Page 59 of The Bratva's Forced Innocent Bride

She ducked past both of them and looked around feverishly until I called out her name. Somebody was getting fired for this. She was in no condition to be out at all, especially not at the scene of a recent explosion that was still smoldering. She finally heard me as I crashed toward her. Our eyes locked, and she hurtled past the barricades and into my arms.

Confusion wouldn’t let me enjoy the feel of her, safe and warm in my grasp. Did she wake up in hysterics over what she’d been through, and I wasn’t there?

I shouted across her head at my soon-to-be ex-guard. “What the hell were you thinking, Yuri?”

Brooke grabbed at my shirt, looking up at me. “It’s not his fault. I insisted.”

“Threw a damn fit is more accurate,” Yuri said bitterly.

“I needed to talk to you,” she said, seeming to notice the charred rubble all around us for the first time and pressing her face into my chest. “Oh my God, your poor diner.”

“That hardly matters right now,” I told her, leading her to my car with one final glare at Yuri.

He shrugged and went back to his own car to await further orders. Whatever Brooke told me would determine if he should keep his job or not.

“You can’t be mad at him,” she said when I had her sitting next to me in the front. “I really did throw a massive fit.”

“That sounds about right,” I said, starting to smile. She didn’t return it, only looking at me in a frantic way I couldn’t understand. “What made you race over here?”

“Are you really letting me go?”

My heart sank. Olivia must have told her, which meant she’d asked. Which meant she still wanted to leave me. She was so excited about the prospect she’d gotten out of bed after a traumatic experience to chase me halfway across the city to make sure it was true. She reached for my hand, digging her fingers into my wrist and asking again.

It was then I noticed she didn’t actually seem as excited as I first thought. More upset, maybe even devastated. Trying to process it, I took too long to answer and her fingers dug in harder.

“Don’t you want me anymore?”

The sound of pain in her voice made me lean back, staggered by the absurd question, stunned that she was asking it. She believed I was giving her freedom back to her because I didn’t want her anymore. Un-fucking-believable.

“Of course, I still want you,” I said. My voice came out in a gust since her question had nearly knocked the wind out of me. “Brooke, I’ll want you until the day I die, and probably long after that.”

“Then why?” she asked in a broken whisper. “Why send me away?”

“Letting you go and sending you away are two very different things,” I said, tilting her chin to look at me. Hopefully, she’d see every emotion in my eyes, because there weren’t any words to express them. They didn’t exist, not in any language. “I want you, but not at the expense of your happiness.”

She blinked. “What if staying with you is what will make me happy?”

“More than going back to school?” I asked.

“More than that or anything else,” she answered immediately.

“Whatever you want is what I want,” I told her. “All I want for you is to be happy.” Taking her arms, I gave her a little shake. “Don’t you get that by now?” She looked down, making a small, sad sound. “I love you, Brooke. Everything I do is for you. You’re the only thing in this world I don’t want to live without.”

She didn’t reply but finally looked up with shining eyes as she reached for me. Her hand slid behind my neck as she pulled my face down to hers. Our lips touched and her soft breath mingled with mine, along with a quiet sigh. After a long moment, I tangled my fingers in her hair, gently tugging her back so I could take her in.

“This might be the first time you’ve kissed me without wanting to beat the hell out of me,” I joked. I couldn’t help it; my heart was soaring. She wanted to stay.

Her brows shot together, and I braced myself, but she relaxed, smiling tentatively before looking down again. “I’m sorry it took me so long to figure things out.”

“You don’t have a damn thing to be sorry about,” I assured her, running my hand down her shoulders. “I’m the one who has so much to make up for.”

She didn’t argue and we both snickered, then laughed. “This is better,” she said.

“Oh, just wait,” I told her.

We had the rest of our lives now, and as I made that promise, I watched her eyes for any sign of panic, any inkling she still wanted to run fast and far from me. There was nothing there but hope and maybe something more, but I didn’t want to press my luck and push her for anything she wasn’t ready to give.

Leaning close, she grabbed my face again and pulled me down for another kiss. This one wasn’t so tender, as her mouth crashed against mine. I pulled her close, wrapping my arms around her as her lush body melted against me. We didn’t need all that anger and fighting to have me burning up for her, and for once, she wasn’t warring with herself, or with me.

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