Page 106 of Darkest Desire

Mikhail punches the other man square in the face. “Answer him. Why did you come here?” The fact that Mikhail doesn’t even fully know the details of everything and yet he’s still helping me… that’s an ally.

Who fucking knew?

Giovanni still doesn’t answer even as Mikhail beats his face over and over again.

“Enough,” I say. “I’m just going to kill him. He tried to rape Sasha back in Rome and he tried to hurt her again. He needs to die.”

“I agree.” Mikhail steps away from Giovanni, giving me the honors. “If any man tried to rape Natalya, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill them.”

“Then we’re in another agreement. Who knew our wives would bring us together?” I grab the dagger that’s in Giovanni’s hand and press it to his throat.

“Wait,” Mikhail says. “If you kill him here, it’s going to be too messy. Take him outside.”

“I can’t leave Sasha.”

Mikhail sighs and extends his hand. “Then I’ll kill him. I’ll take him outside and do the deed so you can be with your wife.”

“How do I know you’ll really kill him?”

“You’re going to have to trust me, aren’t you?”

Fuck. He’s right. But can I truly risk this? I have no other choice.

Slowly, I hand him the dagger. “Get it done. But I better see his body when I leave this hospital.”

Mikhail yanks Giovanni to his feet. “This is a test of trust. If we’re going to be allies, then we have to do this.” He leaves, pushing Giovanni forward.

I return to Sasha. “Hey. How are you?”

“Is he dead?”

“Mikhail is taking care of it. We’re trying to be allies.”

“That’s good. That means I can still have Natalya in my life. But Irina and Ana…”

I sigh, taking her hand. “We’ll get them out at some point.”

She tightens her hand on mine before I can pull away. “Nico. There’s something I need to tell you. I realized when Giovanni was in here that… that how I feel for you is much deeper than I ever thought possible. That I feel safe with you and you’re my new home. That I… love you.”

Her words hit me right in my cold fucking heart, making it turn warm. “Hell, Sasha. I love you too.”

“You do?”

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it,” I tease, throwing her a wink.

She shakes her head with a rueful smile. “You’ll never change, will you?”

“No. But you don’t want me to change. You like me for me. Though… I will admit, I have changed a little. I never knew Icould love someone and now I do. Before it was about obsession with me. Now it’s love.”

“That’s the good kind of change.”

“So, it took you getting attacked multiple times and me saving you for you to realize you love me?”

“Pretty much.”

I can’t help but laugh as I lean down and give her a gentle kiss. It’s not a consuming one. It’s a loving one.

“I can’t wait till you’re out of this hospital and I can get you all to myself again.”