Page 7 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

I’d crossed a line and taken something that could not be given back. And I’d do it again if it meant we could be together.

The jet cut through the night sky, taking us home to California, where my family and my father waited. A life where we were forced to pretend nothing had changed, though something had. And I knew one thing with brutal certainty.

Dimitri Mikhailov would eventually learn the truth. And when he did, he wouldn’t be facing a reckless daughter. He would face a woman who was strong enough to choose her own future.

Chapter

Three

GORAN

The Mikhailov estate never slept.

The gates rolled open as we pulled in just after four in the morning. The sky was still ink-black. The time of day when everything felt cloaked in secrecy and yet somehow felt the freest. Floodlights washed the driveway in white, and I felt Dimitri’s guards’ gaze, like hands against my spine. I knew them all, but I wouldn’t call a single one a friend. Not loyal in the ways that mattered when truths started bleeding out.

Stepping out of the car first, I looked around, assessing for dangers. My face remained professional, my actions controlled. Exactly who I was supposed to be.

The guards stationed near the front door straightened the moment they saw me, and I nodded to them in greeting.

“Ms Mikhailov,” one of them said, dipping his head toward Kaylani as she exited the limo.

“Morning,” she replied easily, like she hadn’t just dropped an atomic bomb into the middle of the house, and we were now waiting for it to go off.

I moved to the trunk without being asked and retrieved her luggage. Nothing more than a soldier doing his job.

The house loomed ahead of us, made of stone, silence, and inherited power. Dimitri was away on a business trip, which was code for fucking his newest mistress. Not that he would have been up at this hour, and it wouldn’t have mattered even if he had been. Running into him and acting normal was going to be my new norm. Still, his absence didn’t make the place feel safer.

I’d never been a fan of Nathaniel’s father. He was a man who lived by how hard his hand landed and how much his threats could line his pockets. I had seen the abuse Nathaniel suffered firsthand. We never spoke about it, but my loyalty was to Nathaniel, and if I were forced to choose between them, I knew which way my gun would point.

I followed Kaylani inside, my steps measured, my posture stiff. Cameras tracked us through the entryway. I was always aware of them, but now…they felt like a red laser pointed at my heart. Every corner of this house was watched, and secrets never stayed buried for long.

“Would you like me to take your bags up to your room,” I asked quietly as we reached the base of the stairs.

She glanced at me, something dangerous flashing in her eyes. The perfectly cool and arrogant princess mask was in place.

“Well, I hope you don’t think I’m going to carry them,” Kaylani mused, and the corner of my mouth twitched.

She turned without batting an eye and marched up the stairs. I followed in her shadow and forced my eyes not to give away what I was feeling. I could easily remember the first day I’d recognized her as a woman and not Nathaniel’s little sister.

I was covering for Alexei, Dimitri’s head of security, the summer Kaylani turned eighteen. She had a few people over for a birthday party, and I was guarding the pool area when she walked out in a hot pink bikini. But it wasn’t her scantily clad body that grabbed me by the throat…it was the look in her eyes. There was no more childish humor staring at me. No more teenage flirtation and giggles. She was a woman, and she made sure that I knew she wanted me.

I’d tried my best to stay away from her from that moment on. But the problem with being a soldier was that you went where you were needed. Kaylani was the master at knowing exactly how to get me alone without it seeming suspicious. I fucking loved her and hated her for it all at the same time.

She opened her door, and I walked in to set the two suitcases down. Before I could retreat, she closed us in and grabbed my sleeve, pulling me further into her bedroom.

The air changed instantly.

She was on me, her hands fisting in my shirt, her mouth finding mine with intent, heat, and absolute certainty. The kiss wasn’t gentle or tentative. It was a reminder, and one word floated behind my eyes.

Mine.

No matter how angry I was with her, I couldn’t resist her. She had captured everything, but my heart had been the first to tumble over the cliff.

I kissed her back without thinking, my restraint cracking with her touch. My hands slid to her waist, muscle memory overriding sense, her body fitting against mine like it always had. The taste of her grounded and wrecked me in equal measures.

I pulled away first. “Lani,” I said, breath unsteady. “I can’t stay.”

Her eyes darkened. “He’s not here.”