Page 89 of The Darkness is Calling

I have always had my family beside me, and with them, I share a blood bond no one and nothing will ever destroy.

But with Ekaterina, it’s something more intense.

Something more important.

And I will not allow anyone to take her from me again.

Not even the Bratva.

Chapter 17

Ekaterina

I’m living in a beautiful dream.

Every morning I wake up pressed against his warm body, and at night, he conquers me with that unstoppable hunger.

We have breakfast together, and at dinner, he always tries to make it back on time, so I don’t have to eat alone. Unless I have plans with Oksana, in which case my security is doubled wherever I go with her.

I like seeing the effort he makes to spend as much time with me as possible.

One day, he showed up at the gallery and took me to an unplanned lunch simply because he was busy that evening and knew he would return very late. But I waited him in his bed – the place where I sleep every night now.

When he came home, even though it was past midnight, we made love slowly, between sighs and whispered endearments in Russian that found their way into my heart before I could stop them.

After his visit to the gallery, Oksana figured out who I meant when I told her I needed to find a way out of the whole Oliver situation. The next day, she came to me with questions that received the most confusing answers, but my smile and flushed cheeks confirmed every one of her theories.

I have fallen in love with the Pakhan less than two weeks before my wedding to another man, an event I don’t know how to cancel without destroying my work and the work of my late father.

Day after day, my feelings grow stronger. Even if no declarations of love are spoken, my gaze tells him everything, while his need to keep me beside him makes me believe that, in some way, he feels something for me too.

I only hope I am not wrong.

With quick steps, the big day hits me full force. And I don’t mean the wedding I plan to discuss with Oliver once he returns to the country. I mean my recital. An important moment, one Artem managed to give even more meaning to from the day he told me he wanted to be there for me. He gave a different color to a day I had considered dull and stressful, making me genuinely excited for it.

Now, standing backstage in the concert hall, I look out at the people who have taken their seats and are waiting for me.

I smile, because somewhere in that hall, in the first row, should be the man who has taken possession of my heart.

Oksana peeks into the room, hidden behind a curtain.

“It’s full,” she tells me, hurrying back to me with an enthusiasm that only makes my own emotions rise higher.

Anna, the event coordinator, runs her nervous fingers through her brown hair, telling me it is time to start. But I am still waiting for the lights to dim so I can see the people in the audience.

So I can see him.

“Did you see anyone... familiar?” I ask my friend subtly, and she smiles at me like an accomplice.

“I didn’t look that closely, but I’m sure he’s there.”

I can almost see him, dressed in one of his black suits, his hair perfectly styled and his piercing grey and brown eyes making me remember every moment we spent together in the relaxation room while I played the piano.

This man has ruined my entire passion, becoming the dominant color in the world I create whenever I play. Now, every time I touch the piano keys, I think of him.

Of what he can do to me.

Of what my heart feels for him.