AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His eyes remain shut. “No, Mads gave me some Percocet. It’s kicking in now, I’d better rest.”
I walk over to him and straighten his comforter out over him. “All right, Nicky. You get some sleep. I’ll check on you later.”
The second glass of wine I gave Madison is empty and her eyes are shut. I’m not certain if she’s merely thinking or whether she’s fallen asleep. I walk over and sit next to her. For a moment, I just stare at her beautiful face in repose and think about how differently this whole thing could’ve gone down.
Tomorrow, I’m going to make Sergei pay dearly for this, hit him where it hurts most.
When I brush my fingers across her hand, her eyes flutter open to half slits. Her gaze drifts toward me. “Bash.”
I stroke her face and wish I could wipe the sadness from her eyes.
“If you love me…”
“Baby, you know I love you.”
“Don’t lie to me anymore. Promise.”
“No more lies, Mads, I promise you.”
She closes her eyes and nods. But then they pop back open. “You’re calling off the engagement. I can’t see you while you belong to someone else.”
My jaw clenches. “It’s already over as far as I’m concerned, but I have to unwind the contract that I signed. That will take a little more time, but I’m working on it.”
Her brow furrows slightly.
I take her hand in mine, and kiss it tenderly. “Your happiness is all that matters to me, Mads. I’ll move heaven and earth to make this happen.”
The creases in her brow smooth out and her shoulders sink into the cushions.
“You need your rest, honey. Let me put you to bed.” When she doesn’t object, I move closer to her and scoop her effortlessly into my arms. As I stand, she rests her head on my chest and slips an arm around my neck.
I carry her up the stairs to our bedroom. I help her undress and pull the covers back for her to climb in. When she turns over curling up with the pillow, I know she’ll quickly fall into a wine induced slumber.
I unpack her things and put them away. I don’t want to leave behind any memories of what almost happened. I even put her bags away in the hidden storage closet. She won’t be needing them because she’s not leaving me. Not now. Not ever.
Chapter 13 – Dark Skies on the Horizon
Isleptfortwelvehours straight. Partly because my overworked body desperately needed it and partly because while I was asleep, I didn’t have to think about Sebastian’s lie of omission. I wonder how I would have handled it if I’d reached the museum as planned and he’d informed me himself. I would have been angry about him concealing it from me for two months, but I would’ve tried to understand that it was a business arrangement thrust upon him by the powers that be in his world.
I think it was the shock of seeing Natasha at the door, who for all the world looked like a young Charlize Theron, marching in like she owned the place and hurling insults at me. I was pissed at Bash for putting me in that position and letting me get blind sided. I felt like the butt of a particularly humiliating joke that everyone else was in on.
I can’t help but wonder how she felt, after all, I’m the girlfriend, she’s the fiancée…and yet she was the one being ordered out of her fiancée's home. That also had to be humiliating.
Is it true that she’s Sergei’s lover? I shudder at the thought of anyone laying with that beast. I recall the way his eyes crawled hungrily over me. If I never see him again, it will be too soon.
And Sebastian – what must it have been like to know you’d have to marry someone, kiss the person who’d been sucking Sergei’s dick? I shudder again.
Sebastian. I don’t know whether to punch him in his face or to console him. The terrified look in his eyes when he came home was almost enough to undue me. It was then that I knew his heart was breaking as much as mine. The way his hands trembled and his voice broke, I knew the tumult of emotions going through him were real, visceral.
If Nick were to be believed, and why would he lie? Sebastian was planning to tell me the truth last night. If this were the only unexpected challenge we faced, I could forgive Bash and give him the time to unwind his betrothal contract. But it’s just one more jarring jolt in the series of bumps on the road we’re travelling. When will the bumps end and the ride finally smooth out for us?
I should leave him. Cut my losses and run for the hills. And yet here I remain, curled up in the warmth of his bed unable to resist his allure. Our intimate moments, punctuated by the smooth cadence of his mother tongue, feel less like spontaneous expressions of passion and more like deliberate incantations woven to bind me to him. Has he cast a spell over me, inducing this desperate craving for him that engulfs my mind, body, and soul?
Is that what it feels like to fall hopelessly in love against all reason?
I grapple with the dichotomy between my professional aspirations and the tempestuous relationship that has consumed me. Yet, at the most fundamental, primal level, Sebastian feels like my perfect match, as though destiny itself has orchestrated this connection. Perhaps, like cardiothoracic surgery, the path to love is strewn with challenges and uncertainties, but the allure of what lies beyond is too potent to resist.
I sigh heavily when I consider how inexorably he’s drawn me down a path I never thought I'd follow. This dangerous path included – hiding his gun from the police, neglecting to report a GSW to the authorities, and forgiving him for hiding a secret fiancée from me for months. Oh, and the greatest one of them all…surrendering my heart to apotentialcrime lord. Where was the line between his legitimate business dealings and the bratva life? How tainted was he by the latter?
