Page 24 of The Pakhan's Arranged Bride

“I’m not nervous. My mother is just—intense, she wants to knoweverything. And shealwaysknows what’s best. She can be a lot to handle. But I promise you, everything is going to be fine. You’ll do great.”

She scrunches up her nose, looking cute in her stress. I grin at her and tilt my head. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

I wait for Ulyana to climb out of the car, then wrap my hand around her waist to pull her close to my side as we walk up to the front door. My mother opens it, her eyes immediately on Ulyana.

“Hello, sweetheart. I’m so glad you two could come over tonight. I didn’t even have a chance to meet you properly at the wedding.” She pulls Ulyana away from me into a warm embrace.

Belle is waiting just inside, and she bowls into Ulyana, hugging her with less elegance than my mother did.

“I’m so excited,” she says, grinning at my wife. “I want to know all about you.” She takes Ulyana’s hand and pulls her into the house.

My mother looks me up and down, her eyes narrowed, then a smile breaks out over her face. “She’s absolutely beautiful, Benedikt,” she says in approval.

She leads me through to the kitchen, where Belle has roped Ulyana into helping make a giant salad.

My mother walks over to the stove and picks up the wooden spoon, dipping it into a pot to stir a thick creamy sauce.

“Where’s the chef?” I ask, confused.

“Oh no, I sent him home tonight. Belle and I thought it would be fun to make your favorite food from when you were little.”

The familiar smells bring back fond memories of many, many years ago.

“Mac and cheese with crispy bacon bits and fried mushrooms?” I ask excitedly. It’s nice to see her trying to be a real mom.

“And extra cheese on the cheese,” my mother laughs. She turns to Ulyana and raises her brows. “This boy would steal an entire block of cheese from my fridge when he was little and eat the whole thing in one go like it was a chocolate bar.”

“When he was little?” Belle snorts.

“Hey, you said you wouldn’t rat me out,” I glare at her.

She giggles and tilts her head to the side. “He did it last week,” she betrays me.

“Isthatwhere my cheese went? I knew I couldn’t have finished it.” My mother blurts out. “I almost blamed the chef.”

“You, little sister, are going to hear from me later on,” I warn her, shooting daggers in her direction with a sharp look.

She laughs at me. “You, big brother, never kept your end of the deal.”

“What?” I ask in confusion.

She raises her brows, pouting her lips; clearly, I’ve forgotten something.

Suddenly, it all comes back to me. I promised to get her in touch with my SA so she could source a very sought after bag she’s dying for. Belle isn’t like other the majority of the women in their world when it comes to material things, so when she wants something, it means it’s really special to her. And he fucking forgot about it.

“Shit,” I chuckle.

“Indeed,” Belle says.

“I’ll make a call tomorrow. Just message me to remind me. I forgot.”

“Big brothers,” Belle rolls her eyes dramatically at Ulyana.

“More trouble than they’re worth,” Ulyana joins in, teasing me.

I step up behind her, looking over her shoulder. She’s slicing tomatoes. “You look like you know what you’re doing with that knife,” I tease her.

“Let that be a warning to you,” she laughs.