Page 40 of The Bratva's Hostage

With another exhale, I nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Papa,” I called out, rushing towards him as the dam broke and the tears I’d been holding back all along flowed freely.

Don Armando managed a faint smile and opened his arms as I carefully lowered myself onto him and embraced him loosely.

“Elena, oh Elena, you’re alright. What’s all this I’ve been hearing about my brother?” he asked, his eyes scanning my body for injuries.

“You’re the one in the hospital and yet it’s me you’re worried about,” I said with a smile, choking back a sob as I dried my eyes.

“Of course. I might be the Don but I’m also your father. You’re my daughter and of course, I worry about you, mia cara [my dear].”

“Now, tell me,” he said, clearing his throat. “Is what I heard about your uncle true?”

“What did you hear?” I asked, thinking of just how much information he needed to know. The last thing I wanted was to overwhelm him after he just woke up. There would be enough time for that.

“He tried to take over the business. He turned the guards against you and almost got you killed, and it’s his fault I’m in the hospital. Did I miss something?” he asked.

“No, Papa. You aren’t missing anything,” I smiled sadly. His face fell with every offense he added to the list. Telling him about Marco would hurt more than anything else. He would blame himself for introducing Marco to the family and putting him in a dangerous position which got him killed.

“There is someone I’d like you to meet,” I said nervously as he sat up, looking out the window.

“Come in,” I said, taking Maksim’s hands in mine as I led him to my dad.

“Papa, this is Maksim Wolkov, my husband.”

I waited with bated breath while my dad looked at him in silence without taking his eyes off Maksim. Then, he looked at me, curiosity in his gaze.

“I know who he is. Has he been treating you well?” he asked, not saying a word to Maksim.

I blushed in embarrassment. I hadn’t expected him to be so blunt with his question. “Papa! He’s right here.”

“Exactly, which makes it the perfect time to ask,” he chuckled softly, patting my hand.

He looked back and forth between Maksim and me. “When I first heard that you had married the leader of the Russian mafia, I was disappointed and worried.”

“I-” he held up his hand, stopping me.

“Let me finish. I was worried, but I know you and I knew there had to be more to it, why you did it, so I shut my informant up and told him I was waiting for you to tell me yourself.”

I stifled a sob. No one who heard him now would think he was a feared mafia boss. To me, he was just my dad, and I couldn’t be happier to have him back.

I looked at Maksim, who stood collected and quietly behind me and gave me a faint smile. He hadn’t said a word since we’d gotten here, and I knew he was giving me the chance to do things my way.

“Well, long story short, but there was a fight between our men and the Bratva. I was kidnapped while you had a stroke, nobody knew since they were more worried about you. In the end, I had no option but to marry him because it was the only way to keep our business safe while you recovered…”

My father’s face crumpled with everything I told him. I spared nothing except information that concerned Marco. He knew I was searching for Marco’s killer so I gave him the only bit of information I could.

“Papa, Vadim Kozlov doesn’t exist. There’s no one with that name in the Bratva database.”

I filled him in on everything else, including the Chicago deal we’d managed to close and the promise of more if everything turned out right.

Again, his gaze ping-ponged between us, before resting on mine. “So, you’re happy with him?”

I nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“And you? You kidnapped my daughter? But you love her?”

It was the first time either of them had spoken since we arrived. Maksim nodded, stepping forward until he was standing next to me.

---