Page 34 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

“Logan, oh my God ...” I shoved my face between his shoulders, shaking, and inhaling as much of him as I could. My heart drummed in my chest, and I clung to him and didn't want to let him go.

“God, I missed you so much, My Love.” He kissed my temple, my cheeks, and my lips. I melted into his arms and repressed the intrusive thought that the kiss was not as passionate as Mark’s. When I lifted my face to his I couldn’t see past the tears in my eyes.

“But why did you have to put me through this? There must have been another way to free me than to poison me.” I cried.

He shook his head, his eyes shining. “I don’t know, my love. I hired her to do the job. You know how these people are, they have their own ways. Aren’t you happy? You’re here with me now. That’s all that matters.”

I mustered a smile. I was delighted and relieved to see him again. But deep inside me, several feelings were battling with each other. I felt a pulling and a tugging at the same time and said: “I thought you would never come back for me.”

He put down the grocery bags and stroked my chin. “Come on, Addi. Don’t say things like that. You're the love of my life. The last few weeks without you by my side have been the hardest I’ve ever had to endure.”

I studied his eyes. So much had happened and there was still a lot he hadn’t told me. I needed to know. “When is this chase finally going to end, Logan? What did you do to Mark? Why is he so hellbent on destroying you?”

With a frown, he backed away from me. “What have I done to Mark? That fucking asshole brainwashed you, didn’t he? I’m sure he told you horrible things about me and made you fucking believe his lies.”

On the contrary, Mark said nothing. The details he had given were vague and of little help in finding out more about the grudge they held. But now was not the time to talk about Mark. Logan would only get more riled up.

Smiling, I cupped his cheeks and made him look at me. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m not brainwashed. It’s just that, so much has happened already.” Like having sex with my fiancé’s nemesis. “We were separated because I was kidnapped. That’s not a natural occurrence. I needed to know what went wrong, okay? But it’s fine. We’re fine. We’re back together.”

He calmed down and held my gaze for a long time before swooping in. “Yeah, we are,” he breathed, and kissed me.

It was warm, familiar, and reassuring. But the butterflies weren’t dancing and there was no blazing fire pulsing through my veins. I encouraged myself and forced my body to respond. But there was no flow. That was to be expected; we’d been apart for a while. In time, things would return to normal.

I broke the kiss, and it startled him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I shifted. “I, um, have to call Robert to check on my dad.”

He smiled and handed me his phone. “Sure thing. I’m sorry I didn’t think about that.”

Dialing was easy; I knew the number of my father’s personal assistant by heart. When he picked up after the first ring, speaking was the hard part.

“Hello?”

A bigger wave of relief washed me at the sound of his voice, and I held back a sob. “Mr. Robert, it’s me. It’s Addison.”

He was silent for a minute. Then the shock came with his voice as he said, “Addison?”

We talked for several minutes, and I was surprised to learn that I reacted coolly to his messages when he tried to reach me a few weeks ago. He said I had distanced myself; I had nothing to say in response.

When I asked to speak to my father, Mr. Robert declined because he was asleep. But the good thing was that I could call back later. I was glad to know that he was doing much better than last time, when the doctors had been worried about his poor health.

Then, before he hung up, he cleared his throat and dropped his voice.

“Addi, there is something I must tell you. It concerns your father.”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Logan wiping cigarette butts from the ashtray on the old bedside table. I frowned. Since when did Logan smoke?

Knowing him, I was sure he had an explanation for that too.

I turned my attention back to the call.

“I’m all ears.”

Chapter 13 - Mark

“Make memories. Leave footprints in the sand.” – Anonymous.