Arranged Bratva Love

Aurora

Maybe I had prejudged Bethany because I actually had an enjoyable lunch with her. She was a nice woman. Came from a media background. Her parents were more than thrilled with her marrying Andrei Belov. The arrangements had already been made and the wedding set for December. Not too far away, and she was excited.

During all of her talk of her wedding, not once did she invite me, but I figured it had something to do with Slavik and the whole Bratva thing.

We had lunch several times a week. I invited her to dinner. We talked about everything and nothing. In fact, I’d been that heavily involved with Bethany, I had nearly forgotten about the uncomfortable conversation with Sergei.

He was there all the time, watching and waiting.

Each day, I had a new date with Bethany.

She’d be returning with Andrei to wherever he lived. I couldn’t recall where, but it was in one of the cities. I was never good with locations.

“You and Bethany seem to be hitting it off,” Sergei said.

“Slavik wanted me to be nice and have dinner. She’s only here for a couple more days and then she’s leaving.”

Sergei nodded.

What also played on my mind was the kiss I’d shared with Slavik in the bathroom. There was no one to talk to about it. I wanted to know what a kiss like that meant. Was it normal to share one so intense? Every time I thought about it, my lips tingled, and like now, I touched them.

Would it be so wrong to give in to him?

We hadn’t had sex.

My period had started a few days ago, so that meant no baby. To have a baby you did have to do it regularly, right?

Talking to my mother was useless. She never came to the phone. Isabella was always talking about a party she’d been to and what fun she had. Me, I’d been left with Slavik, confused.

The only place to go would be the internet, and trying to figure out the truth was way too complicated. Also, my searching had sent me to a porn site. If Slavik had a way of checking through what I looked at, there would be questions.

Even our sex didn’t match up to the porn videos.

Sergei parked the car outside a cute Italian place. I’d read the reviews, and they were amazing. I called Bethany up immediately.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

I arrived at the table and took a seat. Bethany was ten minutes late, but she arrived. She wore a low-cut dress that stopped above the knee. She was so beautiful.

I got to my feet, kissing her cheek as we’d started to do. This was the first time I’d ever had a girlfriend, and it was glorious.

“Sorry I was late, Andrei, well, he didn’t want me to leave.”

“Oh, are you living with Andrei?”

“Yes.”

This was another part of how different we both were. Her family was happy with her traveling with her husband. The engagement ring was on her finger, and to the rest of the world, they were going to be married. Bethany had confided in me that Andrei wasn’t her first boyfriend. She’d gone to an all-girls school and had met a guy there. She wasn’t a virgin.

A lot of details to take in, but I hadn’t shared a single secret with anyone. Part of me was scared for her.

My virginity for my wedding to Slavik had been a necessity.

I didn’t know if she loved Andrei, not that love played a part in my own marriage. Once again, Slavik kept his distance. He came home and slept beside me, but the only reason I knew that was the dent on his pillow the next morning.

Thinking about my marriage, I felt cold.

There was no love, nor was there any passion. Little by little, I felt like I was dying inside.

Bethany distracted me, telling me about a movie she’d watched. I liked how she talked a lot. It filled the silence. Our meal came, and I noticed she always pushed her salad around the plate.

Her cell phone went off, and she glanced down at the screen and groaned. “I’ve just got to take this. I’ll be right back.”

Again, I was used to her taking calls through our lunches.

I wasn’t hungry.

The waiter came to the table, and I saw Sergei watching me.

“I’ll be back in a moment.” I needed to use the bathroom and with Sergei close, he’d watch the table to make sure none of our stuff was stolen.

I went to the bathroom, washed my hands, and when I chanced a look in the mirror, I saw … sadness.

After pinching my cheeks to add a little pink to my complexion, I left the bathroom, coming to a stop when I saw Bethany just down the hall near the kitchen.

I approached.

“No, please keep talking to me. Anything to stop this from dragging.”

I stopped.

What was dragging?

“Andrei made me ask her to go to lunch, and the last few weeks, that is all we’ve done. She eats all the time, and I’ve never known anyone so dull in all my life. Honestly, I can’t wait to get home. We can go and have some fun. Aurora wouldn’t know fun if it bit her in the ass, and let me tell you, she’s so ugly. Slavik is hot. He’s dangerously hot, he deserves someone so much better than Aurora.”

Biting my lip, I stepped away, leaving her as she continued talking about me.

I headed back to the table, feeling kind of numb. The waiter came and asked about dessert. I told him no and asked for the check.

Looking over at Sergei, I wanted to burst into tears. I’d been so desperate for a friend I hadn’t read the signs.

I was empty. I’d eaten lunch and yet my stomach cramped.

My throat started to burn.

Bethany arrived, and as I looked at her now, I realized the signs I’d been ignoring over the past few weeks. She always arrived late. There was no invitation to her wedding.

“What did I miss?” she asked.

She smiled at me, and part of me thought about playing along, but the truth was, I was so tired of this dance.

The waiter arrived.

I saw the cost and paid it with the cash in my wallet. “I’ve had a call. I’ve got to go. Sorry to cut this short.”

She looked shocked, but I got to my feet, already leaving. She wasn’t used to me being the one to end our time together. Always the damn same.

“I’ll call you,” she said.

I didn’t say anything.

Sergei took the lead, heading out of the restaurant ahead of me. The car was already waiting, so I guessed he’d called ahead. He opened the backseat passenger door, and I climbed in. Sitting back, I took a breath, wiping at my cheeks to make sure the tears wouldn’t fall.

“Take me home,” I said.

I rarely thought of Slavik’s apartment as home.

He didn’t question me.

I stared out the window.

Boring. Ugly. These were words I was used to. They shouldn’t hurt me anymore, and yet, I thought Bethany had started to become a friend.

There was no friendship there. At least I heard the truth before I got too attached.

No friends.

This was how I was just going to have to live my life. People didn’t like me. Simple as that. No matter what I did.

Fine. I wouldn’t make friends.

The drive was a blur.

When he parked the car, I shot out of it, going straight to the elevator. I didn’t give Sergei a chance to catch up. The doors closed and the elevator took me up. No one stopped the elevator in its tracks, and for that, I was relieved.

I had a key to the door and I let myself in, tempted to lock the door, but I refused to cause more of a scene.

Gently, I put my bag down and went straight to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and saw the bottle of water.

I’d been starving myself these past few weeks. Working out at the gym. The gym.

I rushed to the bedroom, changed out of the skirt, sandals, and crop top into a pair of gym shorts and a shirt. When I was changed and ready, Sergei came into the apartment. He was panting.

“You didn’t wait for the elevator?”

“I’m to keep you protected at all times.”

“Yeah, well, this is not one of those times.”

I made to go around him. He stepped in my way. He was out of air, but he still thought he could take me on.

“I’m going to work out. I need to go to the gym.”

“What happened?” he asked.

“None of your business. Your job is to take care of me. Consider your job well done.” I reached out, patted him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. I’m still alive.”

“Aurora, you’re hurting.”

“I’m not. I’m completely fine. I’ve got no reason to be upset or hurt. I’m alive. I’ve told you that.”

“You’re going to cry.”

Tears had already flooded my eyes. “Get out of my way.”

“No.”

“This is not doing your job.”

“Like you said. You’re alive. You’re safe.” He reached out and touched my face.

I jerked back. “No.”

“Aurora, come on, I know you feel it too.”

I frowned. This was so very different. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I continued to take a step back, and he followed. I kept on walking until the wall stopped me from moving. I tensed up as his hands came out and were placed on either side of my head.

“You think I don’t see the way you look at me? Slavik doesn’t deserve you. No one does. I see it. I notice your pain.”

“Sergei, you’ve got to stop.” I didn’t have any feelings for him. He was my guard and it mattered to me that my actions didn’t get him hurt or killed, but that was all.

“No, I don’t think I need to stop. I see how they all treat you. They all ignore you. I can’t stand that.” He pressed his body against mine and the hurt I’d been feeling morphed into something else. Fear.

Before I knew what was happening, Sergei had grabbed my face and started to kiss me. His tongue traced across my mouth, and I instantly tried to push him away. This was not a kiss I wanted.

I’d only ever kissed Slavik, and right now, this made me feel like I betrayed him. I didn’t ask for Sergei’s kiss, but because I hadn’t reported his inappropriate behavior to Slavik, did he think this gave him a right to me?

I tried to cry out, but Sergei was strong. I was no match for him.

I kept trying to hit him, to force him to get away.

All of a sudden, he was off me, and I panted for breath until I saw what was going on. Slavik had come home and now he pounded his fist against Sergei’s face.

Within the few seconds it had taken me to gain my composure, the sheer violence Slavik displayed shocked me.

Over and over, he slammed his fist against his face.

Blood spilled, splattering on the floor and the wall.

“Slavik, stop it.”

I couldn’t get through. Over and over, the pounding went. I reacted, grabbing Slavik’s arms, trying to get him to stop, but he shoved me away and I fell hard, my ass hitting the floor.

There was nothing else for me to do.

Right there, in front of me, Slavik drew his gun and shot Sergei in the head.

My mouth fell open. No sounds came out.

Sergei, my bodyguard, was dead.

Slavik spat on him and got to his feet. His hands were covered in blood, Sergei’s blood.

He turned toward me, and as he advanced, with all the blood, I scrambled away. I was no match for Slavik either. He grabbed my arm and dragged me up, slamming my back against the wall.

I cried out. Tears ran down my cheeks as he pressed the gun against my temple. I whimpered as the heat seemed to burn right through my head.

“How long?” he asked.

“What?”

“How long have you been fucking him?”

“I would never do that. Never.”

“You expect me to believe that after what I just saw?”

“If you saw correctly, you’d have seen that I was fighting him off.” My entire body shook.

I’d seen people killed before. Dead bodies were not new to me, but right now, I was in shock. I had to be.

The sheer violence, that was new to me.

He didn’t stop to ask Sergei any questions. He just killed him. Now he had the same gun pointed at me and thought I would betray him. Seconds passed as Slavik looked into my eyes.

“I saw,” he said. “Now tell me what the fuck happened.”

I nodded my head. The action felt jerky to me, but I stood there and told him everything. About coming home and Sergei pressing me against the wall. The kiss. I even told him about him wanting to be friends and getting close. I didn’t have any secrets.

All the while, Slavik looked at me.

What did he see?

Was he debating how to get rid of me?

“Go to your room,” he said. “Stay there until I come to you.”

“Slavik?”

“Now!” He yelled the word, and I didn’t stick around. I ran as fast as I could, tripping over my feet. Once inside the bedroom, I flicked the lock closed and ran toward the bathroom. Staring at my reflection, I saw the blood. Sergei’s blood.

This was all my fault. I tore my clothes off my body, scrambling to get myself clean.

I stepped beneath the water and cried out as the cold hit my skin. I didn’t move for a short time, trying to process everything that had happened. Grabbing the soap, I started to scrub my hands and my body.

Sergei had died because of me.

I should have told him no. Told Slavik.

I felt sick.

Getting someone killed had never been my intention.

I felt so cold. So alone. This wasn’t fair.

Tilting my head up to the shower, I couldn’t believe what had happened today. I’d lost a friend, and another who had wanted to be mine had been killed. What the hell was wrong with me?