Page 42 of Sweet Obsession (Savage Vow #1)

LUNA

I stood in front of the mirror, my fingers tracing the outline of my stomach, feeling the soft swell that had taken me by surprise.

Ihad been trying to ignore it, trying to push it down, but it was getting harder by the day. The nausea, the dizziness, the sudden bouts of retching that made it impossible to keep food down.

I looked at myself—leaner than I ever thought I’d become. It was as if I was fading away, a shell of the woman I used to be, with no future, no hope, and no control.

For the past week, I hadn’t heard from Misha. Not a word. The silence had stretched on, unbearable, gnawing at me, until it felt like I was suffocating under the weight of it.

My heart twisted with every thought of him—where was he? Was he still alive? What had they done to him?

The pain of not knowing was unbearable.

And then there was Gabriella. My sister, kidnapped and held captive for months, likely tortured, with no word from her. She was probably broken, shattered in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

I didn’t know how much more of this I could take.

The only glimmer of hope had been Gleb Romanov. He had managed to help Misha’s father, Vladimir, escape from the grasp of the Vargas Cartel, and he promised me he would help get Misha and Gabriella back, too.

But it was all slipping through my fingers. Every passing day, the hope faded more, and the pain of losing them both—the man I loved and the sister I’d sworn to protect—seemed to consume me whole.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I had been resisting it for so long, but now I had no choice. I needed answers. I needed something to hold onto.

I called my father.

The call felt like I was cutting myself open. He answered on the third ring, his voice as cold and indifferent as I remembered it.

“Luna,” he said, his voice sharp. “What is it?”

“Why did you let them take Gabriella?!” My voice cracked as I demanded an answer. “You knew the Vargas Cartel was involved, and you did nothing!”

He paused, a long, drawn-out silence that sent a chill down my spine. Then he spoke, his words careful, almost rehearsed.

Your sister is in my custody now.” His voice was cold, almost indifferent, as if he were speaking about a business transaction rather than a family member. “I had to pay a very high price to the Vargas Cartel and Chernov to get her back, but she’ll be fine. I’ll recover the money she owes me.”

A sick, icy knot twisted in my stomach, and I could barely keep the words from spilling out, choked with disbelief and fury. “Owe you?” I managed to spit out, the venom in my voice sharper than I intended. “She doesn’t owe you anything! You’re the one who let her be taken! And now, you—”

I couldn’t finish the sentence. The sheer weight of his words, of his callousness, was suffocating me. How could he talk like this? How could he just casually dismiss everything that had happened to Gabriella as if it were some transaction, some game where money solved everything?

“You’re responsible for this!” I felt my hands shaking, my grip tightening on the phone, but it didn’t help the storm building inside me. “How could you—how could you let them take her and then pay for her like some kind of commodity?”

“She’ll pay me back, Luna. One way or another.” His voice was cold, calculating. “As for Misha...”

A lump formed in my throat. “What about Misha?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking. My mind had been screaming for any word of him, any sign that he was alive, that he hadn’t been lost to me forever.

“Misha is with me, for now,” he said, his voice a little too casual for my liking. “But Chernov is already on his way. You’d better prepare yourself for what’s coming.

The air left my lungs in a rush, as if someone had slapped me across the face.

Misha... my mind was scrambling, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

But it was too much—too horrible. And the anger, the rage.

.. it exploded in me. “What are you talking about? Chernov is coming for him? What do you mean?”

“I meant just what I said. He is alive but in my custody and Chernov is coming to take him.” His voice was flat, as though he were stating the weather, but I could feel the weight of his words in my chest, a cold knot tightening around my heart.

“I’m telling you, I had to make sure he didn’t die. He fucked two women while he was locked up, and now Chernov thinks he’s broken. I thought it would be enough to appease him, but you’ll see. Misha will be dead soon, unless you do something about it.”

I froze. My blood ran cold. “No. No, that’s not possible. He would never—”

“Believe me, Luna. He had no choice. The women are very persuasive. They didn’t leave him with any options.”

I didn’t know what to feel anymore. Anger. Confusion. Pain. But above all, doubt.

“Please,” I begged, my voice cracking. “Please don’t let Chernov take him. I can’t lose him. Not after everything. Please, don’t let him die.”

My father’s voice hardened. “There’s nothing I can do, Luna. Chernov is already on his way. And unless you come to Columbia, that’s it. Misha will die. You will become a widow.”

The world seemed to tilt around me. “What do you mean come to Columbia?” I was shaking now, my thoughts scattered, desperate. “What do you want from me?”

“There’s nothing left to do but let him die and move on with your life. Once he’s gone, I’ll help you start over. I’ll get you out of Yakutsk. But you need to let go, Luna. Let Misha go.”

“Please,” I begged again, my voice breaking, tears spilling over, tracing wet paths down my cheeks. I wiped them away in frustration, but he didn’t seem affected by it. He never did. My father, always indifferent to the pain he caused.

I tried to steady my breath, my pulse erratic as I thought of the only thing that could possibly ground me in that moment.

Gabriella. My sister. The last piece of family I had left.

If I could hear her voice, if I could just know she was okay, it might offer me some kind of fleeting comfort, some anchor amidst the storm of chaos.

“Let me speak to Gabriella,” I finally choked out, my words barely a whisper, desperate and broken. “She’s been through hell. You can’t keep her from me. I need to know she’s okay.”

He laughed, a harsh, empty sound. “You’ll speak to her when I say so. But she’s safe. For now. She’s been in therapy, Luna. You’ll see her when it’s time.”

“No!” I screamed, my chest tightening with grief. “I won’t believe you! You don’t care about her. You’re using her—using me—just to manipulate me into doing what you want!”

My father didn’t respond. The line went silent for a long, drawn-out moment. Then, in a voice devoid of warmth, he finally spoke again.

“Goodbye, Luna. You’ll see when Misha’s dead, and then you can start your life afresh. Don’t worry. I’ll be here to help you when it’s over.”

The line went dead. I was left in the silence of my own shattered heart.

Does he even remember what it was like to love? Or has he buried it all so deep he’s become as empty as his words?

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how much more I could take. I didn’t want to believe him—I couldn’t believe him—but everything in me was crumbling, the weight of his call crushing down on me like an avalanche.

My breath came in shallow bursts, my hands still shaking from the venom of his words. “ Let Misha die... start over...”

I could feel the bile rising in my throat. Start over? How could he even say that? Gabriella, Misha... my family... they were nothing to him but pieces on a chessboard. He had traded them away, like currency, like he always did with everything.

My stomach churned, but I fought to steady myself. The cold, hard realization that my father would never protect us—never protect me—settled in my chest, a hollow emptiness spreading. There was no comfort, no safety to be found in the arms of someone who saw us as mere tools.

Then, there was a knock at the door.

I barely looked up when Nikolai stepped in. His face was grim, his usual confidence replaced with a quiet determination. He could see the devastation in my eyes, but I couldn’t hide it.

“I spoke to Oleg,” he said quietly, his voice steady despite the tension that lingered in the room.

“We’ve confirmed through our contacts in Colombia—Misha’s been taken there.

Our men on the ground have been grounded, and even Gleb’s connections are out of play now.

The Vargas Cartel is involved. Getting Misha out of there is going to be nearly impossible. ”

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head, the hopelessness clawing at my chest. “There has to be something we can do. Please, Nikolai, you have to do something!”

He shook his head, a look of regret in his eyes. “I’ll do everything I can, but if it comes to it... if we can’t get him out in time, I’ll have you moved out of the city. A new identity, a new life.”

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. “No. I won’t leave. I can’t. Not like this.”

Nikolai placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not alone in this. We’ll do everything we can.”

I nodded, but my mind was already somewhere else. I walked to my studio, the one place that kept me from completely unraveling.

I picked up a brush, the colors swirling on the canvas without rhyme or reason. My mind was a blur of chaos, too much to process. I picked up my phone and dialed Chernov’s number.

It rang three times before he answered.

His voice was cold, too. “Luna.”

“Please, don’t do this,” I begged, my voice shaking with the rawness of my fear. “Please don’t hurt Misha. I’ll come to Colombia. I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t let him die.”

Chernov was silent for a long, agonizing moment before he spoke, his words like shards of ice. “I’ll bring him back to Yakutsk, then send you an address where you can come alone. But understand this, Luna: I won’t kill him because of you. But I won’t promise I won’t torture him either.”

His voice turned colder, more venomous as he continued, “He didn’t just take the Pakhan position from me. He made me lose my left hand. And on top of that, he has you. I will get everything back, Luna. Everything.”

I closed my eyes, tears burning the back of my lids. The weight of it all felt unbearable, suffocating. “Don’t hurt him... please,” I whispered, my heart breaking into pieces I could never put back together. I knew I was about to lose everything.

His response was a mocking, chilling chuckle. “I can’t promise that, kotyonok.”

“Misha’s always been good at surviving. But he’ll never be good enough for you, Luna. I’ll make sure of that.”

The call ended abruptly. And with it, a part of me died.

I stood there, motionless, the weight of his promises—no, his threats—crushing down on me.

I couldn’t breathe.

The air felt too thick, too heavy to fill my lungs. I stumbled back, my knees buckling beneath me as I collapsed onto the nearest chair.

My hands were trembling so violently, I could hardly hold the phone, now a useless, lifeless object in my grasp.

Misha... Misha was still alive, but for how long?

Chernov had made it clear that he had no intention of letting him live with any shred of dignity. And that hand, that horrific reminder of what Chernov had suffered because of Misha, only made the stakes higher.

My mind screamed in protest, refusing to accept the bitter truth. How could my father have allowed this? How could I let it continue?

My thoughts spiraled in a chaotic, relentless whirl—Misha’s voice, his touch, the way he had held me so fiercely just before everything shattered.

The memory of his kiss, so desperate, as if it might be the last time he ever tasted my lips, the way he made love to me with an intensity that felt like a final act of devotion.

.. Would that truly be the last time? Was that our final moment?

The last time I’d feel his warmth, his strength, pressed against me?

I could still feel the ghost of his warmth against me, the fierce protection in his embrace. Now, it was as though all of it had been ripped away in an instant, leaving me alone in the cold, heartbroken silence of his absence.

The tears that had been threatening to break free finally spilled over, streaming down my cheeks in a torrent. I didn’t bother to wipe them away. I didn’t care anymore. My entire world was unraveling, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

goddess, Misha... please, hold on.

But deep down, I knew. I knew that time was running out. Chernov wouldn’t just hurt him. He would destroy him. And I couldn’t save him. Not unless I gave myself up.

My chest tightened, a sharp, painful squeeze around my heart.

The thought of walking into Chernov’s hands, of surrendering myself willingly... It made my stomach churn.

I had been so determined to stay strong, to hold on to the hope that somehow, Misha and I could survive this, that we could fight back and rebuild.

But now? Now it felt like a cruel joke. There was no fight left in me. Only a cold, brutal reality that I had no choice but to face.

I couldn’t say I told him not to go to the banquet. Misha was a fighter, a man of pride and determination. I knew better than anyone that he would never sit back and let Chernov win, no matter the cost.

I stood up, my legs unsteady, and moved to the window, my gaze distant, unfocused. Outside, the world carried on as though nothing had changed, but everything had. The man I loved was at the mercy of a monster, and I was powerless to save him.

The thought of losing Misha, of never seeing him again, was a pain so deep I could barely breathe.

I can’t let him go. I won’t. But what if... what if the only way to save him is to give up everything I’ve ever known? My freedom, my soul. I couldn’t be the reason he died... I couldn’t bear it.

My heart ached as I whispered to the empty room, as if hoping somehow he could hear me, wherever he was.

Please, Misha. Please, don’t give up on me. I’m coming. I’ll do whatever it takes to get to you. I swear I will.

But the silence in return felt heavier than any promise I could make.