Page 34 of Innocent Bratva Hostage

I thought for a moment. He said he wanted to taste my cookies, but I didn’t think it was a healthy breakfast option, so I opted for something else.

“Does he like cheese pancakes with sour cream and honey? I mean, it’s popular in Russia, isn’t it?”

Miss Pushkin’s smile widened.“Asyrnikimeal.Why haven’t I thought of that before now?”

“Well, now you don’t have to think too much. Is it okay if I make it myself?”

Her smile dropped, and she sighed. “Mr. Yezhov may not like the idea of you in the kitchen. You’re a guest.”

I almost rolled my eyes. I was more of a prisoner. “Don’t worry about him. I’ll explain I wanted to do it.”

She looked hesitant for a moment, and then her lips curled. “Okay. I’ll let you make it, but I’ll be right here just in case you need my help.”

I wasn’t sure if she was letting me make it because she didn’t trust me or because she was really scared Andrei would be upset. Either way, I was grateful.

I combined some flour, farmer’s cheese, egg, baking powder, and other ingredients to get the paste. After mixing them together, I went on to make the pancakes on low heat.

When I finished, I topped the pancake tower with strawberries and blueberries, sour cream on the side, and honey on top.

“That looks almost too beautiful to eat,” Miss Pushkin pointed out with a grin. “How did you learn how to make this?”

My chest tightened as memories of Dad flooded my mind. He used to make this dish often when I was a child. I was too young to understand him then, so he simply told me he learned how to make it from his bosses.

I wonder if he knew then that he’d be dead someday and I’d be making this for one of the men he worked for.

Miss Pushkin tapped my shoulder, her lips pulled into a frown. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I set the food on a tray with a cup of coffee. “I’ll take this upstairs.”

She nodded in response.

I took the food upstairs to Andrei’s office. I stretched out my hand to knock but paused when I heard him on the phone. He was talking to someone, but I had no idea who it was.

“That won’t happen. We have the girl. They can’t find it without her. We need to earn her trust first. She won’t give up anything if she perceives us as enemies.”

My stomach churned. What did he mean by earning my trust first? Was this all a game of some sort to him?

No. It couldn’t be.

I was overthinking and overreacting. Andrei wouldn’t play a game like that with me. Still, I couldn’t just trust him blindly. I needed to be sure.

I pressed my ear to the door to hear him better as he continued the conversation with whoever he was talking to.

He chuckled sardonically. “Soft? She’s not the type of woman who would break under pressure. Earning her trust is the only way to get her to talk. Besides, she’s only a tool I’ll toss to the side after all of this is over.”

My world tilted for a moment. It felt like the air had been sucked out of my lungs.

What was that?

“Besides, she’s only a tool I’ll toss to the side after all of this is over.”

I repeated the words in my head, hoping at some point that they wouldn’t sound as horrible as they did when he said them. But no matter how many times I did, the painful clenching in my chest didn’t ease.

I was nothing but a tool to Andrei. The things we’d done meant nothing to him. Not the dance at the party, or the kiss we shared, or the sex we had. It was all a game to him—all a plan to get information from me.

My eyes stung with tears, and my heart twisted into a knot.

I was so stupid. What the hell was I doing, thinking I could mean something to him? He wasn’t a normal man. He was a man who made a living off crime. He’d been with many other women before me. How could I think this was something special?

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