Page 48 of Thorns of Love

“What I meant, Illias, is that unless you’re honest with me and we’re partners in this, I won’t have any more children with you. And these–” she rubbed her stomach affectionately, “ –will be born to separated parents.”

A growl vibrated in my chest. “Over my dead body. I told you, Tatiana, you’re mine. For life. There is no other man for you nor our babies. Not even your brothers.”

She shook her head and her lips quirked. “I know you're Pakhan and all that. But don’t forget I grew up in this world. And my brothers can give just as good as they get.”

Sardonic amusement escaped me. Her brothers had unconditional loyalty and irrationally, it made me jealous. I wanted all of her - her loyalty, her love, her passion. Fucking everything.

“What do you want to know, Tatiana?”

Her pale blue eyes met mine. We were such opposites. Lightness and darkness, despite both of us growing up in this world. Some women in our world were timid, bowed their heads and minded their business, pretending ignorance of our world.

That was never meant to be Tatiana. Regardless of what world she lived in.

I took her chin between my fingers. “What do you want to know?”

She swallowed with a soft gulp. “When did we meet?”

Silence morphed between us. Her fingers played with the rose pendant on her necklace. A thorned rose. She reminded me of a rose full of thorns in a way. She bloomed and shined, but when threatened her thorns came out.

“When did we meet, Illias?” she asked again.

My gut feeling warned she had started to unravel some things on her own. My eyes fell on the unusual necklace around her neck. She always wore it. It was unusual. Not exactly her style.

“Your last year of college. Halloween night.” She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, they were the darkest blue I had ever seen them. “A waiter gave me a note. From you.”

Her mouth parted. “He gave it to you?”

I nodded. “You caught my eye the moment you strolled in with those boys,” I admitted. “So when I got the note, I couldn’t resist but oblige you.”

Her cheeks flushed a deep red and I stared at her in disbelief. Fuck, she was beautiful when she blushed.

She buried her face in my neck. “Oh my gosh.”

My lips pressed against her ear. “You don’t seem surprised.”

Her hands trailed down my shoulder, forearm, until our fingers met and interlocked. Her graceful fingers traced mine.

“I started to suspect,” she remarked, her breaths fanning my neck. “Something you said last night.”

“What did I say?” I cupped her head and made her look at me.

A shiver rolled through her and her eyes shimmered, like the sun rays over the Caribbean sea.

“That I’m yours. That I’ve always been yours,” she whispered softly. She brushed the tip of her nose against mine. “During all the years I’d known Adrian–” I stiffened, hating the fucker’s name on her lips. “ –I heard it only once. That night in the gazebo.”

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, then asked. “Did you know who I was?”

“That night, no,” I admitted. “I tried to find you, but your information was impossible to trace. It wasn’t until I saw you approaching your brother in my L.A. restaurant that I learned why.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Maxim went through some shit that I had to deal with,” he grumbled. “By the time I came to New Orleans, you were already married. It left me with two options. Kill him or let you be happy. I didn’t want to repeat my father’s mistake.”

A gasp filled the space between us. I watched her neck bob as she swallowed and a tear rolled down her cheek. I caught it with my thumb.

“What do you mean?”

She paused, like she was considering telling me something. I grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back. Her lips were swollen, her cheeks flushed and her eyes shining like stars.