Page 74 of Captive Virgin of the Bratva

“Get up,” he says. His voice is low. Not cruel. Not sharp. But not gentle, either.

I don’t move.

“Elise.”

Still, I don’t answer.

The mattress dips behind me, and I stiffen. His hand brushes my shoulder—just a graze, not a grip. He doesn’t pull. He doesn’t push. He just waits.

When I finally turn, he’s there, sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me with that unreadable expression I’ve come to hate.

His eyes scan my face. My hair. My mouth. Like he’s trying to count all the ways I’ve come undone.

“You look like hell,” he says.

“Thanks,” I whisper, voice raw.

He says nothing.

My throat works. “He said he was my father.”

“I know.”

I blink. “Your men told you?”

He nods.

I watch him closely. “You knew I had a father out there.”

“I knew you were abandoned,” he says. “I didn’t know if he was still alive.”

My jaw tightens. “So what now, are you going to kill him?”

He lifts one brow. “Do you want me to?”

The question makes something cold sink deeper into my gut. I don’t answer.

Kolya leans back slightly, one arm braced behind him, fingers splayed on the sheets. “He’s nothing, Elise. A drunk. A mistake.”

“He’s my blood.”

“So?” His voice is flat. “You’re just fine without him.”

My breath catches.

He doesn’t apologize.

“You don’t get to decide what I feel,” I say, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

“I don’t need to,” he replies. “I’ll decide what happens to him.”

“You can’t make that decision for me.”

His jaw tenses. “I don’t need to own you to protect you.”

My chest twists. I sit up slowly, pulling the blanket tighter around myself like armor. “I don’t want protection,” I murmur.

He tilts his head. “You want revenge?”

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