Page 89 of The Russian's Bought Bride

Pulling her tightly against my chest, my hands shake despite every effort to steady them while she clings to me just as hard. The feeling of her alive and in my arms nearly undoes me completely.

“I’m sorry,” I hear myself saying immediately, barely thinking the words before I’m saying them. “Fuck, Dani…I’m sorry.”

Her breathing is ragged against my throat, but even that adds another layer of relief to the pile.

“You’re okay,” I murmur desperately, holding her tighter. “You’re okay now.”

But even as I reassure her, I know how close this came, and that alone makes the nausea curl in my gut.

I can still see the restraints cutting into her skin, and I can imagine walking into that room seconds later than I had. There wouldn’t be anything left of this building if that had been the case.

“I thought—” My voice roughens around the edges, almost hurting to speak. “I thought I lost you.”

Dani exhales, but it comes out more shaky than anything else. “I was so scared.”

The admission destroys something inside my chest, and I close my eyes briefly, pressing my forehead against her hair while relief and guilt tangle together inside me all at once.

Around us, the warehouse is finally settling as our men clear the remaining rooms while Roman barks orders somewhere nearby, but all of it feels irrelevant now. None of it matters as much as the woman in my arms and feeling her warmth against me.

I pull back just enough to look at her properly.

Fear lingers in her eyes, along with the understandable shock, but she’s alive. Even if that’s the bare minimum, it means less heartache for everyone involved.

It takes everything in me to talk despite the lump in my throat. “I should’ve protected you better.”

“Nikolai—”

“I mean it.” I cut in, cupping her face carefully despite the blood still streaking my hands. “I let them get close enough to touch you, and that’s on me.”

Her expression softens painfully despite everything she’s just endured, looking at me like I’m the one thing keeping her head above water. “You came for me. That’s what I care about.”

As if there was ever another possibility, or even a timeline where I would settle for anything less.

I stare at her for a second too long before the truth finally tears free without restraint.

“I’m in love with you.”

The words leave me before I can reconsider them, both utterly raw and absolute, and Danielle goes completely still in my arms.

For the first time in years, I genuinely don’t care about the vulnerability of that confession, or how it shatters every hardened image others have of me. I can’t care while knowing I cannot survive losing her, and tonight has proven exactly that to me.

“I should’ve said it sooner,” I admit quietly with a gentle stroke of my thumb across her cheekbone. “I should’ve said it before any of this happened.”

Emotion flickers through her eyes so quickly I almost miss it, then her fingers tighten in the front of my shirt like a quiet declaration of her own.

“I don’t want to be away from you right now,” she whispers, sounding just as sincere.

Relief crashes through me so hard it nearly drops me to my knees, but I keep myself steady for both of us. “You won’t be. I’ll make sure of it.”

Pressing a kiss against her forehead, I pull her fully against my chest and soak in her presence like I’m starved for it. As I hold her there in the aftermath of bloodshed and violence,and everything that nearly destroyed us both, I make myself one final promise.

No matter what it takes, nobody will ever get that close to taking her from me again.

Chapter 28 - Dani

Some days still don’t feel real, regardless of how many times I wake up in Nikolai’s bed with sunlight pouring through the curtains, hearing the distant hum of traffic somewhere below the penthouse windows.

For a few blissful seconds, everything feels normal. Before long, the memories return all at once and settle in like an ache beneath my ribs.