Chapter 22 Kirill
KIRILL
I give her just enough space that if she really wants to escape, she can.
Maybe.
Following her is different in the dark. I’m working off sound, a flash of movement, and instinct.
The pink of the mask’s glow tinges my vision.
I run after her, totally focussed. I’m going to catch her, tell her I love her, and ensure she knows she’s mine. That I need her by my side, always.
I curse this stupid suit that has no flexibility at all, and I’m struck with concern that she could take a wrong turn. She could get lost. But I follow the beat of her swift footsteps, gaining on her steadily. I don’t want to scare her by being right behind her.
She’s a pale shadow ahead, the pink of her dress and her skin gleaming in the moonlight that filters through the leaves above.
We’re close to the wall. I put down a spurt of speed, round the corner that skirts a huge oak tree, and… Stop.
She’s gone.
My throat is squeezed by an invisible hand. She was just there. Almost within grabbing distance.
I know she wanted to be caught.
Didn’t she?
I could howl.
“Tess, where are you?” Even my voice sounds afraid. She can’t have vanished.
There’s a crunch of branches, and my head whips around in time to see Tess sprint from the undergrowth.
My heart drops.
Before I can get my legs moving again, she’s slapped her hand onto the wall.
And the bottom falls out of my world. It’s as though I’m falling, down and down, right into hell itself. My mouth is open, my tongue is dry. Hot and cold shivers rack down my spine.
I stare at Tess, and for a second I can’t believe it.
“I’m here,” she says, panting.
I want another chance, like in a computer game. I need to undo this with Control-Z, so she doesn’t win the chase and leave me.
“I claim my three wishes, Kirill,”
All the blood drains from my body.
I don’t know how this happened. Blyat. Blyat.
I fucked up.
And then I remember the first time we played chase. How she got that look in her eye when I mentioned cheating.
“You…” I croak.
“Yep. I cheated.” The trees are cleared around the wall, so there’s enough moonlight to see her mouth set in a determined line. “No rule against cheating, right?”
I can’t speak. Every part of me is shattering into pieces so small I’ll be eaten by worms. Cold, broken, dead. I’m back at the bottom of the pit, surrounded by decay and black and with only the white flame of gleeful revenge.
This is where I was before I met Tess.
Then certainty flares up.
Tess isn’t leaving.
In a few quick paces I’m in front of her, and I snatch her to me, pulling her into my arms then tossing her over my shoulder.
She squeaks as I crash through the woods back towards the house. This isn’t over. I’m a billionaire vigilante justice killer and the mafia boss of Blackfen. I find the impossible. I steal from the most protected arseholes in the world.
This girl is mine, and I have the strongest need to get her naked and lick her until she forgets any thought she had of leaving.
“What are you doing?” Her confusion when I’m devastated is more than I can bear.
“You think I’d let the woman I love get away from me?” I snarl, and keep moving.
I feel her intake of breath, shocked. Then her arms creep—upside down—around my waist.
“I love you too,” she says in a whisper.
It’s a second before that gets through to my brain.
I stop. Pulling her back over my shoulder, I allow her to slide down my body until her feet are on the ground, but keep her in my embrace as I stare into her face in the darkness, trying to make sense of what’s happening.
I must have misheard.
This is too unlikely. She’s amazing, I’m a difficult, grumpy man with a fucked-up hobby. She might fancy my money, but she doesn’t want me. Surely? Can she really love me back?
That’s more than I ever dreamed.
“Aren’t you going to ask me what my three wishes are?” she whispers.
I clench my teeth so hard that pain spikes up my jaw. No.
“You promised?” she reminds me gently, reaching up and cupping my cheek.
What a fucking idiot past me is. This is a disaster.
“You said anything I wanted that was within your power to give.”
I’m not sure it’s possible for me to let her go.
I give a jerky nod that isn’t exactly agreement, and tighten my grip on her.
“First, I want to return to London and finish my studies,” she says patiently.
“Fine.” I nod. “We can do that.” She won’t be returning to that cramped place she lived in. She’ll live with me. But that’s a detail. I can work with the big picture.
“Second, I want a half share of everything you own.”
“Yes.” I’m so relieved we’re two thirds of the way through her list and she hasn’t said she wants to be free, I don’t care about the money. “Half is very reasonable.”
“It is, isn’t it.” There’s laughter in her voice, and I don’t know what it means except that I’m in trouble. I grab her tousled hair and tug her face to try to see more clearly, and the pink of my mask lights her.
I rip the mask off and toss it aside, careless of where it lands, but it’s hardly any easier to see her.
“And third, I want you to give me a baby.” Her teeth reveal her broad smile.
I blink. What?
“I’m not a stork, Tess. I can’t just steal one for you.”
She giggles. “See, you say you’re bad, but you won’t kidnap an actual child for me.”
“Obviously not.” I’m feeling totally unsettled. “Tess, this whole idea was a mistake. I shouldn’t have offered you anything you wanted. I can’t—”
“Give me your baby,” she says clearly.
Wait, she…
“Get me pregnant.” She’s nodding, and trying to pull my head down to hers, and relief crashes over me as the full meaning of what she’s saying finally hits. I wrap her tight in my arms and lift her.
“Yes. Yes, I can do that for you, lapochka. I love you, I’d do anything for you.”
“Kirill,” she murmurs. “Will you do it now? Take me.”
I groan. And then I kiss her.