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“What about your earlier concerns?”
“I wish you could find a way to trust me, Giada, which I know is impossible right now. I need to work this through. The answers might not be easy.”
“But you promised you wouldn’t hurt my father.”
I reached out, taking her hand into mine, pulling her fingers to my lips. I wanted to promise the world, but that wasn’t possible. As I brushed her knuckles across my lips, I realized what I said could haunt her for the rest of her life.
And for once, I hated being the son of Vladimir Kozlov.
“Yes, I did.”
She finally offered a smile as well as a single nod.
“Would you like dinner?” I asked.
“I had a few bites of food. I’m really tired. I’d like to go to bed.”
“Of course. I’ll be there shortly.”
Giada shifted her eyes back and forth, searching my soul. Then she pulled her hand away but not before pressing it against my heart.
When she walked out of the room, I closed my eyes.
Unfortunately, I knew what she’d found with her touch.
Blackness, a soulless man as always.
I’d seen the reflection in her eyes. Instead of terrifying her, the realization had broken her heart.
I left the music room, now standing on the deck just outside my office, a tasteless drink in my hand for longer than I’d intended. And by the time I made it to our room, she was already asleep.
After adjusting the sheets, I pressed my lips against her forehead, the ache in my heart increasing.
But at long last, I was able to whisper the words I thought I’d never say in the same inflection as my mother when tucking me into bed.
“Ya tebya lyublyu.”
I love you.
CHAPTER17
Giada
I opened my eyes as soon as I no longer felt his presence beside me, staring out into the darkness. The waves were crashing against the shore, the sound more ominous than usual. Perhaps that’s because my heart remained heavy. He remained in the room, his presence just as electric as every other time, but he was respecting me by providing time and space.
I’d seen more emotion in Sevastian’s eyes after his return than I had all the days before. And even though I didn’t know a single word in Russian, I felt the three little words he’d said only moments before.
I love you.
I bit my lower lip, trying to keep my emotions locked down, but it was impossible around him. He’d forced me to take a hard look at my life as well as my hopes for the future. Nothing seemed real any longer. I’d also been around him long enough to know he couldn’t keep the promise that he’d just made.
Whatever my father had done threatened to destroy our worlds both together and apart. I was drained and uncertain of what that meant, but I couldn’t stand the thought of turning against my father.
However, I had a choice to make.
The past or the future.
It should be easy, but I’d meant what I said that blood ties were some of the strongest on Earth. That was until I’d met the single man who made me feel alive. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the hard pull of my heart, the rapid thumping against my chest. Nothing would ever be easy, but there was no life without the man I loved.
