Page 34 of Virgin Bratva Hostage

A noise outside makes me jump, I realize I’ve been far too absorbed in this photo album and I’ve lost track of time.

Working quickly, I hurry to pack it all away, doing my best to put everything back exactly as I found it. I close the drawers, look around, and then rush out of the office, pulling the door quietly closed behind myself.

The lock clicks into place from the other side and I breathe a sigh of relief. He will never know I was in there.

I can hear him getting out of his car, talking to one of the guards. I bolt into the library, my heart racing as I grab a book and curl my legs beneath me on the giant arm chair.

Slow deep breaths help me calm myself down and by the time I hear the front door open I think it will look to him like I’ve been relaxing here for a while.

His footsteps carry up the stairs.

“Ruslana?” he calls out into the house.

“I’m in the library,” I call back.

Standing in the doorway, looking towards me, Avraam appears to be exhausted.

I squint towards him, worried, even though I shouldn’t care about him at all—I can’t help it. I feel closer to him now that I know about his past, and his childhood, all the things he had to overcome.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, putting the book down on the side table next to me and pulling my legs out from beneath myself to sit up straighter.

I want to go to him, to comfort him, but I force myself to remain seated.

“It was a long day, that’s all,” he sighs.

It wasn’t just a long day, something else is going on.

“Did you eat yet?” I ask, standing up, still holding myself back from walking towards him. Why do I want to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything is ok?

“Not yet, the chef says dinner is in the oven. I’m going to climb into the shower and then I’ll be done in a moment.” He turns to walk away from me, and I can see the defeat in his posture. This isn’t just a long day—something happened. I want to know what. Did it have something to do with my brothers?

Downstairs, I wait in the dining room, anxiety tainting my thoughts.

Avraam sits down, looking comfortable in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. He sighs heavily, rubbing his hands over his eyes.

“You look exhausted,” I comment, standing up to dish up some food for him.

I slide the plate towards him across the table. “Oh, thank you, you didn’t have to do that for me,” he says, tilting his head to the side and watching me.

“It’s really no problem,” I smile, shrugging my shoulders. “Do you want to talk about it?” I ask, trying not to sound pushy.

“About what?”

“Whatever is bothering you. And don’t tell me it was just a long day. I’ve seen you coming home day after day, even after long ones, you have never looked this drained or stressed before. Not even when I was causing trouble for you,” I add in the joke to try to ease the tension and relax him.

He chuckles, but it’s short-lived. “Yeah, you’re right. Today was worse than normal.”

Using his fork he pushes the food around his plate absentmindedly.

“You can talk, Avraam. Who am I going to tell anyway?”

He sighs, putting the fork down, he looks across the table at me and I can see he wants to tell me.

I put my fork down as well and lean back, waiting.

“It was supposed to be a straightforward collection from one of my businesses. A new client who placed a good order and wanted to collect instead of us delivering. Usually, we insist on delivering the first few times until we get to know the people—but someone I’ve worked with before vouched for this client.”

I nod, not letting myself interrupt.

---