Y A N A Oh, my god. Does Sofia know about me? Has our cover been blown? What gave it away? Is it the fact that she can spot poverty from a mile away? Panic is rising in my throat like bile, but I swallow it all back when I feel Mikhail’s hand on my shoulder. It’s his way of telling me to calm down, or at least not to blow it. Either way is fine, because it did a good job of reminding me that my future rests on this, the biggest interview of my life. “First of all, we had to keep it a secret because I asked him to.” I glance at Mikhail and twist my hands. “I just felt like it was too good to be true. I didn’t really want people saying I’m unworthy or anything, and I realize now that that’s wrong of me.” To my utter relief, Sofia’s expression softens. She actually reaches over to pat my hand. “I understand, my darling. I just wish we knew about you more. We were so happy when he told us.” Thank god. I thought she was going to scalp me. “Well, that can be arranged,” I say lightly,
M I K H A I LListen . . . I love Uncle Amos like I love my own father, but at that moment, I has this urge to roll him down the stairs and out of earshot because he’s being a real eavesdropper right now and I hate myself for the fact that I didn’t even notice.So yeah, the crime would be fueled by self-loathing.But of course, I just smile and turn to face him, letting Yana cling to my arm. Judged by the way her nails are digging into my skin, I can safely say that we’re having the same bad thoughts.“There’s no secret, Uncle,” I say with a convincingly cheery tone. “We are thinking about it. We talked about it before but now it’s more . . . public.”“Yeah,” Yana agrees. “We might not do it anytime soon, though. We both think that it would be too fast.”“Ah, that I do understand.” He pats us both on the shoulders. “We’re just happy to see you happy. So excuse your mom and dad for jumping the gun. I’m sure they didn’t mean to scare both of you.”Yana forces a laugh. “Not scared! Just
Y A N AI wait for something bad to happen. Maybe this time it won’t be Mikhail throwing up. Maybe this time it would be some sort of unexpected interruption that would inevitably destroy the moment equally.But to my surprise, nothing happens.Mikhail just kisses me.At first, he’s slow, curious. He’s brushing his lips over mine, lingering and light, his breath warm and his scent almost overwhelming. Heat rushes all over my body, and as he threads his fingers in my hair, I just lose it.I know I should be smarter about this. I know I should take a moment to think and stop and say that hey, Mikhail is technically my boss. He’s funding all of my stuff, single-handedly moving me up a tax bracket by saving my dying business. And most importantly, I’m his employee.I’m just a hired actor paid to play a role.I shouldn’t want him this bad. I shouldn’t want him at all.And yet I do.Perhaps it’s just because I haven’t been in a relationship in a long while. Perhaps it’s just because I haven
Y A N AI don’t know that I fell asleep right after that embarrassing moment, and I especially have no idea how on earth I even managed. But only when I woke up do I realize that I dozed off right after I turned my back to Mikhail.Honestly, it’s a relief. Because that means I didn’t have to deal with the aftermath of being rejected by him.Sunlight is already slanting through the floor-to-ceiling windows. I blink a couple of times, debating whether I should or should not turn around and see what’s waiting for me. But then I realize that there’s no warmth against my back. I can’t feel anything else on the soft mattress other than my breath and my weight.I look behind me tentatively, and I see nothing but empty sheets.Should I be relieved or be sad that Mikhail is not here?It’s a mix of both, but there’s also another emotion rising in my chest that I can’t quite shake. Longing? Regret? Frustration and anger directed at me because I couldn’t hold it together and made a scene out of n
M I K H A I LI stare at the paper, and this time I don’t crumple it and decide to have it get burned into ashes. Instead, I fold it neatly and slip it into my pocket, standing up and handing the box to Evan, who’s staring at me dumbfounded.“What did it say?” he asks, following me as I walk toward the metal pole and break it into pieces as though it was a piece of bread. “Did it give a clue as to who sent it?”“No,” I say shortly, ignoring his first question. I don’t think I’m ready to tell anyone about what the nightmare was. It’s such an outlandish thing to dream about, and I don’t think Evan would be pleased to learn about it. “We have to go. Run some scans for fingerprints for those things, then dispose of them. I will go back home to check on Yana.”Evan pauses for a while like he wants to question my words, but he decides against it in the end and just climbs down the roof through the stairs. I do the same, lagging behind him and looking around in case I missed anything.I’ve m
Y A N AMy whole body tenses as the two men face each other. I slink to the side like a puppy, looking up at both of them and trying to figure out how I can intercept before things get nasty.But overall, I can’t get over how Mikhail is acting.Is he just trying to act jealous? Is this a show of some sort? Because if that is true, then I would say he’s doing a fantastic job.He’s still staring at Brody like he’s out for blood, and for some reason this makes my heart skip a beat. I wedge myself in between them and try to get his attention, but he’s still waiting for an answer.I turn to Brody instead, but he also ignores me.“You really are the CEO, aren’t you?” he asks Mikhail easily. “Wait, don’t say your name. I can guess it in one go. . . .”Mikhail flashes him a smile, but it’s so full of venom he might as well just scowl and attack. “Do you now?”“I do.” Brody glances at me excitedly. “You’re Mikhail Sartori.”“There we go, big boy.” Mikhail’s expression is as stiff as ever. “Now
Y A N AWhat Mikhail said shocks me to my core. For a whole moment, I just stand there with no idea what to say, and he stares back at me, his face completely devoid of emotion.When he turns around to leave, I can’t help but tap his arm. “It doesn’t have to be this way. I was merely pointing out that--”“I’m selfish and I only care about myself, yeah,” he supplied. “I understand what you mean, Miss Allard. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have more important things to deal with.”He makes a move toward the back door, but then he steps inside again.“By the way, you really should check your phone, because I’ve been messaging you all morning.”I frown.”Dude, I was messaging you!”“Didn’t get anything,” he says coolly. “Goodbye.”With that, he leaves, even though I want to drag him back by the hair and pick a whole-ass fight. I understand that I’m being a bitch, but by god, he’s also being a giant asshole and I can’t stand him.Grumbling, I think about kicking the trashcan, but I stop myself
Y A N A“Hey!” I call out to the woman, pushing the cart away and scrambling to follow her. “Hey, come back!”The woman vanishes before I can even get to her, and a sinking feeling envelopes my body. I feel like everything is raining down on me, and I find it hard to breathe.“What happened?” Brody asks from behind me. “Who was that?”“I don’t know,” I say. My heart is still thudding in my chest and all sorts of bad thoughts are running through my head. All I can think about was if someone posts that, or if it goes viral in a way. “How about we just split our stuff so I can go ahead?”Before Brody can react, I’m already reaching for a basket for his stuff and transfer them myself. As soon as I’m done, I push my cart to the register and get everything checked out.By the time I get in my car, I’m already winded beyond words. For some reason, I want to scream and hunt down the woman who took a picture.But what if I’m just overthinking things?What if that woman was actually taking a pi
M I K H A I LThe aftermath of what I can confidently call a war was almost . . . calm. There were no notable ups and downs, but I couldn’t really say there were no hard emotions involved. I guess what I could say about it is that it is subdued. Quiet. Defeated.We are the winners, my family and I. And yet victory is not something that we feel.Because today is the burial of Uncle Amos, and we have to remind ourselves once again that someone we considered our family has betrayed us and died in the process.But of course, we all know that the pain and fresh betrayal and perhaps even guilt that my parents and I are all feeling right now is nothing compared to what Evan is feeling.After Yana and I kissed in the hallway a week ago, I went to see Evan. He was in the morgue, crying over his dead father’s body, which was in the other side of the place being embalmed. We couldn’t see the process, only some views of it through the little window on the door.He turned to me abruptly when I wen
M I K H A I LI let go of Uncle Amos, only letting the tips of my sharp teeth graze his neck and not letting things get too far.I realize that I may have proven him right by doing that. He called me a coward, and perhaps I really was, because I have the chance to kill him right now and I'm still struggling with the morality of it all even though he never stopped to consider that for me or my family.What am I doing? How can I do this? How do I finish this fight?I hate this. I hate this so much. I hate that I have to do it, I hate that it is the only thing that would keep Uncle Amos from causing more harm. I hate that I’m the one who has to stop him . . . permanently.And most especially, I hate that after everything he’s done to me and everyone I care about and love, I still have some amount of respect and love left for him.Needless to say, I should be as cold as him now. I should be able to take him out without feeling an ounce of remorse. I know everything he did now. He basicall
Y A N AEvan moves quickly and seizes my wrists with one hand as though binding me, pushing me against the wall. I yelp and gasp, looking at him with my gaze full of questions.He shoots me a meaningful look and I immediately get that this is all for show. He's trying to make it look like he's trying to subdue me.It would make a pretty convincing narrative, I have to admit. It would look like I somehow managed to escape from my bonds and my cell just to wreck the princess up and end up killing her. The story might crack if they realize that I'm just a weak human with no special abilities whatsoever, but at least it would do for now.To add to the credibility of it all, Evan turns to the warriors and says, "I got it under control, everyone."They hesitate, and I can see their eyes flitting from him to me and to the princess, who's clearly gone.The warrior in the front who I assume is the leader steps forward. "What happened here?""She managed to get out of her chains and out of her
M I K H A I LWithout hesitation, I pull back, clench my fist, and break out of the chains that are binding me to the wall.The needle in my arm breaks, spilling the hissing formula of the wolfsbane potion everywhere, causing it to burn holes in the actual concrete. I step on it, not caring at the small sting that it causes, not caring about anything much at all except for my parents’ safety.Strength is flowing in my body like a lush river, endless and loud and raging. I face Uncle Amos, who is watching me without a clear expression on his face. But when he sees me breaking the bars of the cell with my bare hands, he smiles.“You coming to hurt me, nephew?” he asks tauntingly. “Are you going to kill me? Because I bid you good luck for that.”With that, he rushes towards me with no warning, his fists already clenched. I have to admit that I didn’t anticipate his speed at all or any kind of grace from him, so I don’t manage to parry the punch that he lands against my face.My head sta
Y A N AIt's strange seeing Evan again, even though it's barely been a full day since we last saw him. Even as I stare at him now, I can't believe he's actually here.Evan holds out his hand to me, reaching through the gaps like Sienna did. "Can you reach me?"The answer is, I can. I can definitely reach him and take his hand if I want to. The only problem is that I don't. I don't want to touch him.I don't want to trust him.I remember his father and how he attacked Mikhail like it was nothing, despite Mikhail seeing him as his father. I remember how he almost killed me. Also, I don't know if I'm hallucinating or what, but I do remember him saying that his son was involved in the whole thing somehow.Now, I can't see Evan the way I used to. I know he helped us through it all and even warned us, but I can't shake off the idea what maybe he was involved in everything somehow. Like actively involved.Hell, for all I know, he just set up a trap for us so his father could take me and Mikh
M I K H A I LI have no body.I can’t feel anything physical. The only thing I have now is my consciousness, and even that is waning in and out of focus. One moment, everything is dull and muted, then the next, everything feels sharp. Sometimes too sharp. So sharp that it hurts, even though I have no physical form to experience that pain.I’m surrounded by an endless sea of black. Nothing in the distance, nothing up close. Just a whole lot of nothing. I want to inhale and feel the air in my lungs, but I don’t know how to do that.Slowly, memories of what happened start to come back to me.I remember having a great night with Yana. I remember waking up with her. I remember the peace in my heart knowing that I will be with her like that, safe and warm and loved, but all of that gets shattered the moment I heard Evan calling.And the call was late. They were already there.What I didn’t expect was that the whole thing would be led by Uncle Amos, who I’ve confided in and looked up to. Eve
M I K H A I LMy body freezes when I hear those words. I look at Uncle Amos, wondering if I’m hearing everything correctly. I feel like I’m in a bad dream, and everything is going downhill.The only thing I want to do right now is get away from here with Yana, to save her from all of this because she doesn’t deserve it. However, there seems to be no way out. The Lycans are all over the property, and the car is still too far away for us to access.“You can let me take over,” Kingsley says to me, and I know that he won’t let me down, but I don’t want to scare Yana. I also know that I’m outnumbered.And if Amara’s ability is also present in these Lycans, I might not stand a chance. I would definitely end up risking Yana’s life, and I would not forgive myself for that. This in itself is already tough to swallow. I can’t live with myself if something happens to her because of me and with me present.Uncle Amos stares at me, tilting his head as he tries to understand my expression. Somethin
M I K H A I LI lean back against the couch, watching Yana catch her breath as the fabric of her suit falls limply down her shoulders. Something about how the light slants against her smooth skin and lights up her eyes is making me want to pounce on her and have her screaming my name under me, but I relax, taking in her beauty.I lift my hands, touching her softly, just tracing the tips of my fingers over her skin. I can feel goosebumps forming. I can feel her shivering. I can see her pleading with her eyes, but I don’t hasten my pace.“Do you want me?” Yana whispers.“Very much, yes.” I lean in and plant an almost chaste kiss on her collarbone. “I’ve wanted you like this for so long. . . .”“Then have me. Take me.”Smiling, Yana takes both of my hands and puts them on her breasts, using the tactic of using my hands to pleasure herself again. She flicks over her nipples, gently tugging and twisting them with my fingers. She moans, closing her eyes and throwing her head back when I sta
Y A N A"What?" I blurt out, a little too loudly.Evan hisses under his breath and steps forward, clamping his hand over my mouth. "I said, we will be crashing the wedding. It's going to happen tomorrow. If we get lucky now and we don't encounter any problems, we can do it today. Understood?"I nod frantically, wishing I can ask what kind of trouble we can encounter here and what all of this means, but I know that time is precious. Besides, every second he spends here is a second too long and an obvious risk. If he gets caught here, then the mission is dead.However, I just have to ask him one question. Something that's been bothering me since he showed up."Evan?" I whisper against his hand. When he raises his eyebrows, I ask, "Why does it seem like you're working against your father?"A pause, and then he says, "That's because I am."“Do you know what happened to him?” I ask again, deciding to just screw it. I might as well just know what happened to that man. “Is he . . . a bad per