AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I wrench my hand away, a hollow laugh escaping me. "So this is it? You're sending me away just like that?" My heart feels like it's splintering into fragments.
Sandra steps forward, giving me a once-over. Of all the women, I think she doubts me the least in this moment. "Damien, are you certain?"
"I am," he interjects, his words leaving no room for argument. "She leaves at dawn."
The protests rise again, but Damien stands firm against their fears. He turns to me, his gaze locking onto mine, a silent vow that he will protect me, even from his own blood.
But his words feel like a chasm opening between us. "For my safety," I whisper bitterly, the irony not lost on me.
Without another word, I turn on my heel and storm out of the room, each step a punctuation mark in the chaos of my thoughts. I have been sent away to Finland, away from the man who had become my world, just when I needed him most. The door slams behind me, a resounding echo in the tumult in my heart.
Chapter 21
Damien
The door slams behind Mariya, a resounding declaration of her fury, and for a moment, I'm paralyzed, torn between the duty to my family and the desire to chase after her. It's Andrei's hand on my shoulder, his voice a low rumble of solidarity, that jolts me back to reality. "You made the right call, Damien," he assures me, but his words are a cold comfort.
I shake him off, a restless energy propelling me forward. I can't just stand here while Mariya is breaking apart. I follow her trail, finding her in the room that's become her sanctuary, her sobs a raw echo.
She whirls to face me as I enter, her eyes red-rimmed and fierce. "You're pushing me away again?" she accuses, the hurt in her voice a sharp thorn in my side.
"It's for your own good," I reply, though each word tastes of ash. I close the space between us, but she's like a cornered animal, bristling with hurt and betrayal.
"I don't want to go," she pleads, and it's the raw honesty in her voice that breaks me.
"I know," I breathe out, my voice laced with a pain that mirrors hers. “But I can't risk your safety, Mariya. Not now. Not with everything that's falling apart around us."
She's shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. "But that's just it, Damien. Every time something goes wrong, I'm the one who has to leave. Am I nothing more than a liability to you?"
"That's not it at all," I insist, my hands reaching out to cup her face and wipe away the tears. “You are everything to me, which is why I need to know you're safe."
She leans into my touch despite herself, a shuddering breath escaping her. "We barely made it out of the house, Damien. What if they come back? What if they’re waiting for us to slip up?”
Her fears reflect my own, a dread that sits heavy and cold in my gut. “I won’t let that happen. I’m going to sort this out, and then I’ll come for you. We’ll be together again.”
The silence Mariya responds with is heavy, saturated with her disbelief and the sting of perceived betrayal. “You don’t think I could have had anything to do with this, do you?” Her voice cracks, bearing the weight of accusation and pain. “I’m not working for my father. I don’t understand what he’s doing!”
I can only offer her a nod, my voice caught somewhere between my chest and my throat. “I know you didn’t have anything to do with it. But still… it doesn’t look good to the rest of them. You must understand that.” He sighs as if there’s nothing more to be said on the matter. “I’ll take care of the train ticket myself, and I'll be there to see you off," I state with promise, but the words sound empty, a meager offering to the storm inside her.
She whirls away, a blur of hurt, and retreats to pack her things. "Mariya," I start, my voice low and steady, "I'm not the villain here."
She doesn't look up, her hands moving with a frantic energy that belies her calm. "It sure feels like it," she mutters.
I cross the room in three strides, my hands capturing hers, stilling their frenzied quiver. "Listen to me," I urge, tipping her chin up to meet my gaze. "Everything I’ve done these past few months, every decision I've made, has been for you, to keep you safe."
Her eyes are wells of emotion, brimming with a mixture of fear and longing. "Even if it means sending me away?" Her voice is barely a whisper, a plea wrapped in defiance.
"Especially then," I affirm, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead, a silent benediction. "I'd be destroyed if anything happened to you."
Her arms find their way around my waist, clinging to me as if I were the anchor in her storm. "Promise me this isn't forever," she says, her voice muffled against my chest.
"I promise," I swear, sealing it with a kiss that speaks of every unspoken word, every shared dream. "I will come for you, Mariya. This is just a pause, not an end."
We stand there, wrapped in each other, the world beyond the room receding. For a moment, it's just us—no Bratva, no betrayals, no looming threats. Just Damien and Mariya, two hearts stubbornly beating as one against the odds.
“Swear it.”
“I swear.”
