Page 50 of Love to Defy You (The Dark Love #2)

The pan clatters to the floor beside him when I drop it, and I race around the counter toward the foyer.

I lunge for the front door, but when I turn the handle, it’s locked and latched.

As I work to unlock the door, I keep glancing over my shoulder, my heart hammering against my rib cage while I wait for Enzo to fly over in a rage.

But he doesn’t, and the door finally opens when I turn the handle.

My bare feet hit cobblestone as I run outside into the dark, cloudy night. Thunder rolls in the distance moments before a lightning strike illuminates the surrounding forest of thick trees.

When the lightning fades, I follow the landscape lighting along the walkway, which leads to a private drive bordered by box hedges. I spare a glance behind me to check for Enzo, but I only linger long enough to take in the sprawling, two-story mansion with Roman columns and a gray stone facade.

I have no idea where the hell I am, but I race for the driveway and follow it until I reach a tall iron gate. With a hard tug, I pull open the gate and slide through, but my robe catches on one of the bars and rips a tear in the hem.

I realize the front of my robe is still open, so I clutch the fluffy fabric closed at my chest and sprint, the tie at my waist whipping behind me.

An asphalt street stretches in both directions through dense forest, lined with vintage lampposts to light the way.

A low, dense fog makes the lights blurry in the dark.

A drop of cold rain hits my cheek, followed by another.

Veering left, I race along the concrete sidewalk until I find another gate, similar to the one I just escaped from. I must be in a private neighborhood of wealthy estate homes.

An intercom box is affixed to the side of the gate, so I rush up to it and jam my finger on the button.

But when no one answers, my heart sinks.

“Fuck!” I don’t have time to stand around, and I take off toward the next house. The rain starts to pick up, and my skin prickles at the icy droplets hitting my face and feet.

But before I can find another home, I reach a stop sign at a three-way intersection. I skid to a stop when I realize I’ve seen similar stop signs in Russian before.

A street sign above it lists two roads, and even though I can’t read it, I recognize the letters as Russian. The design of it matches the ones posted all over Olininburg, and once I realize where I am, I let out a sob.

If I can find a phone, I can call my dad to come pick me up. My feet hurt from the pebbles on the cold sidewalk, and my skin is prickling in the chilly night air, but I have to keep going. I turn onto the next street and hope I’m taking the fastest route to a more familiar area of the city.

But a few moments later, I hear my name. “Willow!”

Oh, shit. Shit.

My adrenaline kicks into overdrive, and I run harder than I ever thought I could. Blood pumps in my ears as I race so fast that I nearly trip over my own feet. The rain is coming down hard now, and with every step, my bare feet splash into a puddle of icy water.

“ Malishka! ”

I almost don’t hear it over the roaring of pumping blood and pouring rain in my ears, but when I do, I halt and look over my shoulder behind me. It can’t be…

A man with shaggy brown hair and a baseball cap jogs toward me, his figure obscured in the rain. With a gasp, I hold up my hands and back away from the incoming stranger. I’m about to turn around and run for my life when the man rips off his hat and wig.

His familiarity makes me pause, even my heart, and I hold my breath.

When he walks under the streetlamp closest to me, his face comes into focus, and he rips off his glasses, dropping them on the ground.

“A-Alek?” I sob.

“It’s me.” Alek sprints forward, closing the distance between us to take me in his arms. “I’m here, malishka .”

“Alek!” I fist his shirt and burrow my face against his chest, breaking down into hysterics. His familiar smoky scent envelops me as he holds me tight, whispering how much he loves me into my hair and peppering my forehead with kisses.

I’m crying so hard I can’t speak, and I can’t hold myself up any longer. As I melt into him, my legs give way, and I sink to the wet concrete beneath me. Alek catches me just in time and falls to his knees, cradling me in his arms and rocking me like a precious child.

“What did Enzo do to you?” His broken voice punctuates the patter of rain surrounding us. “Tell me what he did, and I’ll end him, malishka . I swear it.”

My thoughts are racing, but one stark realization comes to the forefront amidst all the chatter in my mind. Alek is here, in Andarusia. He’s planning to commit murder in the country he’s been exiled from, and I cannot let that happen.

“N-no!” I cry, clutching his shirt. “He… he didn’t…”

Lying to Alek proves impossible, and I break down into another fit of sobs, trembling in the cold, wet night.

“Fuck, let’s get you someplace warm.” Alek scoops me into his arms and stands up like I’m no heavier than a rag doll.

I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face into his shirt, seeking his warmth as he heads back the way he came. Even though I have no clue where I am, Alek seems to know the way, and he forges ahead with purpose, his face set with determination.

The fog starts to turn red and blue, and a distant siren echoes in the forest. It’s muffled by the pouring rain, but it’s distinct. Alek glances at me, and that’s when I notice his brown contacts. His eyes grow wide as his muscles tense under my touch.

I look up at him through wet eyelashes. “Is that…?”

“We have to go.” Alek sets me down on my feet and grabs my wrist. “Run, malishka !”

We take off at a sprint, with Alek pulling me behind him.

Icy rain whips at our faces as he barrels forward, and each time my bare feet land on the hard sidewalk, it sends a jarring pain up my legs.

My blood is pounding as I gasp for breath, but all I know is that we have to keep running until we’re safe.

But when we round the next corner, Alek skids to an abrupt halt. A police car is parked a few yards away, and a uniformed officer stands there, holding a gun pointed at us. He shouts at us in Russian.

Alek’s grip tightens on my wrist, and he holds up his other hand toward the officer as if to calm him down. He answers in Russian with a level voice, but the policeman responds with heated words I don’t understand. His partner remains in the car, shouting something into the radio.

Moments later, another police car peels around the corner behind us, lighting up the wet street in pulsing blue and red. We’re boxed in with no escape.

“What are they saying?” I shout at Alek.

He drops my hand and slowly reaches for the pocket of his jeans while keeping the other high in the air in surrender. Alek says something again to the officers in Russian before pulling out a cell phone.

“Take this,” he whispers to me, offering me the phone while keeping his gaze locked on the gun pointed at him. “Call your father to come pick you up.”

Panic seizes my chest. “But what about you? Aren’t you coming with me?”

At last, Alek looks away from the police officer and shoves the phone into my hand. “Not today, malishka .”

“Are you…?” I glance at the policemen closing in on us. “Are you being arrested?”

Alek angles his body toward me so the gun is pointed at his back. He grabs my face, his hands cold on my cheeks, and gives me a fierce kiss that steals the breath from my lungs. Time is suspended, and I give myself over to him, police and drawn weapons be damned.

Because this feels like he’s kissing me for the last time, and I know that the moment he releases me, everything will come crashing down around us.

He tugs my bottom lip into his mouth as if to memorize the shape of it. His tongue brushes against mine as if he’s committing my taste to memory. And I do the same because I’m not sure when I’ll see him again.

Alek is pulled off me, breaking our kiss. A policeman stands behind Alek, holding his arms behind his back and slapping handcuffs on his wrists. The officer turns Alek away from me to march him toward the police car.

“ALEK!” I lunge forward to catch up to him, as if I can stop this from happening, but then a pair of strong hands grab my arms from behind.

When I glance up, another police officer is holding me back, and I struggle in his grip to free myself.

Another officer jumps in to help his partner restrain me, but all I can do is kick and scream and cry out Alek’s name.

I watch helplessly as the police officer takes Alek to his car and opens the door. With one last glance, Alek gives me a sad smile and mouths, I love you .

The police officer grabs his head and pushes him into the car, then closes the door with a thud. When the officer climbs in, he starts the car and makes a U-turn to drive off down the street, the taillights growing dimmer as the distance grows between us.

“ALEK!” I slip on the wet sidewalk and lose my balance, slumping in the officers’ hold. The rain mixes with the tears clinging to my cold cheeks.

I don’t know what to do or how to save him. All I can do is watch helplessly as Alek disappears into the foggy night, ripping my heart out along with it.

READ THE FINAL INSTALLMENT OF ALEK & WILLOW'S STORY:

Love to Find You: A Dark Stalker Romance (Coming in 2026)

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