Page 13 of Worshipped by the BRATVA Grump

“What?” asks Kimmie.

“Three handsome hunks with massive junks?” Delilah cackles a laugh as Sammie swats at her arm.

Sammie turns back to me. “Babe, what’s going on?”

“I had sex with Mechislav after Delilah’s wedding,” I whisper.

“Okay,” Sammie manages while Kimmie splutters a mouthful of tea back into the mug. Delilah’s mouth opens in shock, which is odd, because of all of the women I’d expect her to be the least surprised.

“I just didn’t expect…whatever this is.” I gesture to the hole in the wall.

“The doorway you wanted for the shop?” Sammie asks, her gaze following my hand before sweeping back to me.

“Urgh,” I grumble. “I’m not even making any sense.”

“Oooooh,” Delilah says, flashing her eyes. “I know what’s happening here.” She points a finger at me. “You’re overthinking things.”

Her words feel like a slap, even though I know she doesn’t mean them cruelly. “What do you mean?”

Delilah sighs, while Sammie excuses herself to serve a customer. One of the cats, Rhodes jumps onto the table and sits directly in front of me. Staring at me with those eyes that see enough to make me uncomfortable.

“The guys are more than just what they do,” Delilah offers. “But I guess it’s intimidating.” She looks at Kimmie for confirmation.

“They are intense, but that intensity crosses over into how much they love us. How protective they are…the lengths they’ll go to to make sure we are safe and happy. It can be overwhelming, but it’s worth it to have someone worship you that way.”

“I never in a million years expected someone like Eduard to fall for me,” Sammie says, returning to the table.

“What if Mechislav decides a couple of years down the line that I’m not that for him?”

Kimmie snorts. “That’s not how the Federov’s work. Once they make a decision, it’s a done deal. If Mechislav has decided you’re his, that’s it.”

I think about it for a moment. What am I so afraid of?

“There’s just so much more in a relationship than…you know.” I whisper in a bid to keep it from reaching any customer ears.

Kimmie laughs this time. “Hey, that helps though, right?”

“Right,” I say, drinking the last of my coffee. “I need to get back in there. Bodhan was saying something about paint samples.”

I make my way through the new door into what’s soon going to be my very own bookshop. Mechislav was right. This is my dream. Maybe I’m just worried that if everything fails with Mechislav, then my dream of having my own bookshop will fall apart too.

I’m hunched over the counter looking at paint swatches and trying to ignore the memory of what I did last time I was on this counter, when Mechislav comes into the shop.

“Looking good,” he says, running his fingers over one of the shelves. When I turn to him, he is framed by the window with the window seat in it and my eyes go to the carved words there.

“It’s looking amazing,” I agree, trying not to let the sweeping feeling of butterflies in my stomach cloud my judgment about things.

He is formidable. And anyone who didn’t know him would be right to be scared of him. But I don’t feel scared of him. When I look at him, I feel calm and certain.

He raises an eyebrow, the question right there, everything okay?

I walk to him and lift up on to my tip toes, until my lips are just an inch from his.

“All the words,” I say, and press my mouth against his.

His hand comes around my waist and we kiss until Bodhan clears his throat.

“Sorry, Boss Lady,” he says. “But we need a decision on paint.”