It does feel right. So fucking right. I want to drown in him. I want to beg him to marry me now so that we can end this painful back and forth we’ve been locked in from the beginning.

I’ve never wanted to be possessed by a man the way that I want to be possessed by Kolya Uvarov.

But how can I explain to him that that’s the exact reason I decided to run? Because he has the power to consume me whole.

More than anything, I’m terrified that if he tries, I won’t put up a fight.

“Feel that,” he says, running his hands over my body. He touches each of my freckles, my scars, my stretch marks. He caresses my body as though he’s worshiping it.

I’ve never felt this kind of intimacy before. The kind that sits quietly, unravels languidly, moves patiently. Angry heat and violent passion have always come easy.

This?

This is rare.

“Stop listening to Adrian. Start listening to yourself.”

I shake my head, still hypnotized with the way he’s touching me. “You act like it’s easy, expelling him from my head. He’s been in my life for so long.”

“And what has he contributed to it?”

Before I can find the words to answer, Kolya’s phone starts to ring, breaking me out of my daze.

I step back and pull the shirt closed around me while Kolya answers impatiently. “What?”

His expression shifts as the person on the other side of the phone speaks.

Kolya nods once. “I’ll be there shortly.” Then he hangs up. “I have to go,” he tells me, turning towards the door.

I reach out and snare his arm. “Wait, what? Why? Where are you going?”

He lets loose a weary breath. “It’s Adrian. They found him. It’s time to finish things.”

26

KOLYA

“You can’t!”

The fear in June’s voice is palpable. And it’s all for a man who had abandoned her the first chance he got. It pisses me off that she’s not demanding more for herself. Even now.

“I can’t what?” I challenge, twisting around so violently that she falls back a few steps.

She looks nervous, but she says it anyway. “You can’t kill him. He’s still your brother. He is still the father of my child.”

“Pretend he’s not.”

She swallows hard but stands up tall, refusing to yield to anything—to her fear, to my intimidation, none of it. I’d admire it if she wasn’t so damn infuriating. “My past is my past and it involves your brother. You’re just gonna have to make your peace with that.”

“To what end?” I ask. “You’re gonna marry him now, huh? Well, don’t bother inviting me to the fucking wedding.”

She takes another step back. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Didn’t we just have a whole conversation about this? I thought you believed me.”

“I do! I mean—I’m trying to. But even if I believed that Adrian was guilty of everything you say he is, I still don’t want him dead. And neither should you.”