Page 17 of Darkest Desire
He pushes me into a car nearby the entrance and dives in himself. Gunshots start sounding out inside the church. Nico’s men and Mikhail’s men.
“My sisters are in there! My mom.”
“Denis will make sure they make it out. He won’t want to lose them. And I told my men to never point any of their guns in your family’s direction. They’ll be safe but I need to get you out now.”
We drive away from the church right as Nico bursts outside. I can see him in my rearview mirror, the pure anger on his face, before we round a corner and I lose sight of him.
But something tells me I’m not free of him yet.
Mikahil drives us to an apartment building that I have never seen before.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“Nico knows where I live. I couldn’t risk taking you there. Natalya is inside, waiting to see you.”
I’m silent as Mikhail leads me inside to the apartment on the second floor. I step inside to a nice apartment – luxurious but small. It’s probably priced insanely high for it’s size but that’s New York for you. I spent some time doing research into apartments before Denis entered my life. Back when I thought I had choices in life. I always imagined getting my own apartment. Living my own life for myself.
Natalya is in the living room, waiting for me. The second our eyes meet, she runs across the room and pulls me into a hug. “You’re finally safe. Don’t worry. Nico will never get to you here.”
“How can you be so sure?” I pull back. “What if he followed?”
“That’s always a possibility,” Mikhail says. “But we’ll remain here for the night and keep an eye on you. Just to make sure he doesn’t try anything.”
“You couldn’t save the rest of my family,” I snap at him. “You should have saved my sisters.”
“He got you out,” Natalya says. “Don’t be angry with him for that. Now that you’re safe, we can focus on getting Mom and Irina and Ana out.”
“I should have married Nico,” I mutter. Now that I’m here and my adrenaline is wearing off, I’m starting to wonder if I made the right decision.
“How can you say that?” Natalya asks, looking like I just slapped her.
“Now I’m worried Denis is going to force Irina to marry him.”
“She’s only seventeen.”
“But she’ll be eighteen in a month. He can wait it out. I don’t trust Nico. I saw him kill people without even blinking. Youknow our sister. You know how she’s the sweetest out of us. She can’t be married to that monster.”
“But you can?” Natalya scoffs. “Just because you’re not as sweet as Irina doesn’t mean you should be forced to marry Nico. You don’t deserve that anymore than any of our sisters do.”
“I just feel like I should have done something more.”
“Sasha.” She grabs my arms, making me look her right in the eye. “Do you think I didn’t feel this way when I married Mikhail? Do you think I didn’t tear myself up with worry at night, thinking about you three and Mom?”
“I don’t know,” I grumble. “I don’t know what you were thinking. You left us and married a man none of us had ever met. I thought maybe you were done with us for a while.”
“But I’m not. I kept fighting and look, I’ve finally got you back. It took a year, yes. But it happened.”
“So it’s just going to take another year to get Irina?” I pull away from her. “And another year to get Ana? They don’t have years. They are drowning in that home. Denis will slowly destroy them.”
All the color leaves Natalya’s face. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, he beats them. Not often but on occasion. He hits them to keep me in line because he knows it’s the only way. Now I’m terrified he’s going to let loose all of his anger onto them.”
“But Mom -,”
“Mom can’t do anything. She’s just as much of a prisoner as we are. God, Natalya. How can you be so obtuse sometimes?”
“Stop,” Mikhail says in a tone that says there will be no discussion over it. “Your sister has spent her days worrying over you and your family. She risked her life to save you on multiple occasions. You will show her some respect.”
