AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shake my head, too embarrassed to stare at him.
Adrian grabs my chin and lifts it up so I’m once again held prisoner in the storm brewing in his eyes. It’s tamer now, softer, but I have no doubt it’ll erupt any second if need be.
“What else did you feel?” he asks.
“Envious, mostly. I wanted you and Jeremy for myself more than anything.”
“You had us.”
“Not during that first month. But you eventually brought me home. Thank you and I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For lying to you and for earlier. I didn’t mean to use Jeremy to make you commit to the vacation. Kolya said you didn’t react well to that.”
“First Yan is on your side and now Kolya? Are Boris and Ogla next?”
“They just want what’s best for you.”
“Uh-huh.”
I squeeze his bicep tighter. “Was your mother that bad?”
“I told you she was a villain.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sure she’s more than sorry. She had an ending that fits your Disney movies.”
“What type of ending?”
“She only ever wanted my father and power, and she died with a bullet to the head because of them. It happened when I was ten.”
“Oh, Adrian…” My heart aches for him as if the pain is mine. He might not have been close to his mother, but she was still the woman who gave birth to him and raised him. Her death must’ve affected him in a way.
No wonder he grew up to be an emotional vault. It must be hard for him to feel after everything that happened in his childhood.
“She’s in the past. Both of my parents are.”
“How did your father die?”
“There was a hit against the previousPakhan, Nikolai, and he protected him with his body.”
I gulp. “Did he have to?”
“Not really, but it’s expected of us to protect ourPakhan.”
“Don’t do it.”
“What?”
“Don’t protect him with your life.”
“I won’t. I have a family, remember?”
“Didn’t stop your father.”
“I’m not him, Lenochka. Never.”
