Page 4 of Thorns of Love

Betrayal. Bullets. Blackness.

Sometimes a villain turns into a hero. That would never be the case with him. Illias Konstantin was a different breed of monster. Yet, it felt like I had sold my soul to the devil and he delivered what I had desired the most.

A baby.

Something Adrian refused to entertain. Over and over again.

Adrenaline hit me like a tsunami, washing through me until emotion withered away, leaving nothing but emptiness in its wake.

I started trembling again. My fingers, shaking like a leaf against the wind, came to my forehead. There was nothing there. Not even a scar. There should be something left from that night.

Yet, it was a blank canvas. Emptiness. Darkness.

Breathe through the nose. Exhale through my mouth. Repeat.

A sardonic feeling pulled in my chest. At least I had about seven months to get it all sorted out - baby daddy, his demands, my brother’s demands. I could say fuck them all and then hide somewhere where they’d never find me. I had resources and funds.

“Tatiana, please talk to me.” Isabella’s soft voice pulled me back. For a second, I forgot she was here. Her furrowed brows and gaze full of worry refused to let go.

“There’s nothing to say.” My voice portrayed nothing of the turmoil inside me. My brothers and Illias would learn if they’d fuck with me, their temper would pale compared to mine.

“We love you,” she rasped in a low voice.

“I love you too.” But I love my baby more, I thought as I pressed my hand softly to my lower belly.

I’d raise hell on earth to keep my little one protected.

TWO

KONSTANTIN

Tatiana Nikolaev was bound to me for life, whether she liked it or not.

Now, I just needed to make her my wife. We were always meant to end up here. The two of us, married with children running around us. Maybe I should have gone about it a different way but fuck it.

I was done waiting. My plan was unfolding. The goal was always to knock her up and see her swell with my child. So she’d be mine.

I had been planning this since Adrian’s death. Watching her. Biding my time. Truthfully, the Yakuza did me a favor because it only sped up my plans. Maxim attempting to kill Nikolaev's brother and getting himself killed wasn’t part of the plan. But truthfully, I’d use that to my advantage too.

The Nikolaevs knew they fucked up when they killed Maxim. If I had to, I’d kill her brothers to get Tatiana. Although, the thought of seeing pain in her eyes caused a twisting in my gut. Just like it did seeing it the night Adrian died.

That shattering pain that tore at her crystal blue gaze and her voice as she tried to save her late husband.

I wanted to shield her from all the pain, even the pain that her late husband caused. From the Omertà. Everyone. And the only way I knew how to do that was to bring her under my protection. As my wife and mother of my children.

She’d become a target, but as long as I had her in my sights at all times, I’d be able to keep her safe. My love for her knew no boundaries. And it was love, not just need or obsession. I didn’t know that I was capable of that and knowing I loved her should scare the fucking hell out of me. But it didn’t. It just made me want her more. Whether she knew it or not, she was fucking mine. Her moonlike hair was the only light in my darkness.

Nobody had ever gotten a second chance in my book. Except for her and her family. But only because I had given my faith toher. Not even my twin brother got that much from me.

A fact that should have been alarming. I had always believed another human being, family or not, couldn’t be trusted. It was a waste of time, energy, and faith. Only to be disappointed at the end. Just look at my mother.

Yet I couldn’t fathom a day on this earth if she wouldn’t walk in it. She was my anomaly. My desire. My destiny.

I couldn’t fully grasp the extent of my obsession, but it has been there from the moment I first saw her. It stared at me with wide eyes of the bluest skies, inviting my raging, insatiable beast to own her.

A dark obsession clawed at my chest, insisting I take the woman now.

But I’d let her have today. To celebrate the wedding of her beloved brother.