Page 119 of Claim Me

He shook his head. “A mimosa it is.” As he walked to the bar, I shifted so I could play the piano.

As soon as I started playing his song, he stopped mid-action, turning his head toward me. I made it through one chorus before a single tear slipped past my eyelashes. I’d promised myself I was finished with being emotional. There was no need. I was safe and knew I would be. At what cost didn’t matter.

The moment of silence added to the sadness and I found myself unable to look him in the eyes.

“You need to know something,” he said, his tone more imploring than before.

“Of course.”

“Jasmine was a beautiful soul, a girl I met in a bar of all places. She was in Vegas with members of a guest symphony. We struck up a conversation and one drink led to three. Then we spent the night together. After that, we were inseparable. She was on a tour with an orchestra, so I flew to several cities just to be able to spend more time together. We were both very young, acting as if we had the world in the palm of our hands.”

I heard his voice clearly and distinctly, still surprised that he was trying to sign the words. “There’s no need. I can hear you.”

He nodded in response before rubbing his hands on his trousers.

“Soon, we found ourselves in love.” His laugh was bitter. “It was a whirlwind affair and we started making plans for the future. That was over ten years ago during a period where my father was still the Pakhan. We were still involved in some criminal activities, which of course had us facing several enemies. We had some threats that I didn’t take very seriously. We had them all the time.”

“This time it was real,” I whispered.

“Yes, it was. We were in Chicago and after that, she had a two-month break. That’s when we were going to get married. One night at a concert, she was taken just moments before she was to set foot on the stage. There was no advance warning, but I should have known.”

“There was no way you could have.”

“Yes, given my position, I should have kept security around her.”

“That’s no way to live, Kazimir. You know that. Plus, as you told me before, the bad guys will always find a way.”

He snorted, shaking his head. “I thought I was invincible.”

I rose to my feet, moving toward him. “None of us are. What happened?”

“I searched the city, interrogating twenty people. Eventually, I found her, but… But it was too late. Her body washed up on shore. I was so angry, I went after everyone involved, killing at least a dozen. But the violence and bloodshed didn’t bring her back. After that, I made a promise that I’d never fall in love with anyone again because it was too dangerous for them. Not for me.”

He allowed me to close the distance. “Is that your way of telling me you can’t love me?”

“If you’d asked this time two days ago, I would have said yes.” There was surprise in his eyes.

“And now?”

After placing the glass he was holding onto the bar, he gathered me into his arms, cupping my face with one hand. “Now, I realize that as hard as you try to block out your feelings, fate has other plans. I do love you, Marissa. Life won’t be perfect or easy, but I will do my best to make you happy. You’re all I can think about. You’re in my mind to the point I can’t breathe. Without you, I feel like nothing at all.”

My heart thumped wildly, an incredible moment of joy wrapping around me like a tight blanket.

“Is that an offer?” My voice was breathless.

“Call it a reclaiming. As I said before, you’re all mine.”

CHAPTER 31

Kazimir

As our brigade of vehicles pulled up to the locked gates of Vladimir’s estate, I glanced over at Stefano sitting in my passenger seat. He’d been instrumental in eliminating the bodies from the cabin in the woods.

Meanwhile, I’d spoken with the Seattle mayor for almost thirty minutes. It turned out he was an old friend of both our fathers’ and was very helpful as I’d told him how corrupt I suspected his police department was. He’d also been notified about Detective Torres and had managed to confirm the detective’s wife and children were safe visiting family in Oregon.

Now was the second to last cleanup phase. By now, Popov knew about the warehouse being burned to the ground. Whether or not he knew who was to blame for the early fireworks display didn’t matter. I was bringing him two presents as well as a warning.

After that… well, I’d see what mood I was in.