Page 18 of Stolen Seconds

My brother smiled at me, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners adorned with black glasses.

He laughed, the dimple on his cheek deepening. “There’s a situation regarding Roman and the chef.”

My heart beat against my ribcage, loud enough for me to hear it as I took in his features, trying to recognize the similarities between us and there were. We had the same pale blond hair and a peppering of freckles across our face.

I must’ve been staring in shock because his smile faltered a bit, causing me to collect myself.

“Irina.” Even the smile on my face felt awkward.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He spokeelegantly, his voice a deep melody.

A surge of emotion clawed up my throat, the sting of it burning my nose. I hadn’t expected to react this way. “Likewise.”

He unclasped his hands from his back and let it rest at his sides. “You’re Russian.” It was a statement.

“The accent gave it away, didn’t it?”

He nodded. “AndAurora speaks of you constantly.”

Her and I both. She was truly my ride or die.

“Do you know many Russians?” The question slipped out before I could stop myself. This was not the time and place to unfold our history.

His brown eyes sparked with something I couldn’t place, his lips pursing as if he were stopping himself from saying what he really wanted to. “Can’t say I do.”

I didn’t believe him and sooner or later I’d find out his real answer. There was a possibility that his mother had told him who his father was.

Awkwardness settled over us and I cursed myself for being the reason why.

He must’ve noticed the mood change because he smiled at me again. “But I’m delighted to have met one now.”

His respectable comment cracked a piece of my exterior, making it harder to be near him.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, walking past him until I’d made my way through the back doors.

The cold wind did nothing to stop the crawling sensation rippling through my spine, slow and steady before it paralyzed me in place as I choked on air.

Invisible hands grasped at me, threatening to tear meapart as I was plunged back into that dark place of nothing.

The episode didn’t last long, but it was enough to remind me that I was still stuck in the shackles of my mind.

I gasped, inhaling a lungful of air before heaving in a fit of coughs.

I didn’t think I could do this. It was hard to even be near Nicolai, let alone speak to him.

I hadn’t seen him grow up and now he was a well-mannered man among people who were his opposite. Yet I was a mere stranger to him.

Suddenly, all I could think of was protecting him from anything and anyone.

It was hypocritical of me, wanting to take him away, only so he could fall into the same position he was in now.

Breathing through my nose, I let the crisp winter air ground me. That’s when the smell of musk and spice enveloped me, suffocating and lethal.

I slowly slid my hand down my thigh, parted the slit of my dress until I’d found my blade and clutched it.

I told Aurora I bite first, just not with my teeth.

In swift motion, I had the knife to the brute’s neck, glaring at him.

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