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“Fortunately, you didn’t have to,” I said with a smile, feeling giddy at the sight of them.
Being near them made me feel like I was a child again, surrounded by my brothers whenever I got hurt, or if anyone tried to pick on me. No matter the situation, they always had my back.
Vik looked near tears as he hugged me next, more gently than Yaro had. “I’m so relieved to see you. You have no idea how hard we looked for you.”
I tried to hold back the strong emotions that threatened me, not wanting to start sobbing so publicly. “I’m glad to hear you didn’t give up on me, at least.”
“We’d never,” Vik reassured me, expression softening as he tenderly cupped my cheek for a moment. “Especially not after we saw what happened. It looked horrific.”
Aware of the touchy subject, I wanted to steer clear of it as much as possible. To keep Nik from becoming a target, I needed to keep the grittier details out of it.
But to both my relief and horror, Yaro had already noticed Nik as he stood there somewhat awkwardly, attention pinned on him. I couldn’t help but wonder if his brotherly senses already gave him a hunch, or if he was solely wondering why I was with a man they didn’t know.
Regardless, I could only hope that everything went well despite the sinking feeling in my gut.
Chapter 18 - Nik
If looks could kill, I would’ve been dead twice over.
Under the gazes of Yaro and Vik, it suddenly felt like I had no experience in the mafia world at all. Like every trick and instinct I had picked up were suddenly useless to me, and I was left to flounder like an idiot.
I didn’t know if it was their infamous name or the fact that they were my brothers-in-law without their knowledge, but I suddenly felt like a hare caught in a trap, and they were hunters ready to collect.
Something twitched in Yaro’s jaw as he pointed a finger at me and looked at Anastasia. “Who is this? Did he have anything to do with the attack?”
Immediately, I knew that wasn’t a good sign. It certainly wasn’t the start I had hoped for.
To my relief, Anastasia was quick to my defense. “His name is Nik, but please, sit down,” she urged them, keeping her voice low.
While Yaro looked prepared to jump over the table already, he swallowed back his clear disdain and did as his sister said. Everyone took their seats, with Yaro and Vik sat across from us.
“Please tell me what the hell is going on,” Yaro uttered, appearing to be wrangling his anger.
Anastasia took a steadying breath and offered them a nervous smile. “Nik and I are married.”
Yaro’s eyes practically bulged out of his face as Vik choked back a cough out of shock. When the latter was able to regain his bearings, they simultaneously blinked back at us, unable to find words.
To drive the point home, she held out her hand and brandished the ring on her finger. “We met in Europe during my trip, and we planned on reconnecting back in the city once I returned. Nothing seemed to work out initially until he and his coworkers stormed my lecture hall.”
Yaro looked furious at that. “So he did take you—”
“But it was all by chance,” Anastasia lied, nearly fooling me too from how confidently she spoke. “He works for a family in the city, and his boss had instructed him to kidnap me to use against you. He didn’t want to, but he couldn’t disobey him. You know how it is, work is work.”
“You can’t be serious,” Vik mumbled, seemingly still at a loss.
“I’m very serious,” she hummed, glancing between them. “In the strange circumstances, we managed to connect again, and we decided to get married. We signed the papers and everything.”
She looked over at me and wore a sweet smile, both alarming me somewhat and reminding me to do the same. There wasn’t anything false about my feelings for her, but I knew we had to exaggerate at least to some degree to keep her brothers from opening fire on me in the middle of the bistro.
“So you got married and didn’t tell us,” Yaro began, face hard with his anger as he tapped his foot absently. “But why not contact us sooner to check in? Why make us go crazy looking for you?”
“Because things were complicated given his…associations,” Anastasia said, nearly tripping over the explanation. “I couldn’t just reach out when his boss was under the assumption I was his captive. You would’ve stormed in, and people would’ve been hurt because of it.”
“You’re right, we would have,” he gritted out, eyes focused on me. “And who are these associates of yours?”
Realizing the heat was on me then, I straightened my back and urged myself to sound confident. I didn’t need them thinking I was spineless.
“I work for Erasmo Capris, who I understand is not on your good list.”
