Page 104 of Beloved
There was no getting away from Kazimir, but it wasn’t about his strong hold on my arm as much as the savage one he had on my heart. Yet there was so much baggage between us, so many lies and interference that would keep us from finding the connection we had before.
As he pulled me around the back of the car, I took a deep breath.
“Then why did you stay away? Other women?” Why in God’s name did I care?
“There’s been no other woman,malen’kiy tselitel’. None at all.”
Now I hated that he called me by the nickname. He almost seemed melancholy when I knew he wasn’t capable of certain emotions. Men of power never were.
I jerked my body again, but he was too strong. “You need to just forget about me,” I almost begged even as he opened the passenger door. “I managed to do so with you.” I was also a terrible liar and I sensed he knew it.
He said nothing as he pulled the seat forward, encouraging Golden to jump into the back. Once she was happy as could be, he pushed me against the car, planting both hands on either side of me.
“Forget? For the last three years I had a lot of time to think about what had occurred, including the stunning young girl who healed my wounds and went a long way into soothing my savage soul. I came to the same conclusion. I cannot and will not let you go. And there is nothing you can say or do to stop me.”
This was the man I’d always thought him to be, unforgiving and forceful. There was no denying the electricity’s surge between us or the way my heart was palpitating.
Which was why I couldn’t fight him and honestly didn’t want to.
“Why did you have so much time?”
He remained quiet until he had me secured in the seat, even fastening my seatbelt for me. After doing so, he leaned in and pressed his lips against my forehead and the barrage of feelings that I’d had so long ago began to resurface.
Yet the change in him was significant, as if those three years had stripped him of the gentle side I’d seen. When he smiled, I sensed a touch of his anger.
He rolled the tips of his fingers under my chin, smiling as he did. “Because, my sweet Rafaela, I spent those years in a cold, dark prison that made the stone cellar your father shoved me in seemlike a vacation in Monaco. I’m ready to resume my position and to find the person responsible for taking away years of my life. When I do, I assure you every person involved will wish they’d made another decision.”
“What?” I whispered, shocked at hearing the news. Prison. “Prison?”
“Yes, a bleak place where they toss away the worst of the worst, encouraging them to die.”
“I…” I had no idea how to respond to that. “I’d prayed my father was lying and that you escaped.”
“I assure you he would have preferred me dead.” He gripped my chin, pinching with enough force a flash of fear trickled through me. “I truly hope you haven’t betrayed me because I would sincerely hate to damage something so beautiful.”
Leaning over, he lightly brushed his lips across mine, his hot breath tickling every inch of me. I wasn’t certain whether to be horrified or angry with myself that with his light touch, the fear faded away.
Even if the sadness from the loss of before lingered in my heart, clenching around the muscles like a tight vise. If only I’d known he would return. If only things could be different. If only I could go back to that night.
He captured my mouth once again, holding our lips together. It was impossible to avoid the strong feelings, desires that I’d hoped were long gone.
When he pulled away, his eyes were hooded just like that night.
The hunger remained, desire that had never died.
When he closed the door, I shuddered just like I’d done so many times when all alone.
When wishing he could come back from the dead.
Now, here he was in the flesh, the same yet entirely different man who’d destroyed and awakened my life. And I had a terrible feeling another game was about to begin.
For all the wrong reasons, I allowed a single tear to fall.
* * *
Prison.
He didn’t need to share the details of the horrors he’d suffered. I could see the damaging, lasting effects on his face. I could only guess what scars were hidden underneath his clothes.
