Page 114 of Owned Bratva Bride

“And when you roll your eyes at me like that,” he added, a playful smirk on his face.

“Enough, mister.”

“For all the hurt I caused you, I hope you can forgive me even though I can’t forgive myself,” he uttered, every trace of humor wiped from his face.

“Eduard, there is nothing to forgive. I could have been more understanding, too. More patient. We’re in a new chapter; all those times are in the past.”

“That’s another thing I find hard to understand about you.”

“What?”

“How easy it is for you to see past my wrongs. You just accept what I say, and in the next minute, you’re smiling at me like I’m not the same person who just hurt you. I remember my half-assed apology in the closet. I had never seen you that angry at me. I had expected to do more groveling, but you heard me out right there and then.”

“After you held me to your body with your strong arms,” I pointed out, a small laugh leaving my lips at the memory.

“It’s amazing how forgiving you are,” he commented. “I don’t deserve it, but I promise to try. I’ll try to be the kind of man you deserve.”

“I don’t need you to be any kind of man, Eduard Yezhov. I want you.”

“Have I ever told you how sexy I find it when you call my full name?”

“Hm. I’m not sure,” I answered, grinning as I dropped the bowl on the stool.

“Too bad I can’t show you right now. But the time is coming,” he mentioned, his heated gaze making me lick my lips.

He gently pulled me by my hand, and before I knew it, I was sitting in his lap.

“Even if it’ll drive me crazy, I can still do this,” he whispered before his lips clashed with mine.

He held me close to his body as his lips moved to my forehead.

His rapid heartbeats matched mine as we sat there, wrapped in blissful silence.

***

There was still a dull ache in my limbs, but my bruises had begun to fade.

It was the first day Eduard left the house for the warehouse, and although he made me promise not to leave the bed, I was bored. So I went downstairs and headed over to the kitchen.

“Oh, my!” Agatha gushed, running over to throw her arms around me when I entered the cinnamon-filled room.

“Mrs. Yezhov!” Sofia practically cried.

“We’re glad you’re better now,” Mila said, a small smile on her face.

“Thank you…all of you,” I uttered, sitting on a chair. “Although if I knew you’d be this dramatic, I might have stayed back in the bedroom.”

Sofia and Agatha laughed. Mila smiled.

“We were so scared!” Agatha uttered, her face almost sad.

“When Ruslan told us that you were missing, I prayed that it was just a bad dream. The whole house was in chaos that evening,” Sofia said.

“Sir Eduard was everywhere at the same time. He was downstairs till night,” Mila revealed.

“It was night when they took me,” I pointed out, chuckling at them.

“Nobody knew it then. I heard Sir Eduard asking his men where you were when he got back that evening. That was when they found out that you weren’t in the house. If he had known, he would have come earlier,” Agatha explained.