Bratva Boss’s Secret Triplets by Bella King

Chapter 21

Rebel

That was close.

April’s a smart woman, and I know she can sense bullshit from a mile away. It kind of shocks me that she spent any amount of time dating that Dean asshole with how intuitive she is otherwise. I guess everyone gets lonely.

My foray into April’s private life was mostly very underwhelming. All I found was clothing and a receipt from a pawn shop. It looked like she had sold a ring to the shop at some point, but the date on the receipt is too long ago to have been something she kept around by accident. Someone like April would have thrown out a receipt within the week of getting it, at least.

When I look at it closer, it looks like it was sold for a few hundred dollars. What kind of ring was it? Was she actually married to Dean at some point?

The idea alone is nauseating. Is that why she’s been dodging me this whole time? I can’t say I blame her, I’d be embarrassed to admit to being married to him too. Dude’s a fucking loser.

I can see an address scrawled on the back of the receipt, but it looks like she tried to scratch it out. For somebody who seems to be so straight-forward and practical, April sure does have a lot of potential drama in her life. I don’t want to resent her for keeping secrets from me; in my heart of hearts, I know that she’s allowed to have her own life and I don’t have any right to it.

But come on, man.

This woman has actually stuck her little talons into me, and I don’t want to let her go just because she’s being a bit cagey. With everything I’ve put her through, it’s no wonder she isn’t throwing herself at me, exposing her vulnerabilities and letting her heart bleed all over the floor.

She knows I have money, lots of it, and hasn’t made a pass at me despite it. I’ve met girls who change their entire personality the second they see you drive a nice car or offer to take them to a five-star restaurant. They’re shallow at best and viciously materialistic at worst. April doesn’t strike me that way at all; she seems like the kind of girl who could love someone through abject poverty.

As much as I hate to admit fault, I know that in order to keep April happy while she needs to be here, I have to extend some kind of peace offering. I can only hope that she will come around and like me as a person eventually, but I can’t set my sights that far into the future when it’s very likely she has a bounty on her head and is being hunted by tweaker super-soldiers.

I need her to feel safe, for starters. I can’t imagine how terrified she must be. This is all my fault in a way, just two months ago she was living her life as a standard young woman with no money and a whole lot of dreams.

Then I got her apartment shot up.

Can’t say I’m blameworthy for Dean’s involvement with Saint Gray, but I’m sure that April being affiliated with someone from an opposing Family doesn’t look good for her. She’s been trying to avoid me for good reason, and now she’s trapped in a makeshift bedroom in a glorified storage closet with a notorious criminal.

I think I’m going to try and make things right over dinner tonight. I was just planning on eating whatever snacks I could find in my office while I worked, but some real food will do me good in the state I’m in and I’m sure April would appreciate a real meal as well.

It can’t just be dinner though.

It needs to make a statement. April deserves to feel like she’s being cared for, not just guarded like a shelter animal until she’s adopted or killed. I want her to feel like I’ve been paying attention, like I know her. That way, she’ll have a much easier time trusting me.

Fortunately for me, I’ve got a close friend who works in event planning who could get me a one-table black tie dinner within a few hours. I’ve got suits for days, but I’ve seen what April brought with her, and I wouldn’t be surprised if all of it was thrifted or kept from high school. If I’m going all out for her, I’m going to get her something to wear too.

I’ve always liked the color red on a woman, and with April’s skin tone, I think she would suit a red dress well. I’m willing to bet she’s never worn something made of pure silk, either. That would be an experience.

Poor girls are so easy that way, very impressionable. Money can sway anybody.

Once she sees the lengths I’m willing to go to make her feel happy and safe, maybe she’ll at least be open to talking to me about the receipt I found. It can’t be anything too extreme, at least unless she stole it from a dead body, and even still, that isn’t something that I wouldn’t do. I’d just be shocked if she did.

I call my friend up, and within fifteen minutes, he’s got a five-star catered dinner for two brewing for me, and he’s reached out to his partner in formalwear to set up April with a red silk dress. I can just barely estimate what size she might be, but I know she’ll look beautiful regardless.

I told him to throw in some jewelry too, something understated but luxurious. I want her to feel like she’s wearing something ethereal.