Page 37 of Kadra: The Unfeeling

That was his brother’s name.

The brother he lost.

What would I have done if I ever lost my star in all the darkness?

My Mila.

Arianna too.

I can’t even fathom it.

Looking at Vitali with a new understanding, I remain quiet listening to him as he finishes sharing with me a memory of his past.

His nightmare.

I’m accustomed to pain, but this one I feel in my chest while listening to him talk about his brother, hurts me like nothing ever has. How can that be?

“You still like wars, kotyonok?” Vitali’s rough voice pulls me back from inside my head.

Staring into his angry eyes, I ask, “What is it to you?”

“Remember what I told you in that cemetery?”

“This is my war, Vitali.” His eyes flash with something I’m not able to decipher. Something dark and wicked. Fierce almost.

“It is now mine too.”

Frowning, I inch closer. “Why? What did they do to you?”

Those gray eyes hold me hostage when he speaks next. “They took what never belonged to them. They took what was mine and for that, they will all bleed while they witness their world crumble into unforgettable pieces at their feet.”

That’s how you get rid of your monster. You start wars, shatter empires, and by the end… You ruin their legacy.

I take a moment to think this through. Meeting his stare, I speak. “One condition.”

He nods.

“You don’t question me and you don’t get involved in anything that doesn’t concern you. My demons are just that. Mine.” I make it clear how things will be between us.

“Deal.” He agrees to my terms with a small smile on his face. There’s a spark in his eyes too. A fire that burns bright. The same fire that made me fall irrevocably in love with this man once and now it’s threatening to consume me again. “Your war is now my own, kotyonok.”

Your war is now my own…

His words play on a loop in my head and light a fire in my soul.

I should reject his offer.

I should kick him out of my home, my life, and send him back to New York.

That’s what a normal woman who cares for her sanity would do but I’ve never been sane. Not when it comes to this man.

So I don’t.

I joined forces with my favorite chaos instead.

God—the devil—whoever, help me.

Chapter 13

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