Page 23 of Darkest Sin

“I would rather stab a hot poker in my eye but I’m a practical man. And practically speaking, working with you would be a good move. I’ve come here, unarmed, to propose this deal. What do you say?”

“I say I agree with you. I hate the idea of working with you but your idea has merit.” He leans forward in his seat. “But the thing is, I’ll rot in hell before I ever work with you. You wasted a trip coming here, Mikhail. You can see yourself out. You can even enjoy one of my girls if you want. As a consolation prize.”

I grit my teeth. I knew coming here would amount to nothing but I had to try. “Fine. It was worth a shot.”

“It was. I’m impressed by it. But not impressed enough to work with you.” He waves me towards the door.

I leave with a huff. A few of the strippers try to offer me lap dances but I brush them all off. There’s only woman I want to be with and she’s waiting for me back home.

Another reason to hate Nico: he took me away from my wife on our wedding night.

Natalya

I spend the day exploring the house in my wedding dress. I can’t get all the back buttons undone and I don’t want to rip the dress so I’m stuck in it until Mikhail returns.

The house is beautiful from the large marble kitchen counters to the soft wood floors to the calm cream and forest green of the walls. It’s very modern and luxurious but also has an old school feel, like Mikhail is from a different time.

There’s no one else here so it’s kind of eerie walking around the house all by myself. I feel like a stranger here. Like I’m waiting for someone to come along and kick me out.

When I hear Mikhail return home, I almost sag in relief. Being alone in such a big house is well… lonely. I’m used to a loud house with three sisters. I’m not used to such quiet.

I greet him in the foyer. “Hello.”

“Hello.” He eyes me over. “You’re still in your wedding dress.”

I can’t stop myself from blushing. “I couldn’t take it off.”

“Do you need help?”

“I… I just want to make it clear. You won’t touch me without my consent, yes?”

“I promise, Natalya. If you don’t want me to touch you, I won’t. All you have to do is ask me and I’ll gladly touch you whenever you want.”

My body feels like it’s somehow both on fire and plunged into an icy bath.

“Let’s go to our room,” he says, holding out his hand to me. Slowly, I take it. He is my husband now. I should start getting used to his touch.

Once we’re back in the master bedroom, Mikhail stands behind me, not touching me, but I can feel his presence all the way down to my toes.

“When I saw you dancing, all I wanted to do was see what was underneath your costume.”

I let out a slow breath. Steady, I tell myself. Steady.

His fingertips brush my back, making me gasp. “I hated seeing that man put his hands on you.” He unbuttons the first one.

“Who?”

“The man you were dancing with.”

He means Jake, I realize. “Jake? He’s gay. We’ve been partners for years. It’s like my own brother touching me.”

“I didn’t know. I have to admit, that makes me feel better.” He continues to make slow work of each of the buttons. His fingertips brush against my skin as he moves further down. Is it accidental or on purpose?

It feels like it’s on purpose.

“So, Natalya, have you ever been with a man?”

“No,” I whisper as his fingers settle on my low back. All my buttons are undone.