Page 50 of Destined for the Devil
Just together like this, we sat quietly, and she listened to my heartbeat until she had another question. “Do you have any new suspicions about who did it?"
"No.” I shook my head, pressing her into me tighter. “He said someone had his eye on her. Someone who knew they wouldn't fallunder suspicion or was crazy enough to risk it. He thought it was one of my guys."
"What was your sister’s name?" Isla asked gently.
"Natalia. She wasn’t like me. She was lovely."
"You're lovely too!" Isla came to my defense with enthusiasm, all of me lighting up in a smile.
“Mm-hmm.” I nodded, leaning in for a sweet kiss. “You don’t know anything about me.”
"Mmm...I know you wanted to watch someone burn alive.” Her pure eyes found mine, a spark in them. “That sounds pretty sick. And from there, I feel like I can extrapolate."
"Yeah? What are your extrapolations telling you?" My smile widened, and I lifted her up so she could straddle me.
Spending time with her was a gift from God.
"Let's see. You seem very trusting.” Her fingers traced my cheek, making my eyes flutter closed. “You left me all alone in your house before even knowing who the hell I was. Maybe I would have robbed you?” She giggled so close to my ear. “You also seem to think that you're some sort of monster who's not deserving of love, but that’s not true.” Her arms around my neck now, my hands settled on her asscheeks, the ones I so loved to kiss and bite. “It seems that...you had some shit happen to you. I don't know what happened to your parents, but I feel like they're not just happily retired somewhere, waiting for grandkids. Lastly, I don't know a lot about your friends, but what Idoknow...makes me think they’re not quality people."
She hit it all on the nose, and the truth was difficult to hear.
"My parents aren’t happily retired, you're right.” I played with a strand of her hair, not wanting to meet her gaze. “They divorced a few years after coming here, and my dad went back to Russia, breaking off all contact with us. Then my mom caught pneumonia and passed away...because she didn't have medical insurance and never went to the doctor.” I lookedanywhere but at her, eager to just say everything that I wanted. “I was fifteen and my sister was ten, and that’s when I really started selling drugs and whatnot. Either that or Natasha and I would have been separated and sent God knows where. For years, we pretended that my mom was alive so no one would find out and place us in foster care."
There were only two people who knew the extent of it all—Denis and Sergei. I had never shared it with any woman I dated.
Isla sat on me, frozen and stunned, lost for words. But then she leaned in and pressed me into her hug, taking long inhales with me. She felt like medicine.
"Wow. I thoughtIhad it rough." Her tender fingers ghosted on my lips. "I'm so sorry. That sounds absolutely awful,” she whispered, her eyes only a few inches away from mine, wet with tears.
Her light kisses—on my cheeks, on my forehead, on my lips…mended my wounds. It was always painful to even think about it, but with her by my side, it was no longer sharp like always.
"No one knows, except Denis and Sergei," I confessed.
Slowly, Isla paused and pulled away from me, her expression confused. A few seconds of silence ticked by, but then—
"Has Sergei ever hurt a woman who was with you?" She breathed out, her cheeks visibly turning red.
"Um, no. Why would you think that?"
"I just remembered...he said,just like his other one,when he was, um…telling me he was going to find me a-alone. What does that mean?" Her eyes on mine, panic swirled inside her beautiful irises.
“What? What did he say?” I double-checked. She recounted his threat, nervously playing with the hem of my shirt, her breath hitching in her throat.
I was speechless. What other one? What doeshisother one mean? Obviously, something that's mine. My mind worked a mile a minute.Sergei had threatened Isla with rape—a very fucked up and serious act. I didn't even have any regular women in my life; who could he possibly be referring to? And on top of all that, he had been married for five years.
Sergei had always been with me; I’d known him since I was a little kid. But as soon as I thought that…it all started to piece together in my head.
Sergei was always with me.Right in front of me. The only other woman in my life that was around consistently was...Natasha. Claudio's words rushed back to me as I sat on the couch and stared at Isla, totally mute.
What if she caught someone's eye?
Someone who knew they wouldn’t fall under suspicion or someone truly fucked in the head.Or both.
Think about who that might have been. Or is.
No one was crazy enough to do that.
We don't notice when something’s off.
