My mouth was open in a perfect O of shock. My face was pale even in the dim balcony light. I looked like I was watching my life end in real-time.
Maybe I was.
“Barbara.” Kirill’s voice cut through the ringing in my ears. “The video. What video?”
I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t form words. My blood had run cold, ice spreading through my veins until I felt frozen from the inside out.
It was too late. Sebastian had said too much. Had revealed enough that Kirill would figure it out even if I didn’t explain. Would put the pieces together and see me for what I really was, damaged, broken, a girl who’d made a mistake so terrible it had defined the rest of her life.
“Barbara, look at me.” Kirill’s hands were on my shoulders now, both of them, turning me to face him. “What video is he talking about?”
I blinked, trying to focus on his face instead of the panic spiraling through my chest. Ashamed. I felt so ashamed. Terrified of what he’d think, what he’d do, whether he’d look at me differently once he knew.
But I was also tired. So very tired of carrying this burden alone. Of letting this unintended sin weigh me down year after year. Of pretending it wasn’t slowly destroying me from the inside out.
“When I was sixteen….” The words stuck in my throat. I tried again. “There was a party. A big one. My father was hosting clients, and there were so many people, and I….” I stopped, unable to continue.
“Take your time.” Kirill’s voice was gentle, patient, even though I could see the tension in every line of his body.
“There was a guy there.” I forced myself to keep going. “Charming. Older. He paid attention to me in a way no one else did. Made me feel….” I laughed bitterly. “Made me feel wanted. Special. Like I mattered.”
Kirill’s jaw clenched, but he stayed quiet.
“We talked all night. Drank champagne that I shouldn’t have been drinking. And then he kissed me.” The memory made me want to vomit. “I kissed him back. I wanted it. Wanted to feel grown-up and desired and—”
“Barbara—”
“It was Sebastian.” I forced the words out in a rush, needing to say them before I lost my nerve. “The guy I kissed. It was Sebastian. My stepbrother. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know who he was. My father had cut ties with him years before, and I’d never met him, never even seen a photo. He introduced himself as some fake name, and I believed him, and I….”
My voice cracked, and suddenly I was crying. Hot, shameful tears that I’d been holding back for five years.
“He recorded it,” I continued through the sobs. “The kiss. And after—after, he told me who he really was. Showed me the video. Told me that if I ever told anyone, he’d release it. Everyone would think I was a creep who kissed her stepbrother. That I’d initiated it. That I was….”
I couldn’t finish. Couldn’t say the words he’d used. Slut. Whore. All the names he’d called me over the years.
Kirill didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull away or look at me with disgust. Instead, he wrapped me in his strong arms, pulling me against his chest so tightly I could barely breathe. One hand cradled the back of my head, holding me like I was something precious instead of broken.
“I’m sorry,” I gasped against his suit jacket. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you. Should’ve explained before you proposed, before we….”
“Stop apologizing.” His voice was rough with barely controlled emotion. “You were sixteen. A child. He manipulated you. Recorded you without consent. Used it to terrorize you for years. None of that is your fault.”
“But I kissed him back, “
“You didn’t know who he was.” Kirill pulled back just enough to look at my face, his hands framing my cheeks, forcing me to meet his eyes. “You were a teenager at a party, and an adult man took advantage of your inexperience. Then he used that moment, that one moment, to control you for five years. Do you understand me, Barbara? This is not your sin. It’s his.”
“The Bratva won’t see it that way.” My voice came out small, defeated. “If that video gets out, if people see it, they’ll think I’m disgusting. They’ll think you’re marrying someone who—”
“I don’t give a fuck what the Bratva thinks.” The words were fierce, absolute. “I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. You’re mine, Barbara. You and that baby. And no video, no blackmail, no ghost from my past is going to change that.”
“He conned you.” The realization was still sinking in. “He stole from you. From the Bratva. And now he’s been terrorizing me. It’s all connected.”
“I know.” Kirill’s expression went dark, dangerous. “And that’s why he’s going to die.”
“Kirill….”
“I swear to you.” His voice was low, deadly serious. “I will destroy him. Not just kill him, though that’s definitely happening. I’m going to dismantle everything he’s built. Every connection, every safe house, every piece of leverage he thinks he has. I’m going to erase him so completely that even his memory won’t survive.”
“But Vladimir’s promise….”
