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“Not the words I was looking for.”
Tears streaked down her face. “Don’t do this.” Her voice was a whisper. “Please, Kristoff, don’t make me hate you even more.”
Still not the words that I wanted to hear. Time for another round. I was about to pull the trigger again when she yanked my arm away.
“Fine, I will marry you. Just please stop.”
“Say the words.”
A shadow crossed her face. “I will sign the papers, but I will never forgive you for this.” Her voice was full of fire. I reveled in the burn.
“You’re not supposed to.” I didn’t deserve any forgiveness. Never did, never would.
The clock struck midnight. Sokolov was coming.
Love is only love when you’re willing to die for it.
I had just died for her.
38
KRISTOFF
Katya looked dazed. Her eyes were guarded, though I could see the pain and rage that simmered underneath it. I hadn’t pictured our wedding like this—her standing next to the minister with a distraught expression, refusing to even look at me. Still, I didn’t regret it. I would never regret tying her to me.
It wasn’t just to protect her from Sokolov, who was out for her blood. No, it was also so I could keep the one who owned my heart with me forever. Some might call it an obsession, a psychiatrist would deem it unhealthy, but to me, it was inevitable. I could see clearly now. My inner monster would have never let her go.
Looking back, I couldn’t quite pinpoint when I’d decided to make her mine. Maybe it was when the Bulgarians had kidnapped her, making me lose a part of myself. Or perhaps when that date of hers had hit her and I saw red because she’d gone out with another man. Whatever moment it was that had sealed her fate, I didn’t regret it. I embraced it.
I was never one to look back and lament over what could have been. Neither would I let her deny us. After all, I had asked her. I had asked her if she chose me, if she was certain. I’d given her the chance to back out. Even as I told myself that, I knew it to be untrue. Nothing and no one could have made me let her go. We would be together until death literally did us part.
And death was exactly what was on its way toward us that very moment. I knew it. My men, still surrounding us, knew it as well. They had known it since the day I’d taken on Ekaterina under my wings.
There was a slight shift in Damon’s posture and we exchanged a look. I nodded curtly. He left, taking the rest of the men with him, leaving Katya and I alone.
She slumped onto the couch. “Now what? Are you just going to leave? Go to Russia to hunt my father?”
If she’d known the man, she would never call him that. I didn’t point that out though. Instead, I said, “Don’t leave the house.”
Pain filled her eyes. “Am I your prisoner again?”
“I need you to stay inside.” I didn’t know what path Sokolov would take; if he would stay a friend or become a foe. And he wasn’t my only concern. Aslanov had people on the outside and already in place. He would find out about the marriage soon. Unlike his daughter, he would know the true reason I’d married her. It wasn’t for the money or for vengeance. Aslanov would love to get his hands on her to use her as leverage against me. He could take her from me and ask for Sokolov’s head and I would give it to him. I’d give him the damn moon.
But first I needed to deal with the other man who wanted a piece of my wife. Someone who would do worse things to her than take her from me. A man who had forged me into the weapon I was. A man who was never late, and who had sent a message he’d come collect on my blood vow the minute he’d heard Aslanov had gotten out on an early release.
Katya got to her feet and turned to face me. She was always so brave. Even though she believed I was going to hand her over to a monster, she still faced me head on. It hurt that she thought so little of me. She didn’t know I would set the world on fire for her, and I couldn’t blame her. Not after what she’d discovered. I had omitted the full truth from her, so she had reason to distrust me. I would forgive her for it this time.
“It won’t work,” she said, her back straight as a board. “If this Aslanov is as big a monster as you say, I can’t imagine him caring if someone shoots his daughter in front of his eyes. Especially if it’s a daughter he has never met and doesn’t care about.”
Her deduction made sense. Aslanov was a monster, but he had loved Katya’s mother, Yanina Lachenkov. It was the reason he’d never reached out to her. He didn’t want anyone to know about her, since he knew that Sokolov, and many of Aslanov’s enemies, would want his child. His last child, since his enemies had killed the other ones during several Bratva wars. Aslanov was from old, supposedly noble blood, and leaving his mark on this world through his lineage would mean something to him.
What Katya didn’t understand was that this wasn’t about what Aslanov would feel. That wasn’t how revenge worked. The satisfaction for Sokolov would stem from the fact that he’d killed the last of Aslanov’s line.
I put away the older-model gun and took my newer piece off the mantle. She eyed me warily.
“Don’t move,” I said.
The door opened and Damon entered. He was armed to the teeth. “Sokolov’s here. He’s brought an army with him.”
