Page 70 of Innocent Bratva Hostage

And there was no way in hell I was going home tonight without the damn camellias.

***

When I got home, Giselle was standing in the living room, arms crossed, waiting. Her hair was loose, falling in dark waves over her shoulders. Her lips parted slightly as her gaze dropped to the box in my hands.

She held her chest and exhaled. She ran to me, pressing up on her toes to hug me.

I snaked one arm around her waist, hugging her back. She smelled jasmine and vanilla tonight—delicious and sweet.

“I was so worried, Andrei,” she whispered, hugging me tightly, as if I would vanish into thin air if she pulled away. “You told me you were coming home hours ago.”

I pulled back first and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “I was coming home until I saw something that looked just as beautiful as you.”

She peered at the box again but completely ignored it. “Did you get into trouble? Was thePakhanmad at you?”

I looked at her long and hard—the way her brows creased with worry and her emerald eyes darkened with fear. It was the first time I’d seen her worry for me, and it was cute.

My chest warmed at the thought that this woman, who had hated me passionately just a few months ago, cared about me so much. “He wasn’t,” I finally replied, cupping her cheek. “It’s nothing. We lost a shipment; they’ll make a new one in a few months. It’s no issue.”

“Are you sure? You’re not lying to me just so I won’t worry, are you?”

I smiled at her. “I’m not. It really wasn’t an issue.”

She let out a breath. “Thank goodness. I was losing my mind from how worried I was.” She finally shifted her attention to the black matte box tied with a pink ribbon I was holding. Her brow lifted curiously.

“Take it, it’s yours,” I said as I held out the box to her.

She eyes the box suspiciously, slowly taking it from me. “What’s inside?”

“Open it and see for yourself.”

She sighed. “Aren’t you full of surprises, Mr. Yezhov?”

Opening the box, her eyes dilated.

Camellias, white and pink. They were pure and delicate, untouched by the filth of this world. Just like her.

She covered her mouth as she gasped. “Camellias?” She glanced at me, completely shocked. “These are so expensive and hard to find in New York.”

I grinned proudly as I watched her admire the flowers.

Her fingers hovered over the petals, hesitating. “They’re beautiful.”

“They are, but not nearly as beautiful as my wife,” I said. They’d cost ten thousand dollars, but that was nothing. I would spend a hundred times more than that to see that look of pleasant surprise on her face—and that gorgeous smile that made my heart flutter.

She looked up at me, a flicker of warmth shimmering in her emerald pools. “Why, Andrei?” She gently set the flowers on the coffee table and moved closer to me. “Why are you doing all of this? You even went as far as burning an expensive shipment to save me. That could have gotten you in big trouble.”

I reached for her face, brushing my knuckles against her cheeks and relishing in the way she leaned into my touch. “Because I didn’t want you rotting away in jail,solnishko. And I got you flowers because you’re my wife. You deserve that much from me.”

She placed her hands on mine, her eyes boring into me as if she needed more answers. She already knew I didn’t want her rotting in jail, but she didn’t yet understand why.

“Were you afraid your reputation would get damaged if your wife was in jail?” she asked softly, her gaze never leaving mine.

“My reputation is nothing.” I traced a circle over her lips, feeling the warmth of her breath on the tip of my finger. “It’s because you’re important to me, more important than anything else in my life.”

Her breath was shallow, and a flush crept across her cheeks and spread all the way to her neck. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, her eyes wild with need.

I tilted her chin up, and she wrapped her arms around my neck.

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