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“You deserve better. A much better world than the one I have to offer you …”
“Rafa—”
I put a finger on her lips, cutting her off. “But I’m selfish. I’m wicked and have a lot of imperfections. You’ve said it more than once, and I agree; there is nothing normal about me. And nothing will ever be normal about me, Juliana.”
I traced the plumpness of her upper lip.
“Do you want to know why I never let you touch me before?”
She blinked and I took it as a “yes.”
I smiled. It was so easy to do that with her. “The first time I felt a woman’s touch on my body, she fucked me without my permission. I was eleven. Young, naive, and vulnerable. One of my uncle’s whores did it. As a kind of revenge for being treated like scum. This one time I was alone. So, it happened. But I swore I'd never let it happen again. But you know, krasotka, the second time I allowed a woman’s touch on my bare skin … I fell in love.”
Her eyes widened. “Rafa …” she panted. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” I covered the distance between us and cradled her soft cheeks. “From the first moment you walked through the doors of Le Coin Brulet, I knew you were mine. And I would never share you…”
She leaned into my palms and covered my hands with hers. The smile on her lips sent a warmth through me. The fire melted the ice.
“…I love your boldness, your fierceness, your simplicity, and everything else. I love you, Juliana Varkov. And I want you to know that you are not alone. I know you think you’ve lost everyone close to your heart. But I’m here. I’ll always be here for you. Even if I am not close to your heart, you are close to mine.”
When I was done, she was breathing so fast, I thought she was about to faint.
But all thoughts flew out the broken windows when she stood on her tiptoe and pressed her lips on mine.
Trust me to go overboard.
Pressing her back against the wall, I lifted her legs off the floor, wrapped them around my waist, and she threw her arms around my neck.
“I love you too, Rafail,” she murmured against my lips and buried her face in my neck. “All those things I said about hating you … they weren’t true. I didn’t mean them.”
“Liar.” I laughed and kissed her hair. “You meant every word.”
“Okay, fine. I meant them, maybe just a little bit, in the beginning.” She giggled against my neck and pulled her head back, she looked at me mischievously. “But it didn’t stop me from falling in love with you.”
As I stared into those big amber eyes, I heard myself say, “Ty luchseye, chto kogda-libo proizoshlo so mnyo, krasotka.”
You are the best thing that ever happened to me, pretty one.
Epilog – Juliana
Six months later
Rule Four. Enjoy every moment.
Six months had passed since everything had happened. Since the first time at Le Coin Brulet, after my encounter with Rafail Varkov. Since my abduction. Since Liam’s death. Since I had fallen in love.
If someone had told me six months earlier that my life would be the way it is today, I would have doubted it with all my heart. I would never have thought that one day I would lead a life like this.
It took a while, but I had one rule that was still important — to live. To enjoy every moment as if it were the last. It had been a whirlwind surviving the trauma of losing one of the most important people in my life and finding out that my aunt and uncle had been murdered.
At first, I thought I wouldn’t make it. But Rafail surprised me. He helped me through the healing process and has stayed by my side ever since.
It made us fall even more in love with each other. We became stronger together. I got to know nuances of my husband that I never thought existed. It turned out that he had a softer side to his tough exterior. He was funny — with a heavy dose of dark humor.
But he cared for me and protected me. And that was more than enough for me.
We were on our way to a charity event that had been specially planned for high-ranking members of society. This included personalities such as Rafail Varkov.
