Page 91 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

My brave, strong, gorgeous woman.

Her scream cut off my words and my thoughts. Shocking me backwards into the chair, it was so loud and terrified.

"Alec!" She screamed our son's name so loudly I flinched away. Yanking her hand away from mine, she sat bolt upright in the bed. Her eyes as round as saucers and wild as she looked around sightlessly, thrashing her arms left and right like she was fighting some unseen force.

I was off the chair and pulling her into my arms in an instant. "Shh, it’s okay." I wrapped my arms around her frail body. Holding her to my chest and rocking her back and forth like I did Alec when he had a nightmare.

"Get off me, get off me!" she screamed so loudly that I was sure she burst my eardrum. "You won’t hurt him. I won’t let you." She clawed at my arm with her ragged nails, leaving deep red scratches down my forearms. I didn’t feel the pain, and I didn’t loosen my grip on her either.

She was still asleep, I realized in a rush. At the very least, she was locked between her nightmares and reality. In her head right now, I was the enemy, and I was threatening her boy.

Even delirious after days of captivity, she was trying to protect him.

Because that’s what mothers did. And Daisy was a mother.

"It’s okay. Daisy, it’s okay." I tightened my grip on her but was careful not to crush her thin frame. "Baby, it’s me. It’s Ilya."

Maybe it was the wrong thing to say because she just struggled even more.

"It’s your Ilya. Come back to me." I roared.

Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t seeing anything around her. I didn’t even want to know what memory she was fighting against or what kind of torture they had put her through.

One day I would listen to her story, but tonight I just needed her to come back to me.

Cupping her tear-stained cheeks in my hands, I did the only thing I could think of. The only thing that might bring her back to me.

I kissed her.

Sliding my lips over her chapped ones over and over again until finally she relaxed. It happened slowly, until she finally sagged in my arms, and it was only the fact she was propped up against my chest that kept her upright at all.

"Ilya?" she croaked in a broken whisper. Her lips barely moved against my shirt. She sounded like she was still in a dream, but at least she wasn’t screaming and fighting anymore. "Ilya, is that you?"

Leaning my head against hers, I smiled. "Yeah, baby, it’s me. Just Ilya. I’ve got you. You’re safe, I promise." God, I hoped that was a promise I could keep because I could feel her heartbeat pounding away against her ribs, and it was beating too fast.

Fast enough to have a heart attack.

She sucked in a wet breath. "Alec—"

Smoothing back her tangled hair, I forced her to look at me with those red, bloodshot eyes that were still the prettiest eyesI had ever seen. "He’s fine," I swore. "Asleep just down the hallway."

She stared up at me, uncomprehending.

Sighing, I kissed her forehead. "You’re home, Daisy, and Alec is sleeping in his room just down the hall."

She was relaxing, but her eyes were still wild and her heart was still thundering. "I need," she cleared her throat. "I need to see him."

"Daisy," I sighed.

Tear-filled eyes met mine, and I knew it was useless to argue with her. She wasn’t going to relax or rest until she had seen for herself that our child was fine.

With a sigh, I pulled the blankets from her, bending to pick her up, and she swatted my hands away.

"I can walk," she snapped, but there was no real fight in her voice. She was too weak for that.

"Okay." I wasn’t going to argue with her about this. Looping my arm around her waist, I helped her out of the bed, and together we shuffled towards Alec’s room.

From the doorway, she stared at him in much the same way as I had for the last few hours. Like she couldn’t believe he was real.