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It was hardly nine o’clock in the morning; so many things could happen between now and nighttime. So much could go wrong. And if it did, I would be ripped away from Vasile forever. I had already pleaded with Vasile a dozen times to just run away with me; we could book passage and head East, be married on a sugar-white beach in Mykos, and send for my parents after. But Vasile had told me he wouldn’t spend a life on the run with me, nor endanger my family by not being here to protect them. Not unless it was our last option to save our own skins.
The hawk dove to make its kill, disappearing from view. I leaned back slightly from Vasile’s embrace and raised my eyes to his. He was smiling at me, looking as handsome and sexy as ever.
The intense winter morning light allowed me to see the barest hint of a dimple on his left cheek, something that I’d never seen clearly before. I touched it softly with the pad of my thumb and then summoned up the courage to ask the question I hadn’t dared ask until now: “What did you do to get your father on your side in all this?”
Vasile gave me a look that suggested that he’d rather not say.
But now was no time for more secrets. Whatever the cost had been, I needed to know.
“Please,” I said. “Please tell me. I do trust you, but this is my life too.”
He pulled me close and placed a tender kiss to my forehead before saying, “I agreed to rejoin the family business.”
He what? A wave of nausea made my knees buckle. It was as if he had punched me in the stomach. I was so shocked that it took me a moment to even name the emotion I was feeling. But soon enough I had it: betrayal, complete and total betrayal. I pushed my way out of his embrace and lifted my furious gaze to him, feeling as if I had traded one criminal brother for another. Theirs was a terrible, dangerous, ruthless business, and I knew it was no life for me. Not now and not ever. Not with Petre and not with Vasile either.
I felt so blindsided and upended that I hardly knew what to say or how to say it. And so instead of trying to explain this wave of hurt and upset, I planted my hands on Vasile’s broad chest, pushed him away from me, and did what every animal would do when they felt trapped, scared, and in danger:
I ran.
He pursued me through the forbidding winter gardens, close on my heels. I took a quick left and made a break for the untamed forests beyond, but he caught up to me, tackling me and pinning me face-down against a snow drift.
The frigid ground stung my cheeks. As I clawed to get away, a layer of thawed and then refrozen snow dug painfully into my hands.
“I will not be a part of this,” I half-sobbed into the snow, thrusting my elbow into his stomach.
He groaned and released me just enough for me to get to my feet again. I was so close to being away from all this—all this fear, all this love, all this not being in control. I wasn’t ready for any of this. I hadn’t asked for it and I didn’t want it. And I was right there, on the brink of getting away—the deer about to get free from a wolf—but Vasile was too big and too strong, and in a single moment he had his huge arms around me, lifting me off the ground so that my feet had nowhere to go.
Once again, the world began to close in—I could feel myself beginning to faint.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
I sucked in big breath as Vasile’s huge arms gripped me tight. Fighting him with both hands and both feet, I did everything I could to make him let go so I’d fall to the ground and hopefully maintain my tenuous grip on consciousness.
“Please, please, please,” I sobbed. “Stop. Please just leave me alone!”
“Fuck almighty. Stop fighting me, Valeria. I saw you faint once. You don’t have to fucking demonstrate it again.” He planted his knees in the snow, lowering me to the ground, planting one hand on either side of my shoulders and staring down at me.
Fighting back tears, trying my best to quell this wave of panic, of terror, of hope, of so much uncertainty, I clapped one hand over my mouth to stop myself from sobbing. I hated this feeling, this whirlwind of emotions, and I was desperate to pull myself together. But it was no use. The emotions were coming and there was no way to stop them. He searched my face with concern when he saw a trickle of tears spill down my cheeks.
