Page 80 of Forced Bratva Hostage

“I thought you were dead. I thought they killed you, and it was my fault. Why would I be scared?You’re alive, Andrei. It’s incredible. I can’t believe you’re standing in front of me right now. I thought I lost you forever.” I’m blubbering through my tears, smiling and giddy with relief.

“What are you talking about? I saw you on the video call with your brother, standing at his side. I saw you on the security footage as well. You left with Van. He didn’t force you to go with him—"

“You don’t understand,” I sigh, reaching up to touch him.

Chapter 23 - Andrei

Her reaction is so confusing.

I came in her ready to tear her apart with words. To tell her exactly what I think of her cruel, evil heart. I was going to rip her to pieces, letting her know what I thought of her.

My plan was to kidnap the deceptive little brat again and force her to come back with me. This time, there would be no special treatment. She would be my prisoner for real. I was going to lock her up, chain her to the wall, and make her pay for what she’s done.

I had no intention of playing nice a second time around.

Dragging her into the changing room, I wanted to duct tape her mouth and bind her hands to get her out without attracting attention. There is an alley right behind this store; it leads to a delivery area where my car is waiting. It would have been fucking easy. The plan was perfect.

But Tia is sobbing. Heart-wrenching sobs.

Not in fear, not in panic of being taken by me—she’s sobbing with relief. The smile on her face is confusing, and the way she throws her arms around me and grabs me is even more so.

Her body is pressed against mine, and the heat of it sparks memories in me. Memories I don’t want to think about. I try to shove them aside, but I can’t seem to move or think clearly. I don’t understand what’s happening.

For a moment, I just stand there, as stiff as a plank, unsure of what to do. She leans away from me and mutters my name, reaching up to brush her thumb over my lips.

She tells me that I don’t understand.

“Help me understand,” I demand.

Despite the coldness in my voice, I can’t stop myself from reaching up and wiping her tears away. My heart has been aching for her for weeks. She is a drug and I’m already relapsing, even though it might be dangerous.

I brush my thumb over her cheek, and her skin is as soft as I remember.

Tia tells me what happened after I fell asleep that night in the villa, that she was still too wide awake to go to bed, and she made tea and went to watch the stars—and that Van showed up with a detonator and made it clear I would die if she didn’t come willingly.

She is crying again when she tells me about the video call, from her perspective, how the other girl was held at gun point and she had no choice, but that she had no idea they planned to use the bomb, otherwise she would have risked everything to tell me.

She’s heavy with guilt and regret, but I pull her face up towards mine to look into her eyes, and I see she’s telling the truth.

She really thought I was dead. And it was tearing her apart.

“I thought you had betrayed me,” I whisper, touching her cheek. “I thought everything that happened between us was fake.”

“No.” She says, distraught. “Nothing was fake, Andrei. But how did get survive the bomb? I saw the flames. I heard the explosion.”

“I figured out what Boris had done when he dropped the hint. I only just made it—the bomb blasted me over the balcony,and I got lucky, landing on the sand. I escaped with some bad bruises and a broken heart.”

She smiles, biting her lower lip.

“The bruises healed,” she whispers. “What about your heart?”

To answer her, I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and pull her tightly against me, pressing my lips against hers. As soon as I kiss her, my body remembers everything, all of the love I have for her, every moment we shared floods from me like a bolt of lightning.

I can taste her tears and the desperation of her kiss is electric as she grabs at me and tries to hold even tighter onto me.

Fever spikes in me, having her in my arms again fills me with desire and I shove her against the wall of the dressing room and run my hands over her, trying to touch every part of her.

She never left me.

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