Page 114 of Bratva Menace

I think there was also a small part of her that worried I might try to escape. I didn’t feel that desire nearly as much as I should have. I kinda didn’t wanna leave. I liked spending time with her. She was funny. Sweet. Beyond anything I would have ever expected, and I never felt less than when I was with her. Never felt like I wasn’t good enough. That I couldn’t be myself. That I might say something stupid and get reprimanded. She encouraged me to be exactly who I was, and I cherished that. Had come to depend on it a little.

I knew I couldn’t stay there forever, though. My family needed me. The longer I stayed in that house, the longer my father was at risk. As much as I was enjoying myself, I needed to go. I planned to talk to Lyla when she got back. We’d spent a lot of time together. We were fucking married, for God’s sake, in every sense of the word. I should be able to convince her to let me go.

“Earth to Pretty Boy,” Cedric said, clicking his fingers in front of my face.

“Huh?” My thoughts vanished, and I focused back on the game. Wait a minute. “Did you just call me pretty?”

He rolled his eyes. “As if you don’t know you’re pretty.”

“Oh, I know. I just never expected you to say it.” I winked.

“Whatever. What color?” he asked, referring to the game we were playing, Uno. We played a lot of games to pass the time. That was one of the ways I got him to warm up to me. It was either that or sullen silence. No thank you.

“Yellow.”

He put down a yellow skip, then a yellow nine.

I put down another draw four.

“What the fuck?!” he yelled, thumping his fist down again. “How do you keep getting those?!”

“Luck.” Actually, that was bullshit. I was cheating. I cheated all the time in games. Anyone who knew me knew that. Too bad for Cedric, he hadn’t quite figured that out yet. He would eventually, though. There was only a certain number of times someone could win before it became suspicious. “When is Lyla coming back?”

“Why? Miss her already?” he grunted, picking up another four cards and adding them to his hand.

“Kinda, yeah. And I wanna talk to her.”

“She won’t let you go.”

“Red,” I said, picking another color. “And why not?”

“Because she’s worried you’ll never come back.” He put down a red six.

I dropped another draw four onto the pile of cards in front of us. “Uno.”

“Get. Fucked!” Cedric roared. I never would have pegged him as someone to get so serious in a card game. It was kinda hilarious. Cedric grumbled with each card he picked up from the deck. I had to hold in my snicker. “Would you?” he asked curiously.

“Would I what?”

“Come back.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Or, more specifically, what I wanted him to know. “I can’t stay here forever. I’ve got a family. I’ve got obligations⁠—”

“I didn’t ask if you’d stay here forever. I asked if you would come back.”

“Why do you care? You don’t even like me.”

“No. I don’t. You’re impetuous⁠—”

“My, my, what a big word.”

“Reckless—”

“I prefer the term adventurous.”

“And childish, and Lyla loves you. I don’t want to see her hurt.”

My insides softened. “I don’t want to hurt her. I care about her. I do. But my family is in danger. We’re in the middle of a war.”