Arranged Bratva Love

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Bethany was a viperous bitch.

Her claws were out.

“I can’t believe Aurora would lie about me. I’m a good woman. A much better match to Andrei than my sister. She doesn’t have what it takes to please a man like him. I know how to.” She tried to press her body against mine. “I can do things that will blow your mind, Slavik. There is nothing I won’t do for you.”

For the past five minutes, she’d been offering her body up to me. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? To think you won. That you took Aurora’s husband from her. I know who you are, Bethany, and to be honest, I don’t like what I see or what I hear.” I glared at her. I was done playing nice. “If I ever hear you talk about my woman, or you hurt her like you did the last time, I will fucking kill you. Do you understand me?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Aurora is a liar. She can’t stand to have friends, and her aim is to make everyone feel sorry for her.”

This time, I smiled. “You’re wrong, and do you know how I know this? She heard you, Bethany. At the last lunch you shared together. She heard the nasty shit you said about her. I’m telling you to be glad you’re a guest at this wedding, and I’ve promised to be on my good behavior. For insulting my wife, I’d make you pay for that. I’d make you scream and beg, and I wouldn’t stop until I carved up your face and tore you to pieces.”

With that, I released her and went out of the room to where I saw my wife disappear.

Ivan came back through the door.

No sign of my woman.

“Aurora’s outside. You do know she’s in a great deal of pain,” Ivan said. “The shit that happened long before you ever met her. It plagues her.”

“Stay away from my wife,” I said.

“Or what? You’re going to keep more secrets from me?” Ivan asked. “Like … the baby?”

I glanced over his shoulder. “It’s not a secret.”

“She has no idea she’s carrying your baby.”

“She’s not ready to know and you know she thinks I do everything out of duty.”

Ivan chuckled. “If you do everything out of duty, then follow this order. Tell your woman how you feel and end this misery between the two of you. She’s yours, Slavik, you just have to take her.”

He brushed past me, and I turned toward him. “I can’t kill her.”

Ivan smiled. “I never said you had to.”

He walked away, and I left the building, finding my wife on the porch, her body pressed against the stone railing. I stepped behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. I heard her sniffle and knew she’d been crying.

“Do you want me to kill him?” I asked, brushing my fingers against her shoulder.

“No. He didn’t make me cry. How was your dance with Bethany?”

“I made you cry?”

“No, not really. I guess you did. Seeing you with her hurt.”

“I never want to cause you pain.”

She sighed. “You can’t make promises like that. I’m … I’ve got a lot of … issues.”

I chuckled. “We all have a lot of issues.”

“All my life, all I’ve ever been told was that I don’t measure up. I am second best. I am not liked. I’m unlovable, and seeing you with Bethany after she said that you will be with her, that you’d make love to her, it hurt.” Aurora turned toward me, tears glistening in her eyes. “I … I can’t stand the thought of her or any other woman being with you. I know I’m not perfect.”

“Don’t,” I said. “I don’t want to hear another word out of that mouth of yours that makes the claim you’re not good enough. Screw them, Aurora. You think I don’t know how you feel? I was left to rot in the dirt for years. I fought my way. That fight you witnessed, that was fucking clean compared to the shit I’ve put up with. I am loyal to Ivan, but I’m also loyal to you. There isn’t going to be another woman. I have no desire to screw around.”

I ran my fingers through my hair. Talking like this didn’t come naturally to me, and seeing the pain in her eyes renewed my rage. “I can’t promise your life is going to be easy, but I will do everything I can to make you love this life.”

“Will you be happy?” Aurora asked.

I was confused. “Me?”

“Yes. Will you be happy with me?”

“Have I given you the impression I’m not?”

She smiled and shook her head. “No.”

“Then I’m going to be happy.” I kissed her head. “Are you okay?”

“I think so. I just, I don’t know what came over me. I’ve been getting so emotional lately for no reason at all. I don’t understand it.” She shrugged. “This … wedding. I don’t know what it’s doing to me, but it’s like I can’t stop the pain, and it’s morphing into anger. I’ve never felt this way before.”

There was no one around, and the last thing I wanted to do was join the wedding party again. Adelaide had stuck by my wife, pulling her away from me. I’d never thought I was the jealous type until Aurora. “Talk to me.”

She sighed. “You know most of it. My dad offering me in place of my sister. Not even asking me what I wanted. Years and years of not measuring up. Of being second best.” Tears swam in her eyes, but I recognized another emotion, anger. I’d rarely seen it in Aurora’s eyes. “Adelaide feels something similar. It’s not exact, but it’s close. The pain is like more than she can bear. She doesn’t know if she’s terrified of her new husband, or angry that she is just a replacement for Bethany.”

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. “All my life, all I’ve ever been is second best to my sister to everyone around me, including my own family. I’ve been gone nearly ten months and other than one dinner, no calls. No celebration. Nothing.” Tears fell from her eyes, and she spun away from me. “Just ignore me. I don’t know what’s wrong. This is all too much.”

I knew what to do.

Taking her hand, I led her out of the wedding party, away from any prying eyes. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and called Ivan.

“We’re leaving the party early.”

“Did I give you permission for it?” Ivan asked.

I didn’t even hesitate. I kept on walking. “My woman needs me.”

I hung up my cell phone but sent a quick text to my men waiting at the hotel.

“Wait, what about Adelaide?”

“She’s got people. I’m taking you. No questions asked.”

The driver was smoking as we approached, leaning on the car, glancing down at his cell phone. He laughed before looking up, and the cigarette was gone, cell phone away, and the door was held open for us.

I told him to take us to our hotel.

“Slavik, what’s going on?”

“Trust me.” I took her hands, kissing the knuckles.

My cell phone went off, and I pulled it from my pocket.

Ivan: Tell her about the baby.

I didn’t know why my boss was meddling. Ivan rarely interfered. This was the first time I’d kept anything from him.

“Are you okay?” Aurora asked.

She’d been having a meltdown but asked about my well-being. This woman, she was … I had no words. Cupping her face, I tilted her head toward me and brushed my lips against hers.

She moaned my name, kissing me back, and damn it, when did a kiss have to be so addictive? I licked across her lips, sucking the bottom one into my mouth, using my teeth to pull it from between hers.

“Slavik,” she said, moaning louder. Her hand landed on my chest, right above my heart.

Staring into her eyes, I was struck by every single part of her.

The driver came to a stop, and I exited the car. Opening the door, I held her hand, and together, we walked to the elevator.

I wasn’t touching her enough. I tugged her close, wrapping an arm around her waist, keeping her tight to me as was physically possible. Kissing the top of her head, I watched the elevator descend rather than go up.

“Slavik, we’re not going to our room.”

“I know.”

“What’s happening?”

“Trust me.”

She rested against my side, and in the reflection of the doors, I saw her snuggle up against me. No smile teased her lips. She looked sad. I hated it and was about to wipe it from her face.

The doors opened and I stepped out.

As per my instructions to my men, the gym was bare. No one was around.

“Slavik?”

I moved her past the running machines, the weights, toward the far part of the room. A punching bag hung, looking a little worse for wear, but durable.

Mitts waited, and I picked them up, securing them to my wife’s hands.

“I’m not going to fight you. I’d lose.”

“This is not about you fighting me,” I said. “You think I don’t know a thing or two about pain? About rejection? About not measuring up?”

“Slavik-”

“I do.” I’d never spoken these feelings to another living soul. “I use it to help make me a better leader. I don’t need people to like me or to care about me. They have to respect me. There is no shame in being who you are. They don’t like you, that’s on them, because, Aurora, when I look at you, I see no fault, no flaw. I see a woman who is worthy of my attention, and everyone else around here can go get fucked before I let them treat you like that. The Bethanys of this world, they’re everywhere. I can find a hundred of them right here in this building, but I can only find one Aurora. You don’t need to compare yourself to them. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re one of a kind, and that makes you fucking special.”

I cupped her face, tilting her head back to kiss her. “Now, all of that pain, the anger. Feed it. Channel it. Throw it at this, and let it leave you, knowing you’re a better person than most. You don’t need all of that other crap.”

I slammed my fist against the bag, and it swung. “Just unleash it.”

I moved to stand behind the bag, holding it into place.

“This feels silly.”

“It’s not. You’re afraid. Don’t be. I’m here. I’ve got you. I’m the only one that can see.”

She licked her lips and held her hands up.

The first jab at the bag was pitiful. There was no real fight to her, and I got it. She’d never given in.

All these years, she had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill and look the other way. To hide it deep, deep down. She couldn’t do that. If she did, it was only going to make her feel worse.

“There is no shame in this, Aurora. Trust me to help you through this. Remember, I wasn’t surrounded by family. I had to earn my place here. I was kicked out. Ignored. Rejected. I worked the streets for every single crumb. This is my life now. I will never allow another person to treat me like trash. I will crush them. You’re worth everything, Aurora. One day, we’re going to have children. If we have two girls, or three, would you let one or two feel like they didn’t matter because of the most beautiful?”

“No!” She slammed her fist against the punching bag.

It was harder than before. This time, she didn’t need any more encouragement from me. With each hit, I watched the anger come to the surface, the sheer agony of everything she’d been through.

All of it manifested as she took it out on the punching bag. Her hits got harder. The pain clearly starting to morph into something else as she finally let loose. This time, rather than use her fist, she lifted her leg and kicked the bag hard. The dress was so loose that it didn’t constrict her movement.

Perspiration dotted her brow, and after she finished, she came to me, wrapping her arms around my neck, holding me close. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me. This was all on you.”

I ran my hands down her back, my dick hardening as her soft body brushed against mine.