Page 102 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

I heard his words, I even understood them, but at the same time I didn’t. Because I knew there had been other women.

Marguerite had just been the last in a long line of women who he had paraded around in front of me. A fact I tried not to think about but that I still struggled with.

My lips thinned. "We both know—"

Before I could finish, he had my cheeks cupped in his big hands. "There were no other women," he said again, more firmly. "From the moment I met you, I have not taken another woman into my bed."

I stared up at him in total shock; part of me didn’t want to believe him. After all I had seen and heard him.

"The women I brought home," he swallowed so hard that his Adam's apple bobbed, "were prostitutes."

"That doesn’t make it better, Ilya." I glared up at him, my teeth clenched.

"I paid them."

Again I rolled my eyes. He really was bad at this. "It’s in the past, so it’s fine. I can’t hate you for being with others when we weren’t together," I said, and even though it was the truth, it wasn’t the entire truth because that part of our relationship still caused me pain.

His grip on my cheeks tightened when I tried to look away. "There were no others. I paid for them to make those noises; I wanted you to believe I had gotten over you and moved on. But I never did." For a second his eyes closed, and there was no sound apart from our mingled breathing and, down below, Alec’s whoop of laughter.

"And Marguerite was—insistent, but no, I didn’t sleep with her. I didn’t even kiss her." Suddenly his eyes flashed open. "You are the only woman for me, Daisy. I want you to know that." Pausing, he took a deep breath. "You are the only woman for me." He enunciated each word, his eyes glued to mine.

"Okay..." Taking in a deep breath, I felt a strange calmness settle over me. It was almost like a great weight had been lifted. One that I hadn’t even realized was weighing me down. Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Thank you for telling me," I whispered, my eyes closing.

Ilya's smile was a little uncertain. "There was a woman—"

My eyes snapped open. "Okay?" I drew the word out.

"I took her on a date when Alec was two."

I stayed silent. But my heart thundered in my chest.

"I didn’t even kiss her goodnight, and I never saw her again. That was the moment I realized that no woman would ever compare to you. Even when I thought you were dead, I couldn’t bring myself to be with anyone else. I never and will never want anyone but you."

There was so much emotion in his voice that my arms tightened around his throat. "I feel the same," I whispered, surging upwards to sip at his lips. "It’s always just been you."

My chin was caught in his strong grip, my head tilted upwards. "You mean?"

"I haven’t ever been with anyone but you," I admitted.

"You swear it?" he asked, his eyes wildly taking in my face. "Not that it will change how I feel. You deserved to be happy. Even if it wasn’t with me."

"I wasn’t happy, Ilya. The only real happiness I’ve ever felt is when I was in love with you. Yes, my life was good, but I wasn’t happy. I didn’t really feel much of anything at all. It was like I couldn’t feel because I wasn’t with you."

A million emotions swept over his face before he settled on a dazzling smile. Leaning down, he kissed the tip of my nose.

"We were meant to be together."

"Yes." I answered the question he hadn’t even asked. "Yeah, I really do believe we are meant to be together."

"Do you know what else I believe?" Ilya asked, his voice growing husky and filled with a dark, panty-wetting promise.

I lifted my eyes to him seductively. "And what’s that, husband?"

"I believe, actually I know, I am about to make you scream my name," he said matter-of-factly.

My core clenched, my nipples hardened and brushed against the thin top at his words. It had been so long since I had felt his hands properly on my body.