Chapter 9 - Tia

"How long do we have to stay locked up inside for?" I huff in annoyance. It's only been three days, but I'm already going crazy being stuck in this house with Yefim.

"One week. I offered to take you on an actual honeymoon, but you didn't want to go. But we still have to make people think we went, otherwise it's not exactly a real wedding, it is?"

"I know, okay. I know the logic. But it doesn't make it any less annoying."

I sigh and turn to leave the living room.

"Wait. Where are you going?"

"To read in my room."

"It's almost dinner."

"Okay?"

"I think we should start eating together. We don't even talk. How are we going to get to know each other so that we can make the world believe we are really together if we don't even talk?"

"Yes, fine. I'll be at dinner."

He nods, his jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed towards me.

I know he's annoyed about my mood. I just didn't factor in living with him or being under house arrest with him while we pretend to be on honeymoon.

I've sort of been spending the last few days trying to ignore him because I don't know how to deal with living with someone I don't even know, but he follows me around, trying to talk to me, trying to get to know me.

I guess we're having dinner together tonight, then.

I sigh and turn away, walking to my bedroom.

He's right, though. If we want to make it convincing, we do need to know a little about each other.

I grab my book from the dressing table and flop down onto my bed. I don't like sitting around and doing nothing, but at the same time, this is actually exactly the rest my body needed. It feels so weird to have time to read during the day, and just kick back with my feet up.

My body might go into shock because of it. I chuckle.

Th only responsibility I have while we are ‘honeymooning' is studying. I have time off from the internship and both of my other jobs. Which is terrifying for me.

He wanted me to quit the other jobs, but I can't do that yet. Because it means I would actually be fully trusting that Yefim will keep his word and I'll be earning more money once I graduate. I'd rather wait and be sure that everything is going according to plan before I start taking that kind of risk.

***

At dinner time one of the housekeepers comes through to call me. I had actually drifted off to sleep and managed to rest for two whole hours. I can't believe how good I feel after a little extra sleep. It just goes to show how much I've been pushing myself and how bad it would have been in the long run.

I guess I should really give Yefim a chance, try to get to know him better, because overall, this deal isn't bad at all.

I give my hair a quick brush-through and pull it into a high bun, then head down to dinner.

Yefim is already at the table. He stands up when I arrive and goes around to pull my chair out for me.

"Thank you," I say as I sit down, and he pushes it in behind me.

"Tia, I want to have all of our meals together. And I want to start going through some business plans with you as well. We need to do this properly if it's going to work."

"I know, I understand. I will be here at every meal."

"And you are willing to look at business plans with me? I was going to go through some tomorrow morning after breakfast."

"Yes, of course."

He nods, satisfied.

The chef brings in a dish of mushroom risotto. It smells incredible.

"Oh my word, I love mushrooms."

"Is that so? I will make note of it," Yefim replies.

We sit together in silence for a moment before I resign myself to the fact that I need to try and make a little effort.

"What's your favorite food?" I know, it's so lame. Asking someone their favorite food or favorite color feels like I'm back in elementary school—but I know nothing about this guy. I have to start somewhere.

"Burgers. So American, right? But back home they made the burgers differently. Here—I just really like them." He chuckles at himself.

"And what do you do when you aren't at work? I mean—for fun?"

"Sadly, I'm always at work. What do you do for fun?"

I laugh too. "Sadly, I'm always working, too."

"A match made in heaven, then?" He tilts his head towards me and raises his eyebrows.

"I don't want to work twenty-four hours a day. Right now, or lately, it's just been necessary. One day, I hope to make enough to enjoy my job and to enjoy my life."

"What will you do one day when you are rich, Tia?"

"I'll travel. Definitely. I want to see the world. I want to explore new places."

"Have you traveled before?"

"Not yet. My family did not have a lot of money growing up—my mom…well, I guess you know about my mother."

"Hm. Yes. Well, perhaps one day we will travel together."

I nod, skeptical of agreeing to something like that, because as soon as we have reached our agreement with this marriage I will be leaving.

Dinner is relaxed and enjoyable, and afterwards I go to bed.

***

The next morning, after breakfast, Yefim and I are sitting at the dining room table again with paperwork spread out around us.

"This is the shipment schedule. You will need to familiarize yourself with it."

"Where is your biggest client base?"

Yefim is sitting close to me at the table, and beneath it our legs keep brushing against each other. It's annoying, because every time it happens, I feel electricity running through my body and it distracts me.

"A lot of our clients are here in the area, but we have some big clients overseas. Here's a list of destinations we courier to often."

He hands me a binder titled ‘Client Information.'

Just beneath it is another one titled ‘Staff.'

We go through different routes, products, clients, schedules—until my brain feels like it is going to explode. All the while, I'm fighting this attraction to him that just seems to be getting stronger the more time I spend with him.

I can't help but notice the little things about him that I find attractive. The way those dimples form on his cheeks when he smiles. The way just one of his eyebrows raises when he's amused. How he cracks his knuckles when he's thinking, and when he runs his hands through his hair, I have to stop myself from gawking at his extremely toned arms and shoulders.

His entire body is very muscular. Now that he isn't in the office, he's been wearing black tee shirts around the house. That means I get to see his arms all day long, and I get a clearer look at the way the soft tee shirt fabric clings to his six pack.

I can't be attracted to him like this, though. It's so wrong on so many levels. He's Bratva, and I know what that means. They are cruel, menacing, dangerous people. You don't mess with them. I mean, the entire reason I'm in this situation is because if I didn't agree to it, they would have killed me.

How can I be okay with letting myself be attracted to someone who was otherwise willing to kill me?

"Do you understand it all?"

Shit. I wasn't paying attention. This is what happens when I'm too close to him.

"Um."

"Were you listening?"

"I'm so sorry—we've been at it for three hours, and I zoned out a little." I bite my lower lip, thinking he'll have upset me. I still see him as my boss, and I just told my boss I wasn't listening during a kind of a work meeting.

But instead of being upset, he runs his hand over my leg beneath the table and chuckles that deep, vibrating laugh.

"Come on, let's take a break."

He stands up and stretches, and his shirt drifts up, revealing a tanned strip of skin above his jeans, which are sitting low on his hips. I can see the dip that leads—

Dammit, Tia. Stop it.

"I'm going to get a coffee. Do you want one?"

"I'd love one. Thanks," I smile.

When he leaves, I pick up the binder titled ‘Staff' and flick through it.

This is for Dubrov Enterprises, their legal business. It details the costs related to staff enrichment and benefits.

They are extremely generous to their staff. Not only in the standard ways—health benefits and life insurance—but in other ways that go above and beyond what would be expected from them. There is a budget for weekend get always and team building events. There are pizza nights and donations towards kids' schooling.

This is incredible.

I'm so engrossed in the binder that I don't hear Yefim come back in.

"Here you go. I thought you needed a break?" he says, and I practically jump out of the chair, slamming the binder closed as though I was snooping around.

"Oh my word."

He laughs. "Jumpy?"

I take a few deep breaths with my hand clasped over my heart, trying to calm it down.

He sits down next to me again.

When I'm a little more settled, I pick up the binder and open it again, running my hand down a list of staff expenses.

"Your family is very generous with your employees."

"Yes," he says, looking confused. "Was there a question?"

"No, it's just—most companies don't really do that." I shrug.

"Maybe, but we feel that the employees make the company possible. On both the topside and underside of the business, if we can't trust and rely on our employees—if they aren't happy—then the business won't be successful."

"I get that, but in a lot of instances, you seem to treat them like family."

"We spend almost every day of the week with these people. They are like family."

A smile touches my lips.

Maybe I have to admit that he isn't as bad as I thought he was. He seems to care deeply about people—the people that work for him. He could choose to do the bare minimum for them, and they would be satisfied with it, but instead he goes so far beyond that it's hard to comprehend.

I've only heard rumors about Bratva. The rumors I've heard don't include them being this nice to their employees.

Or am I being na?ve? It's so difficult to trust my own judgment when I really don't know anything at all about him, his family, or how they operate.

"You're staring," Yefim says, and my cheeks turn fire-red when I realize I am literally staring right at him, my brows knotted, biting my lip, my eyes piercing into him.

I quickly look away, out the window, down at the table full of paper work. I spot my coffee. I grab it and sip it, desperate for something to do.

Yefim is laughing at me again.

I feel like a bit of an idiot.

I really need to have more control of myself when I'm around him.

One minute I'm perving on him and the next I'm daydreaming about how nice he is to people. I've got to be more aware of myself. I don't want to get too caught up in him and end up hurting myself in the process.