Chapter 30 #2
“Okay, that’s enough! I’ve had it!” Stella suddenly snaps.
“You’ve been flinching and frowning at me for days now, and I’ve had it.
If you have a problem with me being here, just say it!
” She pushes away from me, grabs Kira by the arm, and drags her away.
The two stop at the doorway of the kitchen, voices sharp but low.
Kostya glances at Lucky. “What the hell is that about?”
Lucky shrugs, watching his sister and girlfriend intently. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
My brow furrows as I watch Kira frantically whispering, her hands flying as she tries to explain herself. Stella, on the other hand, looks like she’s one heartbeat away from going nuclear.
“He’s what?!” Stella explodes, her razor-sharp gaze snapping straight to me.
“Ohhh,” Lucky sings under his breath, far too entertained. “Looks like there’s about to be trouble in paradise.”
“Kill,” Kostya adds with a wicked smirk, “pretty sure they’re talking about you.”
“Yeah,” I mutter, already on my feet. “I’m getting that same feeling too.”
Before I can take a step toward them, Kira mouths a mortified sorry.
Then Stella comes at me like a missile.
“YOU’RE FUCKING ENGAGED?!” she screams, emerald eyes blazing with pure, murderous rage.
I throw my hands up. “Stella, wait—”
Too late.
The first plate misses my head by inches and detonates against the wall behind me.
“YOU’RE ENGAGED?!” she roars again. “ENGAGED, KIRILL?! And you didn’t tell me?! After I poured my heart out to you! After I told you I loved you?!”
“And I love you too!” I shout back, dodging a flying mug.
“You love me so much you got engaged to someone else?!”
“I can explain!” I duck as silverware rains down like shrapnel.
“Explain?!” she shrieks. “EXPLAIN?! I’m going to murder you!”
For one brief, terrifying moment, I actually believe that she might.
Especially when she vaults over the counter and grabs the knife block.
The first blade whistles past my head and buries itself in the cabinet behind me.
“It’s not what you think!” I yell over the chaos, half-horrified, half-impressed, while my brothers just sit there, drinking coffee and eating breakfast like this is prime-time entertainment.
“I’M NOT ENGAGED, STELLA—FUCK! THAT ONE WAS CLOSE!”
“STOP MOVING,” she shouts, hurling another knife, “AND NEXT TIME I WON’T MISS!”
And that’s when I start laughing.
Because if Stella truly wanted me dead, I’d already be bleeding out on this kitchen floor.
“God, I fucking love you, milaya,” I shout over another near-death experience. “I promise, no other woman will ever compare to you!”
“Not even your fiancée, asshole?!” she screams, hurling another knife.
This one misses my eye by a breath.
And still, I can’t stop laughing.
“There is no fiancée! Tell her, Kostya!”
“Nah,” he snickers. “Let’s see how this plays out.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I groan as a butcher knife sails over my head and sinks into the wall, close enough to Misha’s head that even I flinch.
Misha doesn’t.
He doesn’t even blink. Just stays exactly where he is, staring out the window at the grave like the chaos around him doesn’t exist.
That’s when the humor finally dies in my throat.
“Okay,” I say sharply, “that’s enough.”
Before Stella can grab another weapon, I charge her, vault the kitchen island, and pin her back against the counter. She fights me hard, feral and furious, but I hold her steady.
“I am not engaged,” I say quietly, dangerously calm. “I never have been. And I never will be…to anyone but you.”
She thrashes once more.
“I swear it to you, Stella Sofia Romano,” I continue, my voice unwavering. “You are the only woman for me. You are my soul. And now that I have you, nothing will keep me away. Nothing.”
The rage in her eyes wavers.
She searches my face, hunting for a lie and not finding a single one.
Her shoulders finally ease, even if just slightly.
Then, before I can stop her, she snags another knife and presses the tip beneath my chin.
“If I ever catch you lying to me again,” she says sweetly, “I will cut off your balls. Is that understood?”
“My cock will miss them dearly,” I manage, “but I understand.”
“And if I hear even a hint about another woman,” she adds coldly, “I will hunt her to the ends of the earth and murder her. Slowly. So I suggest you think very carefully before even glancing at someone else.”
“The only woman I plan to stare at for the rest of my life is you, dusha moya,” I vow, brushing a soft kiss to the tip of her nose.
“Good,” she says. “I’m glad we understand each other.”
My grin stretches ear to ear.
Then Sasha clears his throat, reminding us that we’re not alone in this kitchen.
Blyad.
Here Stella and I were, making oaths and promises, while my brother was still drowning in a grief too heavy for words.
I release her at once, guilt flooding in, ready to apologize to him for my insensitivity, when Misha surprises us all by speaking for the first time in days, in a calm tone.
“Yesli lyubov’ ne bezumna, to eto ne lyubov’.”
Every single one of us freezes as Misha slowly rises from his seat. He doesn’t look at any of us. He doesn’t have to. He pulls his gaze from the window one last time… and walks out of the room.
“What did he just say?” Stella whispers, sliding her hand into mine.
“He said… When love is not madness, then it is not love.”
And God help us, but no truer words were ever spoken.