AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shakes her head. “I don’t—” I reach for her hands, but Rayne jerks back. Her eyes are narrowed and a finger jabs in my direction. “Don’t touch me, Kirill.Don’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because we tried that yesterday. I let you touch me, and then—” Her voice breaks around a sob. She composes herself quickly. “I let you touch me, and then your fiancée showed up. You lied to me, Kirill. I was honest with you about—well, about a lot of stuff. But you didn’t tell me about her.”
“I didn’t,” I admit.
It was a conscious choice. I could have mentioned Viktoria several times, but what good would it have done? It felt like tracking the turning of the tide when you live in a landlocked state. It was hardly pertinent.
“It doesn’t make any sense. Why would you follow me around town and bandage my hand and chase my date away if you were engaged?”
“That fuckingmudakwas not your date,” I growl. “He was some asshole you met at the bar. Don’t act like it was destiny.”
“I’ll never know now, will I?” she snaps back. “You can’t keep butting into my life and acting like I belong to you when you belong to someone else.”
“But you do belong to me, Rayne. You. Are. Mine. How many times do I need to say it? How loud? Since the night we met, there was never another option. It has only ever been you.”
My thumb brushes across the inside of her wrist. She stares down at the connection, and her throat bobs.
Slowly, reluctantly, she pulls away. “No.”
“It isn’t up for discussion.”
“You don’t get to decide my fate for me, Kirill. Not after you lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“If that’s the kind of moral tightrope you want to walk so you can sleep at night, have at it. But I’m not buying in. You lied to me.”
I shake my head. “I was always honest with you. Too honest.”
“Except about your fucking fiancée!”
“The fiancée I forgot all about every time we were together,” I add. “I agreed to the engagement with Viktoria after Ilya died. I was a mess. I didn’t think I’d ever have the energy or desire to be with someone else. So I did what I thought was right for my Bratva. Viktoria has been trying to make things even more official ever since, but it never went beyond the deal. Lord knows I never laid a fucking finger on her. I thought I could handle it if I framed it as a business deal, nothing more. But then I came back here… and I saw you.”
Rayne rolls her eyes. “Right. You saw me for the first time in five years on your beach and the first thing you did was tell me to get off your property. You said you never wanted to see me again. Don’t act like it was some grand romantic moment. I was there, remember? I know the truth.”
“You don’t know what’s going on inside my head. You never have.”
Her lips press together. “Maybe not. But that’s only because you don’t let anyone in. You keep everyone, including and especially me, at arm’s length. I don’t do that. I’m here to tell you what I want. You know what I want now?”
I wait for her to finish.
“I want you to leave me in peace. Go be with vapid, soulless Viktoria and have vapid, soulless children with her. Live your vapid, soulless lives together. That’s what I want.”
“Liar.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “I don’t care what you think.”
“I am the one who broke things off with Viktoria.” I enunciate each word clearly. “I told her that I could never be with her when my heart belonged to someone else.”
“What heart?” she splutters. “Who the hell do you think you are? I’ve been on the ropes for five years, and now, I’m supposed to believe you’re reformed?”
“I’m the same person I’ve always been.”
“The same man who pushed me away again and again.” She swipes at her eyes, which infuriates me. I want to be the one to wipe her tears away. I want to be the one who kills people for upsetting her, not the one who does the upsetting. “How can I trust that you aren’t going to turn around and change your mind tomorrow, Kirill? What the hell is different this time?” she presses. “I have more to lose now. I can’t hang my entire future on your promise.”
“The difference is that Ilya is dead.”
