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“What else do you miss?” she asks.
“My best friend, Misha, and his sister Tiana. My parents adopted them when we were little, so we grew up together. I’m really close with Misha.”
“I used to have a best friend, but she moved away, and after my parents died, I lost contact with her.”
“That sucks,” I mutter. I mean it when I say, “Someone like you should never be alone. You deserve to have a perfect life.”
Everleigh turns her head, resting her other cheek against my chest. “Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve this.”
“You did nothing.” I brush my hand up and down her back. “This is all on me.”
“You have nothing to do with my parents’ death,” she whispers. “Since they passed away, everything just kept going wrong. I was hoping this trip would give me a break from life so I could figure out how to live without them.”
And now, there might not be a life for her to figure out.
Frustration and a sense of powerlessness fill my chest. I wish I had the strength of ten thousand men, so I could get us out of this hell and keep her safe.
Being imprisoned in a dark room with Everleigh has conditioned me to love her. Fighting the emotions is impossible because our hellish imprisonment has forced us to connect on a level I never knew existed. Our breaths are even in sync.
Everleigh has become a part of me like the flesh covering my bones.
My mind tells me everything we feel is because of the nightmare we are forced to endure on a daily basis, but my heart tells me I will never love another the way I love her.
Our love is something deeper…more primal. It’s become one with my will to survive.
“What are you thinking about?” Everleigh asks.
“Just how much I love you,” I answer.
Conditioning or not, the woman in my arms owns every inch of my heart.
She rubs her cheek against my chest. “Pretend a miracle happens, and we magically transport from this room to anywhere else in the world.”
A grin tugs at my mouth. “Okay.”
“Would you come with me and live a normal life or return to the bratva?”
Fuck.
Before I can answer her, she adds, “Remember, it’s make-believe. There are no consequences for whatever you choose.”
In the dark, I reach for her hand and link our fingers. “In an ideal world without consequences, I’d choose the bratva and you.”
It’s not that I can’t decide but that I want both. I won’t have to give up Misha and my family, and I won’t have to let go of Everleigh.
When the sound of footsteps echoes down the hallway, my body stiffens. It’s not a food day, and it’s too early for our toilet break.
Keys rattle, and my stomach turns to a block of concrete.
“Blyad',” I whisper, darting to my feet. When Everleigh is standing as well, I pull her behind me.
“Alek,” she hisses, fear and panic tightening in her voice.
The door opens, and light spills into the room. My eyes snap shut, and it takes a few seconds before I can open them again.
“Come,” Dario orders.
God, have mercy on us.
