Page 34 of Dark Promise

Of course he knew. I wore no mask that night.

“I knew,” he admits, his voice steady, unflinching.

The simple truth of it sends a fresh surge of anger through me, sharp and searing. “You let me—”

“I didn’t let you do anything,” he cuts in, his voice low but firm, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that makes it hard to think. “I was there, Sabina. Just as I am now. No masks. No lies. Just us.”

“Just us?” I echo, my voice breaking on the words. He is my enemy. My family’s enemy. How could I forget that, even for a moment? “There is no us, Nikolai. There can’t be.”

11

Nikolai

Her words hangin the air, brittle and sharp, as though saying them aloud can somehow make them true.There is no us, Nikolai. There can’t be.

I watch her, taking in the way her chest rises and falls with each shallow breath, the defiance blazing in her eyes despite the tremor in her voice. She’s trembling—not from fear, not even from anger, but from the weight of it all. Of us.

She’s wrong, though. There is an us. There has been from the moment I saw her after her father’s funeral, proud and brave and strong, unbowed despite her grief and pain. Or maybe it was the moment she faced me at her engagement party, all fire and fury, blue eyes flashing. Or maybe it was when I caught her in my arms at the Halloween party and spent the evening getting to know each other without pretense or preconceptions… There’s been something between us for a while, she just doesn’t want to admit it.

“You’re not a coward, Sabina,” I say, my voice low, steady.

Her head snaps up, her eyes narrowing. “What—?”

“You’re lying to me,” I cut her off, stepping closer, my voice dropping into a rough whisper. “Worse than that, you’re lying to yourself because being honest carries ramifications.”

Her lips part, her breath catching, and I can see the denial forming on her tongue, ready to strike like a blade. But she doesn’t say it. She just stares at me, the silence between us stretching taut, electric.

“I don’t lie to myself,” she finally says, but the words lack conviction, trembling under the weight of my gaze.

I step even closer, invading her space, forcing her to tip her head back to meet my eyes.

“You do, Sabina. You’re lying to yourself right now. You feel this…” My hand brushes her wrist, lingering just long enough for her to feel the heat of my skin. “And you hate how much you want it.”

Her pulse is racing—I can see it in the way her throat moves, feel it in the tension humming through her body. She’s fighting this, fighting me, but it’s a losing battle.

“I don’t want you,” she says, but the words are hollow, breaking on the edges of her resolve.

“Liar.”

The word falls between us like a challenge, and something in her snaps.

“Do you think you can just stand there and say whatever you want, and I’ll fall at your feet?” she demands, her voice trembling with fury. “Do you think I’m some weak, foolish girl who doesn’t see exactly what you’re doing?”

I smile, slow and wicked, because I know her fire, her defiance, and I know what’s hiding beneath it.

“No,” I say, my voice soft but unyielding. “I don’t think you’re foolish. And I definitely don’t think you’re weak. I think you’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. But that strength doesn’t scare me, Sabina. It draws me in. Makes me want you more.”

Her breath hitches, her eyes flashing with a mix of fury and something darker, something she doesn’t want to name.

“You don’t get to want me,” she spits. “You don’t get to walk into my life and—”

“And what?” I interrupt, my voice rising just enough to cut through hers. “Ruin it? Turn it upside down? Take it for my own?” I take another step, closing the space between us until she’s pressed back against the edge of the couch. “You’re right. I don’t get to want you, Sabina. But I do. I have for months now, and it’s not going away. Every time I see you, I want to claim you.”

She’s trembling now, her breath shallow, her hands gripping the back of the couch as if it’s the only thing keeping her standing.

“This isn’t fair,” she whispers, her voice breaking.

“Nothing about us is fair,” I say, my voice softening, though the intensity behind it doesn’t waver. “But it’s real. You feel it. I know you do.”

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