Page 48 of Bound By Longing

“What if I … want to be with someone else?”

Vik snorts “Like who?”

I don’t say a word.

Vik stares at me harder before her eyes widen, and she scoffs. “You’re not talking about Damien, are you?”

I focus my vision on my lap even harder.

“Mila, no,” Sofiya says softly. “You can’t have feelings for Damien. Mikhail hates him. Damien kidnapped you.”

“Is that what Mikhail told you?” I look at both my sisters. My two strong sisters have always been there for me, and now, I’m going to break their hearts. “Damien saved me multiple times. He literally saved me from Lev when Dimitri couldn’t. He’s not a bad man.”

“I beg to differ,” Vik mutters.

“Vik,” Sofiya warns.

“I was just making a comment.”

“And your comments are not needed.”

My sisters, always fighting when they get the chance.

“Damien hasn’t hurt me,” I cut in. “He hasn’t hurt any of us. He hasn’t even hurt Mikhail. The only reason Mikhail hates him is because of what his father did. But Damien is not like that.”

Sofiya places her hand on my back. “You really like him?”

“I do,” I admit. “But he doesn’t want to commit. He’ll never marry me, so I need to move on. I’m just not sure about Dimitri. I’m not sure I like him.”

“Then don’t marry him,” Vik says. “Problem solved.”

“No, problem not solved. If I don’t have a husband, I’ll never be free. I’ll always be locked up to remain safe. How is that living? I want to be happy, Vik. Sofiya. I want that.”

“But you’re not going to get it with Damien,” Vik says. “Maybe Mikhail can find you someone else who isn’t Dimitri. You should have options, Mila. Sofiya and I didn’t. You don’t have to let this wedding happen if you don’t want it.”

“But I don’t have any other options. I need to go through with this with Dimitri.”

“A word of advice,” Sofiya says. “If you decide to go through with the wedding to Dimitri, then you need to put any feelings you have for Damien to the side. They cannot exist together. You have a choice, Mila. So, make it.”

They make it sound so easy while I’m crippled with trying to make the right decision. Do I go with my heart or my head?

I think both will lead to heartbreak.

Chapter

Twelve

MILA

Ihave a choice to make.

I don’t know Dimitri, yet he ‘ll become my husband. Mikhail wants that for me to keep me safe.

But it’s not Mikhail who’s been keeping me safe lately.

It’s Damien.

I need to see him again before I make a decision. I need to know he truly doesn’t want to be with me.

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