Page 64 of Triplets for the Russian Boss

Kostin

And just like that, the heart I never knew I had shattered into a million pieces, scattered forever across the planes of time and space by the woman I didn’t take seriously until it was too late.

I stiffen up, prepared to fight before I let a single tear fall from my burning, bloodshot eyes. I didn’t think a woman could be this cold, not after everything we’ve been through together.

“I’d like to leave, now,” Bonnie says, her lower lips quivering as she speaks. It sounds like she has to strain the words out, but they echo inside of me loud and clear. She never wanted to be here with me, and now it’s time for me to let her go.

I suck in a short breath, the only thing I can get into my lungs when the constriction of disappoint and dread has its sickening grip on me. “I’m ending your contract as of today. You may leave.”

A flash of surprise lights up her eyes, but it’s quickly incinerated by the hatred that fills them again. She doesn’t want anything to do with me. She’s glad to be done, even after all the nights we’ve shared, and the beautiful things we’ve done.

She’s finished, and I will never have her again.

In a few short days, I’ve experienced every emotion that a man can have. I’ve been a hero, a villain, a father, and a lover, but I’ve never been sure of anything. The winds change like a spring storm, and what’s left of the hope I had that this would all work out has been washed away by the fresh rain.

It was inevitable, as it always is.

Bonnie doesn’t say anything for a good few seconds. That time feels like longer when she’s looking deep into my eyes, trying to speak without words and tell me things that would only tear my soul apart more.

It’s over. We both know that.

She clears her throat, licking her lips and straightening her back. “Alright, Kostin. I expect to be paid for the work that I’ve already done.”

I chuckle. It’s always about money. I should’ve known that. There’s nothing driving her lust, her wicked ambition to please me, but money.

“Don’t worry. You’ll get your money,” I reply dryly. “And a flight back home. One of the guards will take you to the airstrip.”

“Thank you,” she says, rocking back on her feet.

She’s ready to leave, but I want to keep her in front of me for as long as possible. The second the sweet floral scent of her perfume fades from the room, my reality will come crashing down.

“I assume you’ll want to pack up your stuff,” I say, cocking my head to the side. “Do you need help with that?”

She smiles, shaking her head dismissively. “I’m savvy to your tricks now, Kostin. That won’t work.”

“No tricks,” I reply, but that’s a lie. A lot of what I’ve said to Bonnie has been a lie. Maybe that’s the reason she doesn’t trust me. She wants to, but deep down inside she knows I’ll never be good enough for her.

“Maybe another time,” she says, waving her hand goodbye.

She and I both know that there is no more room for another time. This is the final farewell – the goodbye to seal our fates as a couple that could never quite make it together. I’ll never forget her, or the three boys of mine, but maybe it’s for the best. Maybe they will be safer with her.

My eyes are on fire, and when Bonnie leaves the bedroom I finally blink. A hot tear rolls down my cheek. The only other time I’ve ever cried, as an adult, was when my mother died.

In the blink of an eye, everything that ever meant anything to me has been taken, and I’m left empty inside. There’s nothing there anymore, but the deep pang of sorrow that can never leave. No amount of whiskey can wash something like this away. No amount of fighting will ever beat me to my senses again.

I slipped, and I fell in love. Now, I experience heartbreak, and it feels like death.

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