Page 20 of Hostage of the Russian (Nikolai Bratva Brides #7)

The moonlight filtered through the heavy curtains, casting silver patterns across Azriel’s bare skin as she lay curled against Kostya’s chest. Her breathing had finally evened out, though he could feel the occasional tremor that ran through her body, aftershocks of what they’d just shared.

His fingers traced lazy circles on her shoulder, marveling at how perfectly she fit against him, how right this felt despite everything that had brought them together.

“Tell me about your father,” he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper in the darkness.

She went rigid in his arms, and he felt her try to pull away. He didn’t let her, tightening his hold just enough to keep her close without restraining her.

“Azriel.” Her name was a gentle coaxing. “What happened at the party? Why did you look at him like that?”

“Like what?” Her voice was muffled against his chest, but he heard the defensive edge creeping in.

“Like you were terrified. Like you expected him to hurt you.”

The silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken truths. Kostya waited, his patience endless when it came to her. He’d learned that pushing Azriel only made her retreat further into herself, but given space and time, she would eventually open up to him.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said finally. “It’s in the past.”

“It matters to me.” His hand moved to stroke her hair, the silky strands slipping through his fingers. “Everything about you matters to me.”

She lifted her head then, meeting his eyes in the dim light. “Why? Because I’m your wife? Because you own me?”

The bitterness in her voice cut through him like a blade. “Because I care about you. Because seeing you afraid makes me want to burn the world down to keep you safe.”

Something flickered in her smoky gray eyes, surprise maybe, or hope. She studied his face, as if looking for deception, and found none.

“He used to hit me,” she said so quietly he almost missed it. “When I was younger. When I’d do something he didn’t like, or when he was drunk, or sometimes just because he felt like it.”

Rage, white-hot and consuming, flooded through Kostya’s veins. His jaw clenched so hard he thought his teeth might crack, and he had to force himself to keep his voice gentle when he responded.

“How often?”

“Often enough.” She laid her cheek back against his chest, probably to avoid seeing the fury in his eyes. “He’d disappear for days sometimes, leaving me alone with nothing. No food, no money, no way to contact anyone. I learned to be self-sufficient out of necessity.”

“What about your mother?”

“She died when I was eight. Cancer. After that, it was just me and him, and he made it very clear that I was a burden he didn’t want.”

Kostya’s free hand curled into a fist, his knuckles white with the effort to contain his anger. Images flashed through his mind of Danny Hartford, of all the ways he could make the man pay for what he’d done to his daughter. None of them seemed adequate.

“The last few years were better,” Azriel continued, her voice growing steadier. “He got involved with some business that kept him busy, distracted. I barely saw him anymore, which was honestly a relief. I figured out later that it was your family’s operations that were keeping him occupied.”

“So in a way, the Bratva saved you from him.”

“In a way.” She tilted her head to look at him again. “Ironic, isn’t it? The criminal organization that eventually trapped me in this marriage was also the thing that gave me enough freedom to escape and go to college.”

Kostya’s throat tightened. “Azriel, I’m so fucking sorry.”

“For what?”

“For everything. For taking you from your life, for forcing you into this marriage, for not knowing...” He cupped her face in his palm, thumb brushing over her cheekbone. “If I’d known what he was, what he’d done to you, I never would have used you to get to him.”

“But you did use me.” There was no accusation in her voice, just tired acceptance. “You married me to hurt him.”

“Yes.” He wouldn’t lie to her, not about this. “I thought you were in on it. I thought he’d sent you to spy on me, to get close to my family. That’s why I arranged for you to see him at the party. I wanted to watch your reaction, to see if you’d try to pass information to him.”

Understanding dawned in her eyes. “You were testing me.”

“I was. And the moment I saw how you reacted to him, I knew I’d been wrong about everything.” His thumb traced the curve of her bottom lip. “You weren’t working with him. You were afraid of him.”

“I was.” She caught his hand, pressing a soft kiss to his palm. “I still am, a little. Not of him hurting me physically anymore, but of him pulling me back into that life. Of him finding a way to use me again.”

“He won’t.” The words came out harder than he’d intended, edged with a promise that was as much threat as vow. “He’ll never touch you again, Azriel. I’ll make sure of that.”

“How? He’s still your business partner, isn’t he? Still part of your operation?”

“Not for long.” Kostya’s smile was cold, predatory.

“Danny Hartford has been skimming money and sabotaging deals. That’s a death sentence in our world.

The only reason he’s still breathing is because I wanted to make him suffer first, wanted him to know exactly what he was losing when I took you from him. ”

“And now?”

“Now I know that losing you isn’t punishment enough for what he did. Now I know he deserves something much worse.”

Azriel was quiet for a long moment, her fingers tracing patterns on his chest. “What will you do to him?”

“Do you want to know?”

She considered this, her gray eyes thoughtful. “No,” she said finally. “I don’t think I do. I just want him gone from my life completely.”

“Then that’s what you’ll have.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair. “I promise you, he’ll never be able to hurt you again.”

“Thank you.” The words were soft, heartfelt, and they did something to his chest that he wasn’t prepared for.

“You don’t have to thank me for protecting you. That’s what husbands do.”

“Is that what you are now? My husband?”

The question caught him off guard. “What do you mean?”

“Before tonight, you were the man who kidnapped me and forced me into marriage. The man who threatened my friends and family to make me sign those papers. But now...” She lifted her head, meeting his eyes. “Now you feel like something else.”

“What do I feel like?”

“Like someone who cares about me. Like someone who would actually protect me instead of just using me.”

Kostya’s heart did something strange in his chest, a flutter of emotion he wasn’t used to feeling. “I do care about you. More than I should, probably. More than I ever intended to.”

“When did that happen?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was gradual, or maybe it was all at once.

Maybe it was the moment I saw you in that lecture hall, so focused and determined.

Or maybe it was when you stood up to me in my own house, refusing to be intimidated.

Or maybe it was when you got hurt because of me, and I realized I’d rather die than see you in pain. ”

“Kostya...” His name was a sigh on her lips.

“I know this is complicated. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, let alone your affection. But I need you to know that what happened tonight, what’s happening between us, it’s real for me. You’re not just payment for your father’s debts anymore. You’re not just a wife on paper. You’re...”

“What?”

“Everything.” The word came out rough, honest. “You’re everything I never knew I wanted.”

Tears gathered in her eyes, and for a moment, he thought he’d said the wrong thing. But then she was kissing him, soft and sweet and full of emotion that made his chest tight.

“I’m scared,” she whispered against his lips.

“Of me?”

“Of this. Of how you make me feel. Of what it means.”

“What do I make you feel?”

“Safe. Wanted. Like maybe I could actually be happy.” She pulled back to look at him. “I never thought I’d feel that way with anyone, especially not with you.”

“And what does it mean?”

“That I’m falling for you. Despite everything, despite how this started, despite every rational thought in my head telling me not to.” She laughed, the sound slightly hysterical. “I’m falling for the man who kidnapped me.”

“And I’m falling for the woman who was supposed to be my revenge.” He cupped her face in both hands, holding her gaze. “Strange how things work out.”

“Is this real?” she asked. “Or are we just caught up in the intensity of everything?”

“It’s real,” he said without hesitation. “At least for me, it is. What we just shared, what I’m feeling right now, it’s the most real thing I’ve ever experienced.”

She searched his eyes, and whatever she saw there seemed to satisfy her because she relaxed into his embrace again.

“So what happens now?” she asked.

“Now we figure it out as we go. Now we see if we can build something good from this mess we’ve found ourselves in.”

“And my father?”

“You’ll never have to see him again. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” He meant it with every fiber of his being.

Danny Hartford had hurt this woman, had damaged her, had made her believe she was worthless.

For that alone, he deserved to die. But Kostya would make sure his death was slow, painful, and served as a message to anyone else who might think about hurting what belonged to him.

Azriel seemed to sense the dark turn of his thoughts because she pressed closer to him, her body warm and soft against his.

“Don’t think about him right now,” she murmured. “Just be here with me.”

“I’m here,” he promised, forcing the violent images from his mind. “I’m not going anywhere.”

They lay in comfortable silence for a while, their breathing synchronized, her fingers tracing idle patterns on his skin.

Kostya marveled at how different this felt from any other night he’d spent with a woman.

There was no urgency to leave, no desire for distance.

Instead, he wanted to memorize every detail of this moment, to burn it into his memory so he could recall it perfectly later.

“Kostya?” Azriel’s voice was drowsy, sleep beginning to pull at her.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for tonight. For celebrating with me, for being there at graduation, for this.” She pressed a soft kiss to his chest. “For showing me who you really are underneath all the scary Bratva stuff.”

“Thank you for giving me a chance. For letting me see who you really are, too.”

“Mmm.” She was fading now, her body growing heavy against his. “I’m glad I stayed.”

“So am I.”

Within minutes, her breathing had evened out into the deep rhythm of sleep. Kostya lay awake for a long time after, watching the way the moonlight played across her features, thinking about everything she’d told him.

Danny Hartford was a dead man. There was no question about that now.

But Kostya would make sure his death served a purpose beyond just revenge.

It would send a message to anyone else who might think about harming what was his.

It would erase the last connection between Azriel and her painful past. And it would ensure that she never had to live in fear again.

But more than that, it would be justice for the little girl who’d been left alone and afraid, who’d had to learn to survive on her own because the man who should have protected her had chosen to hurt her instead.

Kostya’s arms tightened around Azriel’s sleeping form, and he pressed a soft kiss to her hair. She stirred slightly, murmuring something incoherent, but didn’t wake.

“I’ve got you,” he whispered into the darkness. “I’ve got you, and I’m never letting you go.”

It was a promise he intended to keep, no matter what it cost him. Danny Hartford would pay for what he’d done, and Azriel would finally be free to live the life she deserved. The life Kostya was determined to give her, if she’d let him.

He closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep, one hand buried in her hair, the other wrapped protectively around her waist. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, new complications, but tonight she was his, safe and warm in his arms.

And that was enough. For now, that was everything.