Page 66 of Caught By the Bratva Beast

I get to my feet, wiping my hands on my pants, but I don't think any amount of wiping is ever going to take the blood off them. The little specks that stain the back of my hands are reminder of how far I've come.

The seven-year hunt for the bastard that killed my father.

“Maxim, take me home.”

Chapter 27 - Maxim

Pearl hasn't said a word since I put her into the car at the warehouse. She keeps her hands in front of her, looking down at the blood that's still on the back of them even as I sit her on the bed.

I don't say anything to her, instead going into the washroom and grabbing one of the white washcloths, soaking it through with warm water, and wringing it out before bringing it back to her. I kneel in front of her, taking her hands in my own and slowly wiping away the blood. Her face is completely devoid of emotion. As she looks down at me, it's like I'm staring at a ghost of a human. I keep wiping the blood, not wanting to be the one to break the silence if this is what she needs right now.

Then I can keep my thoughts to myself for as long as possible. It’s better that I wasn’t the one to kill the bastard. She needed it more. I could see it on her face.

Pearl pulls her hands from me, picking out a piece of dried blood trapped beneath one of her nails. “What am I supposed to do with my life now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I've spent the last seven years of my life looking for the man who killed my father, thinking about the day I would finally kill him. I used to picture how I would do it. Can't decide if it would be knives or guns. I didn't know if I'd hunt him through the fucking woods like an animal. And now that he’s dead, I don't know what to do. Even that degree in computer science was to find him. I got good at hacking. Fuck, Maxim, if I had just thought about hacking Nicolo even once, I might have found out sooner. We could have avoided this whole fucking marriage.”

I stand and grab her chin, forcing her to look at me. “If you ever say that you would have avoided this marriage again, I'm going to bend you over my knee and spank you until your ass is raw. You remember to whom the fuck you belong.”

Interest shines in her eyes. “Is that a threat or a promise?” she asks, her voice taunting and teasing, some of the life coming back into her eyes.

“Now there's the little huntress I remember from Russia.” I brush my thumb over her lips, sweeping away the speck of blood that's on them. “You spent seven years of your life trying to hunt him down, and he was right under your nose. But he's gone now. You're only twenty-two. You have the rest of your life to live.”

Her bottom lip rolls in her mouth. She looks up at me. Her gaze darts around the room like she's looking for a potential exit.

“What's on your mind, Pearl? This is day one, remember?”

“I don't think every day can be day one. This is more like day four, maybe five. I don't know, they get a little hazy there in the middle.”

“You don't seem to be complaining about the days passing when I was keeping you tied up in my bed last night. In fact, I'm quite sure you were begging for more.” I smirk and sit on the bed beside her, pulling her into my arms and nestling my face against her neck. Her pulse skips a beat against my lips. “And I think you said you were never going to beg for me.”

“Well, with the tongue like that, I don't know how I couldn't.”

I nip her earlobe, enjoying the little gasp that comes from her. “Time to stop avoiding the subject, Pearl. What's on your mind? We agreed that if this marriage is going to work, you're going to have to talk to me and I'm going to have to talk to you.”

“You make that sound about as fun as pulling teeth.”

“Keep sassing me, Pearl. See what happens.”

She runs her finger along the veins in the back of my hand. “Are you going to kill me?”

I stiffen, arms banding around her as I pull her closer to my chest. “Why the hell would you think that I'm going to kill you? After everything we've been through. After what I just helped you do? How could you possibly think that I'm capable of killing you?”

“I betrayed you. I knew who you were from the moment we met, and I'm wormed my way into your life. I made sure that I could get close to you. I sent information about Antonio to Nicolo and got your informant killed. Just about every crime I could have committed, I did. I know the Bratva must want my head.”

“Not even close.” I curl my fingers through the ends of her hair, letting the soft strands fall free like a flowing waterfall. She closes her eyes, leaning into the touch. “The only thing I'm capable of doing, it would seem, my little huntress, is loving you. Even when you piss me off and you drive me to the edge and you keep your secrets, and you play your games. It's all I've ever been capable of doing. You're safe with me. You don't ever have to worry about anybody coming after you ever again.”

“You love me?” she asks, her voice breaking over the words. The tears start flowing down her cheeks again, and she looks up at me like she's seeing a new world for the first time.

“I love you, Pearl. It would be impossible not to.”

“I think I love you too.” She turns in my arms, draping her legs over mine. Her chest presses into my chest. “Actually. I knew I loved you weeks ago. I wanted to stop myself from falling for you. I thought you were the man who would ruin my life. Turns out you're the man who put it back together again.”

Leaning in, I claim her mouth, lips slanting against each other, teeth clashing. I try to take every ounce of pain from her in the kiss and it only ends when we run out of breath. Pearl runs her hands up my chest as she looks at me, questions shining in her eyes.

I could spend a lifetime answering them.

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