Page 10 of Obsession of the Bratva

An accusation.

A question.

Instead, Nico remained completely still. For months, I had imagined seeing him again. I had imagined a hundred different versions of this conversation, and some ended with him yelling or demanding answers. Some ended with him refusing to even look at me, but none of them had prepared me for indifference. For the possibility that I had finally succeeded in destroying everything between us.

Life had a cruel sense of humor.

The drive lasted nearly forty minutes, and eventually the city gave way to privacy gates and sprawling estates. The Romanov property appeared beyond the wrought iron fencing. This was not his penthouse in the city, which only meant this was just another safe house. He wanted to keep me hidden. The gates opened immediately, and the SUV drove through. And for the first time since Nico walked into my dressing room, genuine nervousness settled in my stomach.

This felt final.

The vehicle stopped beneath a covered entrance, and before I could reach for the door, Nico exited. A second later, my door opened. I looked up, but he wasn’t offering his hand. He was simply waiting. I stepped out, and the white silk dress I was wearing felt ridiculous. It was supposed to go underneath the layers of my gown.

I still looked like a bride with my hair and makeup done, but just not anyone’s bride anymore. The thought almost made me laugh. Almost. Nico turned toward the house.

“Let’s go inside.” The command was quiet.

I followed, the front doors already open for us. Warm light spilled across polished marble floors. The house was beautiful, made of dark wood and stone accents with floor-to-ceiling windows. Everything was expensive and carefully designed. Yet the moment the doors closed behind me, none of that mattered.

A chapter of my life had just ended, and another had begun. And I wasn’t sure which one frightened me more.

“Nico—” I turned around to face him, not knowing what I even wanted to say.

“No.”

The response came immediately, sharp enough to stop me mid-sentence. I stared at him as he removed his suit jacket and loosened his cuffs. Nico moved through the house with effortless confidence, like he navigated everything in his life. As though abducting brides from churches was simply another task on today’s schedule.

“Nico, please.”

He stopped slowly and turned around. For the first time since the church, his full attention landed on me, and it felt as if I was standing beneath a spotlight. It was dangerous and uncomfortable. Impossible to ignore.

“What?” The question should have sounded harmless, but it didn’t. I swallowed.

“I need to explain.” I had no clue what I was going to explain, but I wanted to talk to him. I wanted him to say something. I wanted him to react, and he was giving me nothing.

His expression did not change. Not even slightly. “No.”

The single word hit harder than shouting ever could.

“You don’t understand—”

“I understand perfectly.”

“You don’t.”

“I do.” The certainty in his voice sent a chill through me. “You cheated on me, and then you left. You got engaged to someone else, not two weeks after, and today you were getting married to him. And now you’re here.”

I took a shaky breath. “It wasn’t like that.”

A humorless smile appeared on his face, making him look dangerous. It was the first smile I had seen from him all evening, but somehow it was worse than his anger.

“Don’t.”

“What?”

“Do not insult my intelligence by trying to lie your way out of it, Vera.”

“Nico—”