Page 23 of Forced Bratva Hostage (Dubrov Bratva #15)

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.

I was completely wrong about her. Everything between us was real. My heart snaps back together, the broken pieces healing in an instant as she moans sweetly against my mouth.

But we’re in danger here; Van is lurking just outside, and he could decide to check on her at any moment.

Now that I have Tia back, I don’t want to do anything that will put her in danger. Reluctantly, I pull away from the kiss.

“You have to come with me, Tia. I can keep you safe,” I say.

She shakes her head. “If I go with you, that asshole will kill everyone. He’ll kill innocent people as punishment for my actions. I can’t let that happen, Andrei. I’m sorry. There has to be another way.”

My heart aches as I listen to her, ready to protect the people who work in her home as though they were her own family.

It’s more than her half-brother has ever done for her.

“There’s a party tonight,” she says, explaining what’s going to happen and what Boris has planned for her future. “He isn’t going to hurt me; he wants to use me. For now, I’m safe, at least until we can find another way to be together.”

I listen, carefully plotting out a way we can work together to put an end to Boris’s reign of madness.

“Where is the party?” I ask.

“I don’t know. He won’t tell me things like that,” she shakes her head.

“Tatiana. What’s taking so long?” Van’s voice is rough and edgy as he snaps at her from outside the changing room.

“One of the dresses was difficult to zip up. I’m almost done, just give me another two minutes.”

“Hurry the fuck up,” he shouts, then his heavy footsteps walk away, and I let out a breath of relief.

My heart is racing as I push my phone into her pocket. “It’s on silent. But I’ll be able to use it to track you. If you are in any danger at all, you call Nico. His number is on there. He’ll get a message to me. I’m going to him now, anyway. I think we’ll need his help on this.”

She nods. It’s the best plan we can piece together on such short notice.

“I don’t know when I’ll see you again, Tia,” I say tightly.

“It’s okay, I know you’re alive. I’ll wait for you,” she laughs.

I grab her and kiss her again, terrified to leave her, but I don’t have any choice.

She pushes me out of the cubicle, glancing nervously towards the door where Van is waiting impatiently. I run towards the other exit and slip away unseen. Leaving her is much harder than I thought it would be.

I hang around, hidden in the parking lot, watching Van lead her back to the car. I wanted to make sure he hadn’t worked out I was there or discovered the phone in her pocket and taken it out on her.

But she seems fine, and her face is relaxed, touched with hope.

All she has to do is stay safe until tonight’s party.

It has to be tonight. I can’t wait any longer than that to see her. I can’t sleep without her safe in my arms.

After what I learned today, I am even more convinced that she is the woman of my dreams. I wish I’d come to find her sooner, that I’d considered another side of the story, and not just assumed she was like her brother.

It broke my heart to see her tears. She must have been devastated, thinking I had died in that explosion. I can’t imagine how I would have felt if I thought she’d be killed. It would have destroyed me.

I watch quietly until their car is far down the road and out of sight, then I start my engine and turn in the direction of Nico’s home.

I’m going to need his help on this. I’ll have to explain everything, but I trust him with it.

I don’t have a choice; if I want to save Tia, then in all honesty, I’m going to need all the help I can get.

And there isn’t a lot of time to plan.