Chapter 34 Mikail #2
“It’s not like she stops being your sister, for fuck’s sake. Don’t make her choose or I’ll end you, motherfucker. And I am her family too. Stop doing this shit.” I rake a hand through my hair, ripping some just to ground myself.
I can’t lose my self-control. I repeat it like a mantra. He’s still my brother and best friend, even though the asshole makes it really hard for me.
He jerks his chin in a challenge. “Or what?”
“We’re leaving,” my sister mutters and pushes him out the door.
I don’t know what will happen next, but I guess we both need some time for ourselves.
Once they leave, Dahlia hides her face between her palms and cries quietly. “It’s all my fault.”
“No, baby girl.” I rush to her and wrap my arms around her.
“It’s on me for foolishly believing I could continue to live as if I didn’t need you too.
I’ve lived with that regret for years until I could barely breathe any longer.
But I knew ever since then what you meant to me.
The only regret I had was that I didn’t regret it.
Ever since your eyes found mine, you owned me—my soul, my life, my loyalty. ”
She looks up at me, and I kiss her teary eyes, brushing my thumb along her delicate cheekbones.
I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. “Your tears wreck me.”
Gathering her in my arms, I carry her to the bedroom.
This night was a fucking rollercoaster of highs and lows, yet peacefulness sets on my chest. This feels right. Me carrying her to the bed that from now on is ours.
I don’t care what tomorrow will bring. All I care about is that she’s in it. Everything else is secondary.
“Did I come on too strong down there?” she asks, chewing her bottom lip.
Chuckling, I kiss the tip of her nose and shake my head at her.
“You’ll be Dahlia Morozov, baby girl. There’s no such thing as too strong. Men will bow to you. Women will want to be you. And our enemies will desire what we have.”
She turns onto her belly, smiling at me. “But we won’t allow that, will we?”
“No.”
She tilts her head. “Dahlia Morozov, huh?”
“Get used to it.”
She giggles, and I think of the ring that sits in my safe. Not tonight, but soon. I must fix things with my best friend first.
She sighs contentedly, and I pull her to my chest, slipping the covers over us.
She draws patterns on my chest absentmindedly.
“Tomorrow we’ll go to the compound,” I inform her, done with tiptoeing around.
Time will only make the asshole stew in his anger. Facing him head on will give me a better chance to make things right.
“Maybe it’s too soon,” she suggests.
“We won’t hide any longer. We’re not cowards, are we?” I say, brooking no argument.
“No,” she shakes her head, determination etched on her face. My chest fills with deep-seated pride. She’s not just the only choice, but the right one.
She giggles. “Who would have thought?”
“Me. I was thinking all right.”
Her giggles turn to peals of laughter, producing the most divine sounds in the world for me. I just want to keep her happy, so I add, “I knew I was screwed even more when you proposed that deal.”
“I wore you down. Took me ages.” She rolls her eyes dramatically, pushing me to spin her on her back. I tickle her until she begs me to stop.
The serene, playful atmosphere makes me think that being together matters most. Enzo should understand that, as he’s in the same situation, but if he doesn’t, that’s his problem, not mine.
Her eyes widen into two pools of worry. “Will you two be all right?”
“Sure,” I say, infusing more hope than belief. Eventually.
I refuse to entertain the thought that our friendship and brotherhood won’t survive.
As she closes her eyes, she says, “If loving you is my biggest sin, then I’m the ultimate sinner, because I don’t want absolution.”
I grin, displaying how proud I am of her. “That’s my woman.”
After the day she had, no wonder she quickly falls asleep. I watch her for long minutes, just to cement in my being that she’s here, all mine. No more hiding. No more secrets.
Nothing will threaten our togetherness, our life and future together, not even my best friend.
Carefully, I roll out of bed not to disturb her. Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I tiptoe out and go to my home office. Knowing Enzo, he’s not asleep either.
He lets it ring. Such an asshole, letting me stew on fucking purpose. By the sixth, he picks up.
I can hear the glass tumbler grazing the table. I guess it’s on me to start the conversation.
“How is Calla?”
“Pissed at me, so I’m even more pissed at you,” he grumbles.
At least he’s talking to me. I take it as a good sign and lean back in my chair, pouring myself a glass.
“You called me. So, start talking, asshole.”
It’s the first time I am at a loss for what to say. “Maybe face-to-face would be better.”
“Maybe you not sticking your dick in my sister would have been better too, but here we are,” he grumbles low.
“Stop fucking thinking I’m a horny motherfucker who just wanted to wet his dick. I wouldn’t have risked everything just to fuck her. Don’t disrespect her like that or we’ll have a problem.”
“We already have a fucking problem,” he huffs. “I gave you the chance to come clean.”
I rack my brain, but I come up blank. “When?”
“When I came to the club and told you to sober up and tell me.”
I feel my brows furrow. “I don’t remember. I was drunk most of that week.”
“Sappy fucker.”
“Look who’s talking,” I groan.
For long minutes we drink in silence. I stare at the wall across from my home office, thinking I need to add a painting of her. So, I can always look up and remember why, even if I face hell every day, she’s worth it.
“Our fathers fucked us up,” I say, exhaling a long sigh.
“We made them out to be heroes. I wonder why?” he snickers.
“So, there’s a chance for us to be better, to do better.”
Another beat of pause follows, and I take another gulp, the hard liquid scraping at my throat, but failing to numb me.
“It was you?” He doesn’t have to say more.
“It had to be me.” I don’t add more.
“What do you think hurt Dahlia the most? As all my guesses would have been wrong, anyway.”
Time to confess. Emptying the glass, I drag in a lungful of air, rehashing.
“I punished myself for what I had to do by refusing us. Not giving Dahlia what she really wanted and needed from me, but bought her stuff to compensate. She asked me to kiss her on her birthday. For years, all I could think was that I should have just kissed her and made her mine. Then all the hell would have been avoided. But I couldn’t stay away anymore, man. Loving her wore me down.”
“Men seeking vengeance always find a way. Still, thank you for bringing her back.”
“I would slaughter them all over again. And now you have the biggest leverage possible. I betrayed my kin, becoming the Pakhan on a lie. My sole weakness is her.”
“Do you think I would stoop so low, asshole?” he mumbles.
“I know you’re hurt, feel betrayed.”
He inhales a long breath. “You killed them for my sister. Pledged your loyalty to the son of the man responsible for killing your mother. Our fathers might have wanted to separate us even from the grave, but I guess our connection keeps growing.”
“Why didn’t you shoot me?” He had the perfect chance, and I would have never retaliated.
He expels a deep sigh. “I saw that the first thing you did was protect her. That saved your life.”
“Thanks, asshole,” I grumble.
“You still haven’t answered. Why didn’t you tell me?” he inquires, but his tone loses its edge.
I drag a hand down my face, looking ahead as if I can conjure her. She’s my solace. “Dahlia was terrified of how you’d react. I can’t say no to her.”
“Yeah, welcome to the club.”
I chuckle. “Sorry for ruining your date night.”
“I suspected something, but I needed confirmation. When my wife avoided the topic, I knew she knew something. So, I got mad at you two for putting her in that position.”
“I love Dahlia. I fucking vow.”
“I never doubted you loving her. I just wasn’t expecting this type of love,” he says, sounding resigned.
I take it as a good sign.
Another pause follows, and I say, “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
A sound of dissatisfaction rumbles in his throat. “You’re moving fast, fucker. Give me some time.”
“Look who’s talking. And I’m not wasting one more minute,” I inform him.
He will come to terms. He’ll have to.
“A few days to process won’t kill you, asshole,” he grits out.
“I’ve lost years,” my voice rises, but I quickly lower it, not to wake her up. “I don’t intend to lose one more day. And we’re coming over tomorrow.”
“At your own risk,” he says matter-of-factly.
“Stop being an asshole. You can’t live without me.”
“I wonder why I’m like that,” he snickers. “Don’t tempt me.”
“I would have told you tomorrow. But no, you had to come here guns blazing, hotheaded fucker,” I snap.
“I was in a mood, thinking my best friend and the man I consider a brother betrayed me,” he snaps back.
“And that mood cost you a night with your wife,” I jab.
“You wish,” he grumbles and hangs up. Asshole.
After everything, I think Enzo and I will be okay. It could have gone worse.
When I look up, Dahlia leans against the door frame. “I can’t sleep without you.”
“I can’t fucking breathe without you,” I confess and dart to her. “I love you, beat of my heart.”
“I love you until the last star fades away and the sky turns dark.”
I kiss her senseless.
Fuck her as if my life depends on it.
It does, because ours are inextricably linked.