Page 62 of Sapphire Tears

He frowns, trying to make sense of a world that’s murkier than ever.

But he stays close to me.

That’s gotta be worth something.

His jaw eases ever so slightly. “The plan was never to kill Iakov, June. At least not there, at Ravil’s gala. He was supposed to survive that night so that I could continue extracting information from him, dangling enough bait in his face to keep him coming back. If I’d wanted him dead, I would have killed him privately, secretly. I would never have killed him the way I did, in front of all those people—if it weren’t for what he did to you.”

My heart does that aching, fluttering thing again. Is it still a lie if you choose to believe it? I guess that just makes it a fairy tale, right? And this is a fairy tale I want to believe so badly.

Iwantto believe that he’ll kill to keep me safe.

Iwantto believe that he loves me enough to burn down the world and make it more beautiful for me.

“But—that’s the problem,” I whisper aloud. “I don’t know if I believe you because I should… or because I love you.”

His eyes fracture a little further than they’ve ever gone before. Reaching out, his fingers caress my hip.

I shiver against his touch, desire pooling between my legs. “You’re trying to distract me,” I choke out.

He shakes his head. “I’m trying to remind you.”

“Of what?”

“Of what you already know deep down.” He slides his hand up to my belly, dancing over the life growing inside of me.

He starts unbuttoning his shirt that I’m wearing. But he doesn’t pull it off me. Instead, he just parts it so that he can place his hand on the tiny scars above my chest. The reminders of The Accident that changed everything.

“Some things can’t be faked.”

“Yes, they can,” I retort. “Love blinds.”

“Love doesn’t blind, June,” he argues. “It clears. You just have to drown out all the noise and listen to it. This right now—you and me—it’s right, June. And I think you know that.”

It does feel right. So fucking right. I want to drown in him. I want to beg him to marry me now so that we can end this painful back and forth we’ve been locked in from the beginning.

I’ve never wanted to be possessed by a man the way that I want to be possessed by Kolya Uvarov.

But how can I explain to him that that’s the exact reason I decided to run? Because he has the power to consume me whole.

More than anything, I’m terrified that if he tries, I won’t put up a fight.

“Feel that,” he says, running his hands over my body. He touches each of my freckles, my scars, my stretch marks. He caresses my body as though he’s worshiping it.

I’ve never felt this kind of intimacy before. The kind that sits quietly, unravels languidly, moves patiently. Angry heat and violent passion have always come easy.

This?

This is rare.

“Stop listening to Adrian. Start listening to yourself.”

I shake my head, still hypnotized with the way he’s touching me. “You act like it’s easy, expelling him from my head. He’s been in my life for so long.”

“And what has he contributed to it?”

Before I can find the words to answer, Kolya’s phone starts to ring, breaking me out of my daze.

I step back and pull the shirt closed around me while Kolya answers impatiently. “What?”

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