Page 76 of Innocent Bratva Hostage

“I think we need to celebrate.” She leaned in and whispered. “Let’s sneak away from here.”

I took her hand in mine. “Come with me.”

She squinted. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

I led her to the rooftop of the building, closing the door behind us to avoid any interruptions and burying the noise of the chaos below.

The rooftop was quiet, and the city stretched out before us, a glittering expanse of lights and movement. The night breeze was cool, carrying with it the distant sounds of cars racing down the street.

Giselle stood beside me, her hands covered in mine as she admired the full moon and the bed of stars in the sky.

Our fingers grazed, and it felt like the entire world had been set ablaze, the heat licking through my veins and the air cracking with a jolt of tension.

The weird feeling in my chest intensified, and my pulse raced. It was a reminder of what she meant to me—what I’d just discovered she meant to me.

I watched her, something in my chest fluttering as I admired how beautiful she was under the moonlight. The winder ruffled her hair, her thick lashes casting a shadow under her eyes.

While she watched the city and the sky overhead, I watched her with nothing but yearning in my heart. It wasn’t sex or anything that I needed; it was her. Her heart, her touch, her whispers—everything.

“The sky is beautiful tonight,” she said in a voice that was barely audible.

I didn’t take my eyes off her even for a moment. “It’s not as beautiful as you are.”

She craned her neck to look at me, her eyes meeting mine and holding my gaze for a moment, and in a way, that ignited something deep inside me.

“Andrei,” she said softly, her chest heaving and her eyes gleaming with a type of vulnerability I’d never seen in them before.

“I’m here,solnishko. What do you need?”

“What do you feel for me?” she asked, her eyes searching mine and her lips trembling. “I’ve been wanting to ask for a while now, and I’m tired of pretending I’m not curious, that I don’t feel anything for you. I need the truth from you. No games. No lies.”

Her words hit like a punch to the gut. I had spent so long keeping my emotions locked away, convincing myself that what I felt for her was nothing more than a possessive need for her, but all of it was a lie. She was way more than that to me, and I realized it long before I even admitted it to myself.

I reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

She didn’t pull away. “You want the truth?” I murmured.

She nodded, her breathing hollow. “Yes, I want the truth because, to be honest, I think I’ve fallen in love with you. I don’t know when or how it happened, but you’re all I think about and all I care about. I honestly can’t think of anything or anyone else aside from you. I love you, Andrei. More than I ever wanted to, but so much that I can’t picture my life without you. I love you.”

I smiled, my entire existence warming at the sound of her voice—at the weight of her confession. It must’ve taken a lot for her to finally share her feelings with me. “You’re cute when you tell me how much you love me,solnishko.”

Her eyes shimmered in the dim light. “Andrei….”

“I love you, too, Giselle,” I admitted. “I tried to tell myself it was nothing, that I was incapable of an emotion like that, but that was me lying to myself. You’re everything to me, Giselle. You’re my entire world, and I don’t want to fight it anymore.”

A tear rolled down her face. “You love me?”

I took a step closer, my fingers grazing her arm and sending a shiver through her. “More than I’ve ever loved anything else.”

She hesitated for only a second before she whispered, “And you’ll love me forever?”

“Forever is the deal, baby.”

I cupped her face in my hands, tilting her chin up before claiming her lips.

She melted into me, her hands fisting my shirt as if she never wanted to let go. The kiss was deep, desperate, months of restraint crumbling in an instant.

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