She sealed her fate the minute she admitted she loved me.
My throat works double time as I absorb every word.
“And you’re wrong,” she continues softly. “Everything you wrote in your letter is wrong. The Outfit isn’t my priority anymore…not when I don’t have you beside me. Because with you, I’m stronger. And you thinking I’m not…that’s a lie. And I’m so tired of our lies, Kill. So very tired.” Her voice steadies once more. “All I want, from this day forward, is to never be apart from you again.” She looks straight into my soul. “Can you handle that?”
My heart stammers, completely unprepared for this—unprepared for her.
But it’s the three smallest words she said in her admission of love that I cling to most.
“You love me?”
“With all my stupid heart,” she whispers, a silent tear slipping free. “You are my soul too, Kill. You’re everything. And I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.”
This time, the tears burning my eyes aren’t born of grief but of something brighter. Something terrifying and beautiful. And mine.
“ya tebya lyublyu,”she breathes out in perfect Russian, surprising me even more.
“Say it again. In English this time.”
“I love you.”
I crash my mouth to hers, holding her like she’s the only real thing left in a broken world. And for the first time since Elena died, hope doesn’t feel like a lie.
How can it when Stella just admitted to loving me?
“Kill,” she says breathlessly between kisses. “Aren’t you going to say something too?”
“In a minute,dusha moya,” I groan as I pull down my pants and swipe her panties to the side.
We both hiss out when I thrust deep inside her, heaven parting its gates just for me.
Now I can say the words that have been bubbling in my chest since the first time I laid eyes on her.
“You are by far the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met in my life, and falling in love with you has been the most glorious thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Thrust.
“I love you with all my heart, Stella.”
Thrust.
“Being apart from you has been hell, but I would live through that misery ten times over if it meant I could have you in my arms again.”
Thrust.
“I swear to you, from this day on, I will never let you go.”
Thrust.
“You are mine, my soul. You are my reason for living. The joy to my days. You are my salvation. And I love you…love you…love you until the end of my days.”
Stella pants out, her pussy clenching around my cock in a way that blinds me.
“Kill,” she pleads on a loud wail. “Now in English, please.”
And that’s when I realize I’ve just poured my soul out to my woman in a language she can’t understand.
But that’s all right.
