AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sounds like a fucking hindrance.”
“It’s not. Damien…please…I want to be with the man I love.”
“Fine.”
I pause, my lips parting. “R-really?”
“I told you, Nastyusha, you have time to ruin this marriage before it happens.”
“But if you tell Papa you don’t want to marry me…”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not going to get on thePakhan’s bad side for this. It’s your mess. Clean it up yourself.”
“Doyouwant to marry me?”
“Not particularly. I keep saying that I’m not husband material, but everyone refuses to believe me, so if I have to go through with this, it’ll be with thePakhan’s blessings. And also…”
He trails off, his gaze getting lost, and for a second, a fraction even, I see a spark in his usually dead eyes. It’s a fire so hot that it nearly burns me, and it’s not even directed at me.
I follow his field of vision and catch a glimpse of a petite Asian girl who’s probably my age or younger.
She’s wearing a simple black dress and heels that match her hair and eyes and contrast against her pale skin. Two Asian men in suits stand on either side of her as she carries a plate of pastries.
The moment her gaze meets Damien’s, she freezes, as if the fire in his eyes could burn her from this distance.
Then she places the plate on the table, turns around, and leaves with a feather-like grace. The men follow after her, clicking their earpieces.
Are they from the Chinese triads? Or maybe theYakuza?
I don’t get a chance to think about it further, because Damien pushes his glass of vodka into my free hand. The fire that ignited in his eyes a moment ago is now pitch-black and seems darker than I’ve ever seen.
Even more than when he kills people.
“Hold this for me,” he says in a calm yet charged tone, then he strides in the direction where the Asian girl just disappeared to.
Oh, well.
Is it wrong to hope that she’s Abe’s daughter and he changed his mind? I feel bad for the girl, but I also can’t marry Damien.
I feel like I might die.
Opting to get some air, I abandon the two glasses of vodka on the nearest table and go out to the balcony.
I let the cold night air wash over me. Goosebumps pop up on my bare arms and I welcome the shiver.
I tried to avoid getting dolled up today, but all I have are cocktail dresses and beautiful flowery ones, so that wasn’t really possible. I opted for a knee-length one that matches the eyes I’ve been continuously dreaming about.
Blowing out a puff of air, I retrieve my phone from my dress pocket. It’s a new one Papa got for me, where only his, Rai’s, Vladimir’s, and Damien’s numbers are saved.
It doesn’t matter, though, because I memorized not only his number but also two others I probably shouldn’t have.
I type one of them. No clue if it’s the stress of the inevitable or the longing I’ve felt for the week and a half I haven’t seen Knox. Not directly, at least, because I keep stalking him all over the media.
But I don’t think about it as I hit Call. My heart thumps loudly in my ears as I listen to it ring. Is it too late to hang up and pretend this call never happened?
