Page 50 of Unrequited

The weight of his voice makes me pause. “All right.” I nod, trying to stay composed. “If this will help you, I’ll do it,” I agree, swallowing my pride.I’ll sign everything away, I think silently. My hopes. My dreams. Any lingering fantasy of marrying someone who might actually love me.

Maybe it won’t be as bad as I fear. Maybe we’ll learn to coexist, even find common ground. That’s all I can really hope for now. Love? I’ve let that go. I’ve lethimgo. But I won’t run. Not again.Neveragain. This is a new chapter.

No, a whole newvolume.

Chapter 10

SEAMUS

I stareat the fucking walls of this prison, wishing I were anywhere but here. And at the worst moments, when they drag me out to brutalize me, when they hurt me, when they torture me for information, I think of Zoya.

Sweet, perfect Zoya, with her trusting eyes and her soft voice, and that innocence I’d die a hundred times over to protect. My sweet little angel.

I know she’s not perfect. But she’s perfect for me.

I imagine her going to the Wolf and Moon week after week. Picture her walking in, maybe looking around like she’s expecting to see me. Like she’s still waiting. I know I can’t come. I know I can't reach out. I can’t send her a message.

If I try to contact her now, it’s over. Too risky. Anyone could intercept it. And if that happens, it’s not just my life or everything I’ve built over the years that’s in danger, but herstoo. And I won't risk that. I can't. Not even if she betrayed me.

Some part of me knows that, logically, I don't blame her for what she did. Hell, I would've done the same. The message was right there, sitting on the fucking table.

She knew I was ordered to kill her brothers. What else does she know?

Footsteps sound, coming my way. That fucking asshole prison guard lives to torment me. Gets off on it. Loves to watch me bleed.

We'll see how he likes it when I get the fuck out of here. And I will. My lawyers are already working on it.

Yeah, I’ve done enough in Russia to be locked up for three lifetimes. Most of us have. But I will not give up when there's someone out there I need to protect. Someone I still need to love.

My father, he’s as loyal as they come. A good man. Good to me, to my mother, my siblings, and to every last soul in his clan. But even he would lose his goddamn mind if he knew the truth. If anyone knew.

I think back to that night at the Wolf and Moon. The way I took out the men who plotted against me and my father.

That plan? I still can’t tell my father about it. Not now. Not with this war against the Russians heating up.

I stand and move toward the exit. I get one phone call a week in this fucking place. One. I take it.

“Yeah?” I say.

The guy on the other end hesitates. “Sir,” he says, his voice tight. “I’ve got news.”

I clench the phone tighter. “Spit it out. I’ve got thirty fucking seconds before I’m thrown back into hell.”

He swallows hard. I can hear it. His silence is a weight. “If you have something to confess,” I growl, “just know I won’t be able to punish you for a long time.”

“No, sir,” he stammers. “It’s not that. It’s… I’m afraid of what you’ll do when I tell you.”

“Spit. It. The fuck. Out. Or I will reach through this phone and tear your goddamn throat out.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” he says, rushing now. “Zoya Kopolova is engaged. To be married.”

And my world just—stops.

Ofcourseshe is. Ofcourseshe’s fucking engaged. Of courseRafailKopolov would do this—arrange her future for her like he always planned. She has no reason to say no. She can’t.

This is the next move. This is how it plays out. I’m such a goddamn fool.

I exhale, sharp and bitter. “When?”