Page 66 of Sweet Obsession

But I stopped.

Teeth gritted. Breath ragged.

She stared at me, dazed, pupils blown wide.

“Does the name ‘Stepan’ sound familiar to you?” I asked.

The world fell silent. She went cold in my arms. A flicker of something dark passed behind her eyes.

“Stepan?” she said softly. “Never heard it.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Her mouth trembled. And for the first time since I met her, she looked afraid.

Real fear. Not of me. But of the name. The ghost it dragged back to life.

LUNA

He kissed me again, like he hated me.

Rough. Starving. Possessive.

His mouth crushed mine with bruising pressure, his fingers tangled in my hair like he couldn’t decide whether to hold me close or push me away. My back hit the wall of the hallway, a thud that made my breath stutter. Somewhere upstairs, the fire still cracked. But down here, it was all heat and sharp edges.

“Misha...” I gasped into his mouth, but he didn’t let me finish. His lips moved to my throat, biting the skin just hard enough to remind me that this wasn’t tenderness.

This was punishment.

For lying.

For wanting him.

For both.

“You’re hiding something,” he growled against my skin. “You flinch when I say his name. Stepan.”

I froze. Not from fear. But because the name felt like a blade pressed to my chest. He pulled back slightly, just enough for our eyes to meet. His were glacial, burning with questions he hadn’t asked before now.

“Tell me,” he demanded, his voice low and lethal. “What did he do to you?”

I opened my mouth. Closed it again. The words were ash on my tongue. I wasn’t ready to say it. Not like this. Not under his gaze that peeled away everything I’d worked so hard to bury.

He stared at me, jaw tight.

Then, slowly, as if it physically pained him, he stepped back. The space between us felt colder than Siberia.

“You don’t want to tell me?” he said quietly. “Fine. But I will find out. And when I do...” His voice dipped into something darker. “I won’t be gentle.”

He turned and disappeared, his footsteps fading into the stone silence of the estate. I slumped against the wall, hands trembling. My skin still burned from where he’d touched me. And now... my secrets burned too.

I should have hated him more after tonight.

But somehow, I hated myself more.

The estate was too quiet again.

It always was after arguments with Misha.