AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You sound like you want to be his friend.”
As we drive through the city, Dario turns away, saying nothing for a while.
“Is your god-awful mood about the girl? Emma?”
I don’t respond, but I don’t have to, not when Dario reads me. Maybe he notices when I swallow heavily or that my jaw won’t stop pulsing like I’ve got some goddamn condition.
“That’s a yes,” Dario mutters.
“I told her,” I growl.
“What?”
I almost laugh. “That she belongs to me forever. She’s mine. Itoldher that.”
“The hell you do that for?” Dario asks.
I finally look at him. My little brother’s mouth is slightly open, a picture of shock, his eyes narrowed in a calculation fashion.
“It’s the truth. The second I saw her, I knew. She was mine. She belongs to me. I couldn’t let her leave after that. I became a kidnapper at that moment.”
“Jeez,” Dario says. “I had no idea you feltthisstrongly.”
“It’s not a feeling. It’s knowing. It’s certainty. It’s never having to question if she’s the woman for me because it’s as clear as the color of grass or the sky. It’s as clear as the wind.”
“I thought Rosa was the poet.”
I smirk at the old joke. “You get the point.”
“How did she react?”
“I don’t know. I left. We weren’t supposed to be together at all.”
Savage, protective instincts grip me when I remember how she cried, sobbing into my chest. The pain poured out about her mother’s death, the grief after, and the flit with madness. Did she really think that would make mestopwanting her? Nothing could, ever.
“We’re going to have children together,” I go on, and I’m almost smiling now, thinking of the future, all the light and the happiness. I picture Rosa playing with her nieces and nephews, smiling at me with my arm wrapped around her best friend. It evensoundslike a fantasy.
“Have you told her this yet?”
“I didn’t tell her anything. We have to stop.”
“How are you going to have kids together if you’re going to stop?”
“Now you’re starting to see what it’s like inside my head.”
“I’m torn. I want to see you happy so badly. You deserve it after all you’ve done for this city, but I can’t imagine Rosa being okay with it. I’m trying, really, and I just can’t.”
I grind my teeth. “But you understand,” I say.
“You’ve finally found somebody—the one true love of your life. I’ve always wondered if you ever would. How does it feel?”
“It’s like you said when I asked about your love. Like slotting into place. Like I’m meant to be here.”
“Yeah, well.” Dario turns away, looking out the window. “We should be there soon.”
* * *
Fyodor is far smaller than I expected him to be. I imagined him to look more like Matvei did, but he’s tall and thin. He sits in a suit two sizes too big for him, so pale he’s almost albino, with a shaved head. No tattoos, no jewelry.
