Page 89 of Darkest Sin
That he can just hold me and let me know that he’s here for me.
And in this moment, as he holds me, I realize that for the first time since being with him, Mikhail starts to feel like home.
After a long while, we fix our clothes and leave the theater. Mikhail keeps his hand on my back, silently telling me that he’s here. That he has me. That I’m safe.
As we head for the car, something in my gut tells me to stop walking. Mikhail notices.
“Are you ok?”
“Mikhail… something doesn’t feel right.” I look around the parking lot but I don’t see anything to make me feel this uneasy.
To Mikhail’s credit, he doesn’t dismiss me. Instead, he stands to attention and looks around. “I don’t see anything,”
“Neither do I but…”
“Let’s get to the car.”
We take one step towards it when the car explodes into fire. Pieces of the car go flying. Mikhail pushes me to the side, covering my body with his.
“Oh my god,” I scream. “What happened? What?”
Mikhail’s driver was inside there. He’s dead now. But who did this?
It’s then that I see a car pull into the parking lot and a group of men get out. Four of them in total.
They point their guns at us before we can do anything.
“Get behind me,” Mikhail growls, practically shoving me back.
“Mikhail!” It’s Cillian. “Nice to see you again.”
“You blew my car up.”
“I did.”
“You were hoping I’d die, I’m assuming.”
He cracks his neck to the side. “I was. Shame you didn’t die though. That’s fine. Because now my men and I can take you and bring you in for a chat.”
“You want to kill me, you mean.”
“Well… yes.”
I grab Mikhail’s arm. “You can’t go with them. You’ll die.”
Cillian huffs. “He doesn’t have a choice. Grab him.”
The three men rush forward and pin Mikhail to the ground.
“The girl?” one of the men asks.
“She’s not worth it. We don’t need her. She’ll be nothing without her husband.” Cillian’s smile is pure darkness. “Call this an act of mercy.”
“No!” I scream, running at Cillian. I manage to grab his arm before he wrenches away from me.
“Natalya, don’t,” Mikhail says. “I can’t see you get hurt. Don’t fight.”
“But you’ll die,” I sob.
