Page 30 of Hunted Bride

“Absolutely not. I’m not letting Max’s scowl mess up our wedding pictures.” Rion kisses my knuckles. I swear I blush clear to my toes. It’s true that his older brother is terrifying and that he hasn’t stopped scowling once since Alisa disappeared.

I’ve suspected for years that the situation between them is more complicated than it appears on the surface. She’s dramatic and has a life she loves, one she doesn’t want to give up to be a bratva wife. Max is a consummate bratva boss, arrogant, ruthless, and, if my guess is correct, pining for a woman who doesn’t love him back.

Maybe she’ll have a change of heart if we can get her back from the Volkov faction. It’s almost sweet the way Max has lost his mind searching for her. He really does care about her.

Rion has moved into my apartment for the time being. He and three guards escort me to work. One remains stationed at my library throughout the day. They rotate every few hours to attract less attention. He wanted me to quit, but I couldn’t leave my colleagues in the lurch. Yes, sometimes my boss asks me to stay after my shift to finish shelving. Sometimes my harried colleagues don’t get around to emptying the returns box until later in the day. It’s annoying, but they aren’t harassing me on purpose. We’re understaffed and underappreciated.

Today, when the director asked me to stay late, I took a deep breath and told her I couldn’t because I had to get to class. I said I would come in early the next morning to get it done. My boss actually smiled and said it was fine, just take care of it first thing.

Imagine—all I had to do was learn to speak up for myself. Which is a lot easier for me to do, knowing that I have a six-foot-five tattooed bratva boss waiting for me to come home. If anyone messes with me, he’ll kill them. No questions asked.

Each day I get to come home to Rion, who has set up camp in my living room. I usually find a couple of byki—guards—sitting on my sofa when I come in. The contrast between their severe tattoos and black clothes with my whimsical bookish apartment amuses me. My boyfriend waves for them to leave the instant I walk in.

“How was your day, minx?” he asks.

I have a new nickname now. No more mouse. Now, I’m his little minx. I can flirt with him as much as I want. Having rarely practiced, I’m awkward at it, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

“Good,” I say brightly. It’s true.

“I don’t have to kill the head librarian?”

“Nope. She told me I should have spoken up sooner about my class schedule. Which is true.” I make a face. He pulls me in for a kiss. It feels so good to come home to him instead of an empty apartment.

“You’re finding your voice,” he says approvingly. “Speaking of finding things, your sister is safe.”

It’s been a strange couple of days, knowing there wasn’t anything I could do to help her. Feeling guilty that I was the one who gave her the tools to run straight into the arms of an enemy faction.

She was the one who ran. That’s not my doing. I’m trying to place responsibility for this situation appropriately. There is certainly enough blame to go around.

“That’s a relief. She’s not hurt?”

He shakes his head and says, “Giving Max hell, but they’ll work it out.”

“Mm. Has your twin turned up yet?” I ask.

“Yeah. You’re not going to believe this. He’s married.”

“What?” I drag out the vowel in surprise. “Luka beat us to the punch? How dare he.”

It’s funny. Alisa and I both tried to escape the bratva, but in the end, there’s no leaving the brotherhood. I no longer want to. With Rion, I’m right where I belong.

What she does, is up to her.

EPILOGUE

RION

A week after I’ve invited myself to stay at Milena’s apartment, she’s taking a long shower from which I was banned because, quote, “I take up all the space and hot water.”

Obviously, the solution is for her to move into my house, where the shower is amply sized for a man of my stature. However, said house is in Las Vegas, hundreds of miles away, and her life is here. Until she finishes her degree—or her lease comes up for renewal and I can convince her to move to a better place—I’m stuck entertaining myself while she cleans up.

I help myself to her latest read. This one is a hefty fantasy novel with a shiny dragon on the cover. I flip it open and begin reading.

“Excuse me, sir,” Milena says when she comes out of the shower in her bathrobe. “That is my book.”

“I like reading too, you know.”

She snorts. I pat the bed beside me. She tucks herself against my side.