Page 87 of Claimed By the Pakhan

“Which will always come hand-in-hand with evil. Darkness has always existed inside of me, Fia.”

“You’re letting Alexander and Luka win.”

“No, spitfire. I’m letting you win.” Emil stands back to full height, walking naked through the room, cock laying thick against his stomach as he locates his pants. He watches me carefully while zipping up his pants, his face lined with pain, like he never stopped loving me, and quite possibly, will never move on.

Emil checks his phone, scrolling through notifications. “The Kuzmins are destabilized," he says, turning back to me. “We’re free to head back to the city.”

Silence extends between us, Emil’s eyes never leaving mine. Pain slices right down the center of my heart, opening a wound that will never heal, so long as we’re apart.

I see now why Emil resorted to kidnapping. Loving someone passionately drives you to do unspeakable things. You go toextreme measures for the ones you love, killing for them, willing to destroy yourself if it means they will survive.

Emil is quite the inspiration that way, and I will carry his methods into motherhood.

30

FIA

I clickoff my phone a week later, sighing. “Goddammit.”

“Still no sign from Emil?” grimaces Chloe over her cup of coffee.

“He dropped me back off in the city, kissed me on the cheek and promised to spend the rest of his life loving me.”

“From afar. Loving from a distance is more common than you think.”

“Don’t,” I huff, taking a long sip of coffee in the hopes of being cured. I’m down to a single espresso shot in my latte, which means I’m basically drinking milk, but I’m giving this independence thing another shot to take my mind off the heartbreak.

“Those who love from a distance always love the most passionately.”

“I disagree,” I say, taking another sip of coffee. “You should have seen how Emil moved in bed.”

Sadness pools in Chloe’s eyes, like she’s also grieving my sex life. “You have quite literally been through hell and back. Killing aman while also being five and a half months pregnant withtwinshas to go down in the books as one of the most passionate acts of female rage.”

“Luka also threatened you at gunpoint. A man who comes between two best friends has a raging, hormonal pregnant woman to answer to.”

Chloe sniffs a laugh, her saucer clinking as she sets down the coffee cup. “Once again, I’m terribly sorry for?—”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. You were happy and I acted selfishly. I was too busy fighting to get my best friend back and became blindsided as a result.”

“Luka is conniving. I never saw it coming either.”

“He said he wanted to save you,” says Chloe, rubbing her forehead. “I should have known better when he approached me on the street, immediately listing out all of his so-called friend’s worst traits, telling me you needed to get the hell out of that marriage,” says Chloe. “But Emil loves you selflessly, Fia. That kind of love is rare.”

“Saved for the poets?”

She snaps her fingers. “Exactly. Appreciating someone from afar takes a lot of courage.”

“I know,” I groan, “but I’m still counting on him to text me, changing his mind about us going our separate ways. What about when the babies arrive?”

“You focus on being a mother,” says Chloe, glancing at the wedding ring on my finger.

I fold my arms across the table, hiding the ring, feeling a blush creep onto my cheeks. “What? We agreed to keep the rings on. We’re staying married.” I finish the coffee, pushing the cup away. “Truthfully, there is nobody else out there who can compete with Emil. I’ll never meet another man who fights for what he believes in, going against all odds.”

“I hate to agree,” says Chloe. “You should see the guys I date. They switch off the second I mention anything personal. All they care about is the sex, which they’re terrible at. Them rubbing my clit like a scratch card barely counts as foreplay, and then they’re sticking it in, finishing before the chorus of Pony by Ginuwine can even start.”

“Pony?” I snort. “You play music during sex?”