Page 87 of Darkest Desire

“No. Nico, stop being stubborn. And prideful. Just go. I am keeping you alive.”

“But if I run, Mikhail will take you away.”

“And I’ll be safe. I’ll be with my sister.”

Nico’s face darkens. “That’s what I’m worried about. You still can’t let that part of your life go, can you?”

“She’s my sister. So no, I can’t. I will always want to save my sisters. But I’m choosing to save you too. So run. But if you come back for me, you better not kill Natalya. I will never forgive you for it.”

Nico looks between me and Mikhail, clearing wanting to fight him but also knowing that he can’t. Knowing that Mikhail will gun him down the second he gets.

I’m choosing both sides. Return to my sister – which is something I still ache for – and also save Nico – which is someone I can’t see die, despite everything we’ve been through.

“I will come back for you,” Nico says. It’s either a promise or a threat.

I remain in Mikhail’s line of sight as Nico leaves out the back gate. When Mikhail tries running after him, I run into him, barreling him back.

“Don’t,” I say. “Just take me back to Natalya. Do one thing right.”

“He needs to die for threatening her life.”

I stare at Mikhail for a long moment. “Did you come here to save me or to kill Nico?”

“Both.” But he answers too quickly for me to believe him.

“Mikhail.”

His eyes flick to mine and then he sighs, shaking his head. “Let’s just go. If I didn’t succeed in killing Nico, then I’m not going to fail with you. I’m going to save you.”

“You started that fire.” The house is becoming a raging inferno. Smoke is in the air. It won’t be long until the fire department shows up. “Knowing I was inside.”

“I had to do whatever I could to get Nico out of that fucking house.”

“Even though you knew I was inside,” I say slowly, realization dawning on me. “Were you ok with killing me if it meant getting to Nico?”

“Clearly not or I would have killed you right now. But I didn’t. I do want to save you for Natalya’s sake.”

“For Natalya,” I scoff. “Not for me. Because you don’t care for me. You have no love for me. We barely know each other.”

“Does that matter? What matters is that I’m trying to bring you back to her. She misses you. She wants you safe.”

“And I’ll be safe with you? The man who lit my house on fire to get to my husband? I could have died inside. What then?”

“Then I would have blamed it on Nico. But you’re alive. So stop whining. I’m taking you to your sister. She’s the reason I’m doing this. She’s everything to me. And I didn’t kill Nico when I could have to save you. I’m not the bad guy here. Nico tried to kill Natalya. He tried to kill her right in front of you. How am I the bad guy for defending my wife? For trying to get you out?”

Mikhail has a point. If someone tried to kill me, Nico would have gone after them. Mikhail is just trying to be a good husband to Natalya. Just like Nico is trying to be with me.

But Mikhail is not my husband. He doesn’t have my best interests in mind. He’s doing all of this for Natalya. If I wasn’t Natalya’s sister, then Mikhail probably would have gunned me down to get to Nico. That thought makes me shiver.

The sound of sirens rings through the night.

“We need to leave,” Mikhail says. “This whole place is going to be a crime scene. Come on.” He grabs my arm and hauls me out the back gate.

I look around, expecting Nico to pop out of nowhere and start fighting Mikhail. But he’s nowhere to be seen.

Mikhail takes me to his car and we drive away from Nico’s house. From my house.

While I’m happy I’ll get to be with my sister again, knowing that I’ll be safe with her, I also can’t deny the ache in my chest when I think about Nico. I finally let him have all of me, whether because I trust him or I was just tired of fighting my desire for him. I’m not sure which. But I do know that I already miss him.