Page 30 of Virgin Bratva Hostage

“You will be staying in my room tonight. Only so that I can keep an eye on you.”

And because I feel terrible about what I’ve done to you.

“Get into bed,” I demand, standing up and stepping back to give her space.

I can see the relief in her eyes, the small smile that touches her lips.

I climb into bed next to her, still thinking about the lengths she was willing to go to escape the handcuffs.

After a long while of lying in silence, waiting for her to start a fight or to start throwing random comments around—yet, she is completely silent, seemingly content to just lie there—I finally ask the question burning on my tongue.

“Why did you hurt yourself like that? You were comfortable in that room—was it just because you were alone?”

She takes a soft breath, letting it out slowly before she answers.

“I panicked. I—back home I struggled because my brothers suffocated me with security. I couldn’t move freely, I couldn’t do what I wanted. And then—I just panicked when I realized I was even more suffocated here. My entire life I have been trapped and it got to be too much. I don’t want to be alone, controlled by other people.”

I shift slightly closer to her on the bed.

“Your brothers were controlling? So, you were unhappy with them?”

“I love my family. But the way they treated me made me feel like a prisoner. The day you caught me, I snuck out. I got away from my guards and went out on my own without them knowing. I had to experience just that small moment of freedom—,“ she sighs, heavily burdened.

I clench my jaw. I feel like I am asking for trouble by saying what I am about to say—but I have to do it.

“Ruslana—I will give you an option. You can sleep in my room at night if you promise not to try and escape anymore. I won’t handcuff you, but you have to obey me. If you can’t do that then I will return you to the other room.”

I wait, feeling her shift in the bed.

“Please, can’t you rather just let me go, Avraam? Please, I don’t want to be locked up like an animal—controlled and—”

“No,” I snarl angrily. “I gave you the choice. You know your options. Make up your mind and tell me what you have decided in the morning. Right now, go to sleep. I don’t want to hear another word.”

She can sense and hear my anger, so she falls silent.

I reach forward, wrapping my arm around her waist, I pull her right up against my chest so that her back is curved against me. I am not letting her go. She is in my room, unsecured, and I will make sure she doesn’t get away.

The heat of her body seeps into me and I push those teasing thoughts from my mind.

I sleep restlessly, hyper-aware of her there with me. My dreams plagued by images of her, like a seductive lure, trying to hook me in.

I wake up, relieved to find her still next to me but bothered by how it makes me feel.

She is still sleeping so, I gently move away from her, careful not to wake her. Hurrying around my own room, I get dressed and ready for the day and leave her in my bed, forcing myself not to admire the way her leg is out from beneath the blankets, long slender and beautiful—stretched across my bed. Her face so peaceful against my pillow.

I remember why I was trying to avoid her. And it’s still very much there—the attraction—the desire. But I will be stronger than that.

***

It is late afternoon and business has been demanding.

The day has been really busy and now I am sitting in a meeting with my security forces, discussing the week ahead and our plans.

“Has anyone heard anything about the moves we made against the Kuznetsov warehouse—anyone talking about it on the streets?” I ask, looking around the room.

“No one has linked it to you yet, sir. But they are furious,” Dex comments.

“That’s good. We want them on their toes and distracted.”

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