduction to find him sleeping at our feet as if he’d always had a spot there. Mat just nudged him with his toe and acted like he’d never made a fuss about dog hair in his life.

In the evenings, we browsed recipes on the internet, acting as if the decision of what to make was of the utmost importance.

We’d pull out all the ingredients, making a huge mess, but we usually ended up with something pretty good.

He’d try to drag me away from the dishes, but there was no way I was leaving the nightly wreckage we created in the kitchen to the staff.

He realized how much fun my favorite TV drama was, or at least he pretended to, as I caught him up with all eleven seasons. And he announced he was setting up a shooting range on the property, bringing in a fierce-looking man who spread out a selection of guns for me to choose from.

I hauled the biggest one up to my shoulder, and they both winced, then Mat laughed and asked why I should have to choose.

I could learn to shoot them all if I wanted.

We didn’t talk about Anatoli or what was happening to him, and I found I didn’t care either way.

Maybe being in the Bratva was rubbing off on me.

We had four blissful days where nothing in the outside world mattered, just my husband, my dog, and me. Then Masha came home, hot under the collar and spitting nails at Mat.

“How long am I supposed to hold him? He’s kind of a massive pain in the ass, you know that, right, Mat?”

I turned to Mat, feeling a bit guilty that his cousin looked so worn out and bedraggled, while we lounged by the pool with margaritas and chicken skewers. He shrugged.

“What’s the hurry?” he asked. “He’s not having a good time, is he?”

Masha scowled, but sat and grabbed a skewer. “I’m not a hundred percent convinced he’s not. He seems to like it when I get rough.”

Mat grumbled, sitting up. “I don’t like the sound of that. You’re off the interrogation.”

“Like hell I am,” Masha snapped. “But I don’t think he’s going to talk until he knows he’s in serious peril.” Popping a cherry tomato off the skewer, she chewed angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. “He doesn’t seem to take me seriously at all.”

“What an asshole,” I said, earning a nod from her.

“Don’t worry, CJ, I’m not slacking after what he tried to do to you. I just think it’s time to turn up the heat.”

Mat sighed, reaching for my hand. He didn’t want our idyllic time to end, and neither did I. But life moved on, and if he was going to properly run this town, he couldn’t have Anatoli’s men running around, plotting behind his back. I told him this in a solemn tone, and he burst out laughing.

“My Bratva bride,” he said, leaning over to kiss me deeply despite Masha sitting right there.

“She knows what’s up,” Masha said.

With that, they headed out together, but not before Mat told me exactly who was on duty. I now had a database with pictures of all his people, so I couldn’t be tricked again. I promised I felt secure, so he could stop hugging me and go do his job.

As for my job, that was still up in the air.

Mat assured me there was plenty to do, but that it could wait until I was up for it.

As long as we were in that little honeymoon phase, I wasn’t too concerned, but if Mat was going to be gone all hours of the day and night again, my contentment to stay at home with nothing to do wouldn’t last long.

With no one around, I decided it was time to tie up a loose end that had been gnawing at me. It was the one thing I hadn’t shared with Mat, and it bothered me, so I called my dad.

He answered with the same tortured tone he had used on his ill-conceived rescue mission. “CJ, are you all right? I haven’t heard from you. I’m back in town and I have another—”

“No,” I cut in forcefully. “No more. I’m fine. I’m happy. You need to quit thinking you need to rescue me. You don’t.”

He took a deep breath, blew it out. “But I can’t live with myself.”

I let out a twin sigh. I forgave my father for selling me off, but I wasn’t so quick to forgive the lifetime of lies he fed me.

I would have been fine with putting some more space between us until I could reconcile all that and lay my hero worship to rest, but he sounded so pitiful as he continued to try to explain his deeds. And did he sound short of breath?

I hadn’t kept in touch with his assistant and reverted right back to worrying about his health. He was still my father, after all, just not the one I thought I grew up with.

“Why don’t you come over here?” I asked. “I’ll show you that I’m fine.” Maybe then he could turn his life around and get back on his feet.

“To Mat’s house?” he asked, aghast. “He’ll kill me the moment I set foot through the door.”

“No, he won’t.” I was fairly certain that was true. It would be once everything was out in the open, anyway. “And he’s not home right now anyway.”

He agreed, and I warned the guards not to scare him too badly, then got a cheese plate ready, adding wine instead of iced tea because I figured one or both of us would need it.

The Gordon Taurus who walked through my front door wasn’t the man I had idolized my whole life, but there were traces of him in his grateful smile when I held out my arms for a hug. When his selection of cheeses went ignored on his plate and his wine glass didn’t get a glance, I rolled my eyes.

“It’s over, Dad. I was angry—furious, more like. But it’s done and I’m glad now.”

“This is Stockholm Syndrome,” he said, putting his face in his hands. “How can you be glad to be in that monster’s hands? How can I look at myself in the mirror when I put you there?”

“Enough of your pity party,” I said, making his head whip up.

There was a trace of anger deep down in his eyes that I wanted to stoke so he’d man up and move on.

“Yes, you did a terrible thing, an unforgivable one. But I forgive you, and when I say I’m happy, you should believe it.

I’m not leaving Mat, and I don’t need deprogramming.

But you need to quit wallowing in your failure and pick yourself up and start fresh. ”

“I’m too old,” he moaned.

“You’re fifty-two,” I said. “Hardly an old man.”

“He stole my baby,” he said, shaking his head.

For a minute, I thought he meant me, but I’d already assured him I was fine, and I was right there talking to him. Then I realized he meant Taurus Ingenuity and sighed.

“Start something new. I’ll help if you want. You still have your greatest asset, that amazing brain of yours.”

He smiled, looking a bit stronger. “And I could probably drum up some capital.” Then he wanted to know if I was truly happy, or if this wasn’t a way to keep him safe.

I believed he would have tried to keep rescuing me until it did him in, and my heart softened toward him. He did love me, as best he could.

I was about to show him around the grounds and introduce him to Artem to show him just how happy I was with my new little family, when the head of the household slammed through the front door.

It was probably foolish to believe the guards wouldn’t rat me out as soon as my father showed up, and I was only surprised that Mat hadn’t arrived home faster once he knew.

What did surprise me was the anger he showed. Not just toward my father, but toward me.

“What is this?” he bellowed, making my dad shrink into his chair.

“CJ was just—”

“Not a word,” Mat hissed, turning to me. “What is this?” he asked in a quieter voice, but not much.

“Am I never allowed to see my father again?” I asked. “I thought you believed family was the most important thing.”

His eyebrows shot together. “We never discussed seeing your father,” he said.

True, but I was getting around to it. In fact, I was ready to tell him everything over the damn wine and cheese as soon as he got home, if he hadn’t rushed in like a steam train about to go off the tracks.

I was silent for too long, overwhelmed by the way he was acting. Like a brute, all over again.

“Meeting in secret,” he said, more disappointed than mad. “Just like in LA.”

I was mad. “You knew about that?”

“So, you finally admit it, but only because you have to.”

I tried to take a breath, tried to count to ten. I could see why he might have been suspicious a week ago, but I thought we were past all that. “This wasn’t a secret,” I tried to explain, but the dark look on his face stopped me. Why was I trying to explain anything to this brick wall?

“Do you still not trust me?” My voice came out in a squeak.

It was hard to speak at all around the lump in my throat. Why was he making such a big deal about this? Was I still merely just a payment for a debt he’d never consider paid?