Page 62 of Darkest Sin
Chapter Eleven
Natalya
Mikhail decides to throw a party to celebrate his new deal with the Irish.
“The Irish?” I ask, after he tells me.
“Yes. Cillian Kennedy. We’ve made a deal to take down Nico Bernardi together.”
I follow him into the kitchen. Watching him, I sense an excitement in him I’ve never seen before. A giddiness almost. “Can you also work together to take down my uncle?”
“That’s the plan. But I know Cillian will want to go after Nico first. Nico is the bigger threat to him. But once that’s over, we’ll focus on going after your uncle. And in the meantime, I keep looking into ways to help your sisters.” He starts making himselfa sandwich. I haven’t seen Mikhail cook anything since I moved in. We have a housekeeper for that.
“How?”
“Nothing definitive yet, I’m afraid. He has them under lock and key and it will be hard to get one of my men to go undercover again. Not when Denis knows I already did it.”
I slump against the counter, feeling defeated. “How long will I have to wait?”
He wipes his hands on a towel and cups my face. “I want to make you happy, Natalya. But things in this world – inourworld – are never that simple.”
“I know. I just don’t want them to get hurt in the process. What if you finally find a way to save them but he’s already married Sasha off? Irina will be eighteen next year and then she’ll be free game too. And then Ana will be all alone with my mom. She’s only fifteen. She’s vulnerable. She’s lived such a comfortable life that she’s never known pain.”
“I know you’re worried. But you know I’m working on it. I’m not just twiddling my thumbs. I have men scouting Denis’s house every day. See where he goes. Who he meets up with. So far, he’s mostly stayed inside your house where he knows I can’t reach him. Not with so many guards surrounding the place.”
“Can’t you just go in there and kill all his guards and save my sisters?”
His eyes search my face. “You have some darkness inside of you, don’t you, baby?”
I flush as he lets me go and returns to making his sandwich. “Maybe. I’m just ready to have my sisters back.”
“I know. Don’t get consumed by it though. I know what that’s like. I know how the darkness can pull you under. I don’t want that for you.”
Mikhail wants to protect me and I want to let him. I want it with a deep ache inside of myself that I have never wantedbefore. But it feels wrong to enjoy my life when my sisters are in danger.
I don’t voice my worries though. Not when Mikhail wants me happy.
The party isn’t really a party but more of a gathering. Cillian Kennedy and some of his men along with a few of Mikhail’s men come over for the night. In total, there’s ten of them.
I’m the only woman.
Mikhail had me wear a simple light pink dress. Nothing too revealing like I wore at the orgy and nothing too sexy to draw the eye of Cillian and his men. But the dress still hugs my body and is flattering on me. He wanted me to be beautiful to impress his new business partners. I’ve never felt more like a trophy than I do today.
“Mikhail,” Cillian says, extending his hand and giving my husband a large smile. Cillian is in his fifties but it still conventionally good looking. Grey hair but a full head of it. A strong build like he works out. He’s what Sasha would call a silver fox. She always had a thing for older men in movies that worried our mom to no end. Sasha would just tell her that it was only for actors and not men in real life.
Now, I can’t help but worry that Denis will marry her to an older man and ruin her life because of it.
Cillian sets his eyes onto me. “And this must be your new wife.”
“Natalya,” Mikhail introduces me. I give Cillian my hand and he kisses the back of it. Mikhail tenses next to me.
“Nice to meet you.” Cillian lets my hand go which eases some of Mikhail’s tension. He doesn’t want any man touching me – not even a simple hand shake.
“Let’s go into the living room. My housekeeper has already made drinks for us.”
Cillian claps his hands together. “Excellent.”
Once we’re all settled in the living room, me and Mikhail together on the loveseat while Cillian and Mikhail’s men take the other two sofas and chairs, Cillian turns to me and Mikhail, though I notice his eyes linger on me for longer.
