Page 42 of Forced Bratva Bride

I sigh, pulling my hair into a messy bun. “Who else is going to do it? I'm the closest person to my own family.”

“I don’t care, anyone else can do it. Just not you,” he shouts.

“Maxim, you are being ridiculous. Stefano isn’t going to hurt me.”

“You don't think so? Not even when he finds out you're spying on him? I'll kill him if he does anything to you. I don’t want you anywhere near that monster of a human being. I don’t want you involved in any of this. You are mine, and I have to protect you.”

“I am already involved,” I say, feeling more drained by the second. “Stefano and I share the same surname. He is my family whether I like it or not. I am involved in this. I became involved the day you chose to marry me, to use me to get closer to my family. Now, when I offer to do exactly that, you get angry with me.” I throw my hands up in frustration.

Maxim sits next to me on the bed.

“That was before—before I—"

“Before you what?”

“Before I met you. Before I knew you,” his voice softens, sounding strained and filled with worry. I realize that all of his anger is only fear of something happening to me.

I shift closer to him.

“Maxim, I can do this. And I won’t be stupid about it. I am not going to blaze in there in frenzy. We will make a plan, a good one, and I will stick to it.”

He nods, then wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me onto his lap, cradling me against his chest.

“Chiara, you mean so much to me—I can’t handle the idea of losing you.”

My heart tugs in my chest, as I breathe in the scent of his skin. Feeling the strength of his arms as he holds me, I nuzzle my face into his neck.

“You can’t lose me, Maxim. You're stuck with me. You married me,” I giggle.

“This isn’t something to laugh about,” he mutters in annoyance, burying his face in my hair and breathing in.

“No, it isn’t, but you and I are in this together. And where you go, I go. The problems you face are my problems to face, too. We are a team now. And I know we have each other’s backs. You mean so much to me too, Maxim, and that is why I have to do this. For you, and for your family.”

His long fingers stroke down my back and send light shivers down my spine. When his hand traces over my ribs, I giggle and squirm.

“I didn’t know you were ticklish,” he laughs, squeezing my ribs a little harder. I squeal and try to escape his arms, and he laughs again. He spins me around and throws me back on the bed, using both hands to grab my ribs and pushing his fingers down in a disastrously tickling maneuver.

I kick and wiggle, but I can’t escape him. And soon I am laughing so hard that tears are streaming down my face and so is he, his entire body is shaking from it.

“Please,” I beg, through my laughter. “Stop.”

Eventually he does, with his body over mine, both of us breathing hard and grinning.

He leans forward and kisses me. It is so tender and intimate. His mouth is soft against mine, and the kiss is slow. My entire body relaxes as I feel his heart beating against my chest.

He lifts his head to look at me and brushes a stray curl away from my face.

I run my hands through his hair, twisting the ends around my fingers.

“We should try and get some rest, it’s been a really long few days,” he whispers.

“Will you stay with me tonight?”

The smile on his face lights up his eyes.

He pulls me toward the pillows, lifting the blankets and throwing them over both of us. Then he pulls my back against his chest and wraps his arm around me.

I have never slept better in my life, feeling complete happiness in the warmth of being so close to him.

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