Page 32 of Innocent Bratva Hostage
My insides raked with more than just desire. What I felt was devotion, need, and something even deeper—all wrapped together.
Her body grew taut, her fingers restless from where they were locked together behind my neck.
I placed a finger beneath her chin, and then I captured her lips in a slow kiss.
I intended to pass on one message: She was mine, not in the way a master owned a slave or a person owned property.
She was mine in the way a man cherished a woman.
All mine.
Chapter 24 – Giselle
It’d been two months since the whole fiasco with the FBI and Tyfun-1. Luckily, the cops hadn’t found anything to implicate me with the drugs, and the news about it had become irrelevant.
A lot of things had changed—like my relationship with Andrei.
I’d started to truly enjoy his presence, with no fear or doubts attached, and I missed him in his absence—like a part of me had been torn away.
He’d changed a lot, too, over the months.
Although he was still that dominant, fearful, and brutal man others feared, he’d become softer with me. He smiled more now and didn’t have to pretend to be cold whenever we were together.
To be honest, I didn’t think I could’ve pulled a better man than him on my own, even if I tried.
It was the middle of summer, and the weather outside was scorching. Andrei wouldn’t be home until evening, and I’d grown tired of watching TV.
I went to the pool outside, sliding off my robe and slipping into the water. I groaned as a blissful chill cascaded over me, washing away the sweltering heat of summer.
The two bodyguards stationed around the pool were something I’d have to discuss with Andrei when he came back home.
Despite how everything had died down, he still believed I had to be guarded whenever he wasn’t home, and he’d threatened to chop off one of the men’s balls if he found even a scratch on me when he came home.
He didn’t try to restrict my movements. I could go wherever I wanted and do whatever I pleased, but he believedthere could still be enemies out there who might harm me, so I needed to have my bodyguards with me whenever I stepped out of the mansion.
And then there was the betrayal I’d felt when Dobryn agreed.
A smile spread across my lips at how overprotective he had become. The more comfortable we grew with each other, the more he wanted to keep me safe.
I immersed my entire body in the shimmering pool, holding my breath for a few minutes before surfacing and filling my lungs with air for a moment. Then, I held my breath again and dipped back into the water once more.
I didn’t know how much time I’d spent in the pool, but by the time I got tired and chose to float instead, the water had already begun to feel cold against my skin, and the sun dipped lower, its once-blazing rays now a golden caress.
I stared at the sky, lost in the beauty above me.
Three weeks ago, I’d decided to tell Mom the truth about me and Andrei, and while she’d been disappointed she wasn’t invited to the wedding, she didn’t seem very upset that I’d gotten married to someone in the mafia.
She didn’t hate the mafia; she’d known Dad was a double agent, and what she feared was what they would do to him when they found out.
Mom smiled as she thanked Andrei for protecting me and ensuring my happiness. She didn’t care if he was a seven-horned devil; all she cared about was that he kept me safe and helped me through my grief.
“You look at peace.”
I almost flinched at the deep sound of his voice, and when I glanced up, Andrei was standing at the edge of the pool, watching me with a flicker of adoration in his eyes.
“What?” I heard him clearly, but I hadn’t noticed him come in, and that was the only logical reaction I could offer, along with the grin playing on my lips.
“You look at peace,” he repeated, crouching at the edge of the pool and smiling back at me. “And you look sexy in that thing you’re wearing.”
