Page 33 of Innocent Bratva Hostage

Egor didn’t miss the edge to my voice. “Is it? You’ve never hesitated before. Don’t go soft on me now. If she betrays us and gives the information to the wrong person, it’ll be a lot of trouble.”

My grip tightened on the phone.

“She won’t. I’ll make sure of it,” I assured him. “I’ll get the information we need soon, before anyone does. She’s under my protection, so no one can get access to her.”

He made a low, thoughtful noise. “I’ll trust you. Remember, whether or not we find the shipment is in your hands.”

The line went dead.

I heaved a sigh, setting the phone down on the desk.

This call was clearly a warning. Egor wanted to make sure I had Giselle under control and not the other way around. HewasPakhan, and I had to get the information I needed from her before his patience ran out.

I ran a hand over my jaw, my muscles tense with frustration.

I hadn’t lied when I said all of this was a show because that was exactly what I’d planned for it to be—nothing but a show to get the information I needed from her.

The plan had been to use her. It still was, but there was also something else lurking beneath all my schemes and manipulation tactics. It was my attraction toward her, which had now molded itself into a weakness of mine.

I should’ve spent all of my time thinking of new ways to manipulate her and get the information quicker. Making a map of how I planned to use her to retrieve the shipment was more important. Instead, all I could think of was her.

My attraction to her was poison, and it would be the death of me soon. I knew it, yet I couldn’t resist her, especially since that night after the gala.

Sex never meant much to me, but I couldn’t forget the way she pressed against me, the feeling of taking her virginity and making love to her.

Normally, I would’ve lost interest in her after two weeks had passed, and she did everything she could to avoid me. But it seemed that only made me even more drawn to her.

No woman had ever avoided me the way she did. They would usually become clingy, clamoring for my attention and love.

But not Giselle. She didn’t even care that we’d shared some intimacy, and that was driving me insane.

I needed to remind her that she wouldn’t be able to avoid me forever.

Chapter 13 – Giselle

Exactly seventeen days had passed since the night Andrei and I had sex. Except it wasn’t just sex; there was no way a word like that could describe what we shared.

We weren’t in love with each other, at least not on his part, but lovemaking was the only term that could explain what had happened between us.

I’d been avoiding him ever since. I was too embarrassed that he didn’t feel the same way and was only using me to get information on the missing shipment.

I felt different today, though. If that was all he wanted, he could have tortured me to get the information from me and discarded me when he realized I didn’t have the answers he needed.

The fact that he was probing me for the information was all I needed to know that he cared for me to an extent. He really kept me here to keep me safe.

Avoiding him the way I’d been for the past few days was wrong. I should be thanking him instead, and honestly, I couldn’t avoid him forever when I had no idea when I’d be leaving.

After I got out of bed and brushed my teeth, I slipped on a pair of shorts and an oversized shirt Andrei had gotten for me before heading down to the kitchen.

The chef, Miss Pushkin, smiled as I entered. “Good morning, Miss Rae.”

I smiled back at her as I walked to the counter, where she was mixing something for breakfast. “Good morning, " I said, staring into the ceramic bowl on the counter. “What are you making?”

“Fluffy pancakes,” she answered. “They’re for you. Mr. Yezhov doesn’t like them, so I’ll make something else for him to eat.”

“Oh.” I leaned against the counter. “What does he like?”

She shrugged. “He’s not a big breakfast person. He usually just has black coffee and moves on with his day, but it’s the weekend, so I am thinking of what to prepare.”

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