Chapter Fifteen #3
She waved him off with a laugh. “Oh, come on, Konflict, after all this time you should be calling me Maureen. It’s always my pleasure to have every Big Six member under my roof. We’re family, after all.”
“In that case, Maureen, I’m glad to honor your invitation with my wife,” he said, taking her hand for a kiss.
I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck. I’d never seen him play this role before and it threw me off balance. I didn’t know what his game was.
“Oh my, Serenity, who is this man? What did you do with our untamable stallion to make him so gentlemanly, my dear?”
I barely hid my scowl. “I’d like to know myself,” I muttered under my breath.
Konflict flicked an amused look my way before turning back to Maureen. “I need to join the others, talk business. Can I trust you to look after my wife while I’m gone?”
“Of course, with pleasure,” Maureen simpered, already taking my arm.
He turned his gaze on me, the one that never let me breathe, and my cold mask slipped forward.
I needed space, needed to get away from him, but instead of leaving, he leaned in, his lips a breath from mine, eyes boring into me so deep it nearly stole the air from my lungs.
For one wild second, I thought he was going to kiss me, in front of everyone, after a year of never touching me.
My whole body locked up, torn between rebellion and surrender.
He didn’t kiss me. His mouth slowly brushed my cheek instead, a touch that sent electricity racing over my skin and left me shaking.
Then he pressed another kiss to my bare shoulder—a gentle, almost reverent touch that knocked the wind out of me.
His lips hovered at my ear, and his whisper grazed my skin.
“I won’t be long. I’ll come back to you, beautiful.”
Beautiful. He called me beautiful. My mind spun. What the hell was happening? Why now? Why this softness, after all the hell he’d put me through?
Maureen snapped me back to reality, and I realized I’d been staring at nothing so long that Halley Hollister had joined us without me noticing.
“So things are finally working out for you two,” Halley teased.
“That’s… that’s not what you think,” I tried to protest, struggling to pull myself back together.
Maureen shook her head, warmth in her eyes. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to explain. It’s clear things are better now. About time he let go of that old grudge and started making his wife happy. You’re so beautiful together.”
“And thank God he finally got rid of that bitch Eleana Sawyer. I heard his men set fire to the Sawyer estate after she disrespected you,” Halley chimed in.
My brow furrowed. I’d wondered where Eleana had disappeared to.
I heard her family’s bid for the Big Six got shut down, even after she’d come to my office bragging, but I hadn’t known Konflict was behind the fire.
Violence was always his answer to disrespect.
Still, the thought that he might have done it for me seemed impossible, so I shoved it aside.
“I need a drink,” I muttered, stepping away before I choked on all their well-meaning assumptions.
At the bar, I downed a glass fast, ignoring the pulse in my throat as I scanned the room.
Music pounded. People danced, laughter rising in waves, but my gaze found Konflict across the room, his eyes locked on me even as he pretended to listen to the other heads of family.
Draven leaned in, murmuring something in his ear, but Konflict never looked away.
That stare burned through me, heat flooding my veins, and I hated the way he could set me on fire with nothing but a look.
I slipped out to the balcony for air, needing space, needing to breathe again.
The cool night breeze soothed my nerves.
I closed my eyes, hand rising instinctively to the necklace he’d clasped around my throat.
Memory slammed into me, the feel of his fingers on my skin as he’d fastened it, the gentleness, the way his presence burned into every inch of me.
Desire clawed up my spine, wild and unwanted, the need to have his hands on me, his breath on my neck, his body pressed against mine.
“Fuck, this night needs to end before he drives me crazy.”
“I drive you crazy?” His rough voice cut through my thoughts, close behind me.
I jumped at his sudden presence and his hand resting on the small of my back, burning me alive.
“Shit! You scared me. What the hell are you doing here?” I spun to face him, breath tangled in my chest.
He gave me that devastating smile, tongue dragging over his lips, and suddenly I was all hormones and need, unable to think of anything but his mouth on my skin, his lips on my neck, his tongue on my pussy. I hated wanting him.
“Come dance with me,” he murmured, leaning in, his words brushing my ear.
“I’d rather die,” I snapped back. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
He just watched me come undone, eyes locked on mine, not flinching, not even blinking.
When there was nothing left of my anger, he closed the space between us, trapping me against the balcony wall.
His hands slid to my waist and dragged me in tight against his body.
The contact stole my words. His strength and heat pressed into me until all I could do was stand there, helpless against the way he made me feel.
“We can dance right here,” he breathed against my ear.
Then he moved with me. His body pressed into mine.
His hands tightened on my waist until resistance drained out of me and I let myself follow his lead.
My pulse hammered so loudly I could feel it in my throat as my breath caught.
Nothing about it felt real. It was too good, too much.
I’d waited all my life for him to hold me like this.
The ache wasn’t new. I felt it every time Knox put his arms around me, every time I lied to myself about who I was really loving.
In that moment, I saw the truth. I had always wanted this.
I had always wanted Konflict to hold me as if I belonged to him.
God help me, I was still in love with my husband, even knowing how this would all end.
I tried to fight it, but the feeling refused to let me go.
“That’s enough,” I said, trying to break free.
“Hmmm. Why are you still playing hard to get? I know you want this,” he murmured against my ear, and those words just made me angrier.
“The only thing I want right now is to put a bullet in your head, Konflict.”
I heard him chuckle under his breath. He didn’t let go, just leaned in and whispered in my ear, again.
“Because the world’s too small to hold us both, isn’t it? Good thing in two days it won’t be a problem anymore.”
My whole body went rigid at the mention of what was coming in two days. I knew he was just playing with me. This whole new attitude was just a game to make me lose my footing, to feed his ego before he finally took my life. A cold anger swept through me.
“You’re a pathetic excuse for a man, Konflict Korven. I regret ever marrying you.”
He pulled back just enough to flash me a look, then hauled me even closer.
“Sweetheart, who would you rather be married to? That escort? Would you feel better if it was him holding you right now? It’s a damn shame things are different… and they’ll be even more different soon.”
Every nerve in my body went on high alert when he hinted at what would happen to Knox. That was when I realized he was really in danger. Shit, I had to get him out of town. Konflict had eyes everywhere, and I knew there was almost nowhere to hide, but I had to try.
“Dance, Serenity,” he said, when I stood frozen after his words. “Don’t act like I can’t touch that escort of yours right fucking now…” he growled at my ear.
His thinly veiled threat set fire blazing through me.
I shoved him away with both hands, desperate to put some distance between us.
I couldn’t stand being pressed against him any longer, couldn’t stand the way he tried to own me, as if this stupid dance could save Knox.
I needed to get away, to figure out a plan.
“Go to hell, asshole!” I spat, anger burning in every word, especially when I caught that smug smile on his lips.
I broke free from his hold and stormed back through the party, out of the reception hall, and down to the pool, desperate for solitude.
I needed to think, and think fast, because there wasn’t much time left to act.
I paced along the edge, lost in my thoughts.
I had to find a way out for Knox. I had enough money to make him disappear, to send him far away.
If he could cross the border into the U.S.
and go even farther, he’d be safe. I had to figure out how to slip away from this party to meet him.
It would probably be the last time I’d ever see him, but before I died, I wanted to fight for someone who was worth it.
As I spiraled deeper into my own head, a wave of sudden dizziness hit me.
It was so violent, the world started spinning right under my feet.
I tried to sit down so I wouldn’t lose my balance, but things didn’t go as planned and I felt myself falling into the pool.
Did someone push me? I didn’t think so. I hadn’t seen or felt anyone, and the dizziness was too strong.
But there was no time to figure out how it happened. I had to fight to stay alive.
In a blink I was gasping for air, then sinking, lungs filling with water.
Panic tore through my chest—I never learned to swim even after the incident nineteen years ago.
I’d always been too afraid, too haunted by the memory of almost drowning, and now it was happening again.
I fought to reach the surface, but I couldn’t.
My body was too heavy, my fear too strong, and the pool was so deep I felt myself sinking all the way to the bottom.
This was the end. I was supposed to die in two days, but fate had other plans.
And this time, I couldn’t hope the man I had loved, the man I still loved, would save me again.
That love had only ever been an illusion, a fantasy I kept hidden inside.
I wished we could have been something different.
Just once, I wished I could have told him I loved him, that I always had.
But my last memory of him would be another fight, another insult, more anger—everything opposite of what I really felt.
As I closed my eyes, unable to fight any longer, my thoughts flew to Knox. God, please, protect him.
Then everything went black.
I didn’t know where I was. Darkness wrapped around me, the world silent and empty.
Then a halo of light broke through from above, shining on a single distant point.
I rose from the ground and started walking toward the light, because that’s what you’re supposed to do, right? When you die, you follow the light.
The closer I got, a silhouette I would know anywhere became clearer. My heart pounded wildly in my chest. My eyes filled with tears—tears of joy because I was no longer alone. She was there.
“Mama Kate,” I sobbed, finally reaching her.
“My daughter, it’s so good to see you again,” she said, arms wide.
I threw myself into her embrace, tears streaming down my face. I didn’t have words for the happiness burning through me, for seeing the woman I called mother, the one who’d been ripped away from me so brutally.
“Let me look at you, my girl. You’re so beautiful,” she said, cupping my face in her hands. That simple touch filled me with warmth. I felt good for the first time since she left. I’d been surviving, not living, since then.
“You only think I’m beautiful because I’m wearing your jewelry. Look how your favorite set fits me,” I said, smiling through my tears.
She kept smiling, fingers never leaving my skin. I didn’t want her to stop touching me, ever.
“You’re stunning even without those jewels, Serenity. You are a wonderful woman. Strong. Capable of anything. I am so proud of you.”
My throat tightened at her words, encouraging me the way she always used to.
You never realize how much you need a mother’s love until it’s gone.
I never had the chance to live these moments with my own mother, but this woman gave me that gift.
Seeing her again, feeling her kindness, I understood even more why Konflict’s grief had turned to rage, why he would want to kill me.
“I couldn’t wait to see you again. I was supposed to join you in two days, but I’m here early,” I told her.
She looked at me with a sad smile.
“It’s not time for you to stay with me yet, my girl. You still have so much to do. You must go back. I’ll wait for you here when your time comes.”
Confusion twisted through me. “No, I don’t want to be separated from you again. Not ever. I have nothing left back there. No one to make me want to hold on.”
She looked at me with sorrow in her eyes, then placed her hand over my stomach.
“Oh my daughter. There are at least two people waiting for you back there, who need you to fight for them. Go back to your family, Serenity. Go back to him. He won’t survive without you.”
Her words sent panic and confusion spinning through me. Who was she talking about? Who were the two people I needed to fight for?
I didn’t have time to ask before her image blurred and the light began to vanish. My heart pounded faster, fear clawing through me.
“No, Mama Kate. Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me.”
“Don’t leave me, baby,” I heard from somewhere far away, the world shifting around me, pulling me into a different place. “Come back, please. I can’t survive without you.”
I felt hands pressing hard on my chest, then lips on mine, breathing air into me. It was like being dragged back to life. My lungs filled and I coughed, fighting for air.
“Oh God, thank you. Thank you, baby, for coming back,” I heard a man’s voice say.
I wasn’t sure who it was. My eyes were too heavy to open, my mind cloudy, but I felt myself being lifted into strong arms.
“Call a doctor, now!” he shouted, panic flooding his words.
Who cared enough to sound like they’d die if I didn’t make it?
I wondered because I couldn’t remember ever being that important to anyone.
I fought to open my eyes. I had to see, had to know.
My eyelids barely lifted, my lungs still burning, but my gaze landed on a bare, strong chest. There, on that beautiful chestnut-copper brown skin, I saw it—a tattoo I’d traced so many nights in the dark, the one above the heart of the only man who ever gave me happiness.
My hand lifted, trembling, and found its mark, fingertips brushing over that planet.
“Knox…” I whispered.
Then my mind slipped back into darkness. But this time, it was a darkness full of hope.