“That’s true,” she says with a tiny smile. “Are you okay?” she asks the same question back to me.
“Yeah,” I tell her with a sad nod. I don’t even know what Darby went through when she was with Cillian, so I’m not going to start complaining about trivial stuff when it probably pales in comparison. I can still see the bruises on her face from the man who roughed her up in the warehouse. Who knows what other wounds she has that aren’t visible. I’m sure we’ll talk about all of this eventually when the time is right. But for right now, I’m just so happy she’s finally home and appears to be okay, on the outside at least.
“They brought your purse and phone from the wedding venue. I put everything in your room,” I tell her. We had left the venue so fast, leaving all of our belongings behind.What a stupid mistake that was.
Darby seems relieved by that. “One less thing to worry about,” she mutters with a heavy sigh.
“Darby,” I start. “When you’re ready to talk about what happened, I’m here,” I assure her.
“I think I just need time to process everything that happened,” she admits.
“Totally understandable,” I assure her.
“But right now I think I just want to go sleep in my own bed for a while.”
“Sure,” I respond. “If you need anything, just let me know.”
“Thanks, Savina.” She walks away but then turns to look at me one last time. “I’m glad we’re both home,” she murmurs before stepping into her room and closing the door with a softclick.
“Me too,” I whisper with tears in my eyes. Wrapping my arms around my waist, I feel like I’m being torn in two. I’m happy that my friend is safe and sound, but I’m overwhelmed and upset over all the other shit that’s happening in my life. I feel like I’m literally going to go crazy with worry about Dimitri and this damn wedding.
Looking around the apartment and realizing there’s nothing leftto clean, because you could literally eat off of every surface, I decide that maybe a nap is just what I need too. Retreating into my room, I throw myself down on my bed in dramatic fashion. I climb under the mountain of blankets and breathe a heavy sigh into my soft pillows.
Sleep doesn’t come easy, and I toss and turn for what feels like hours. But once I slip into the dark lull, it feels like I might never resurface again. And honestly, I don’t know if I want to.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
Dimitri
“GOTO THIS address and collect the money,” my father demands gruffly.
I snatch the piece of folded-up paper out of his grasp and somehow manage to keep my mouth shut as I walk out of his office and to my car waiting outside in the driveway. My father’s been trying to keep me busy with menial tasks, thinking it will somehow cure my infatuation with Savina. But there is no cure.I’m fucking obsessed with her.I’ve been obsessed with Savina for as long as I can remember. Hell, I can’t evenbreathewithout thinking about her. It’s like the two go hand in hand.
When we arrived back home days ago, the first thing my father did was take my cell phone. He blocked Savina’s number, and then I watched in muted horror as he crushed my phone under the weight of his steel-toed boot. It almost felt like he had destroyed a part of my soul, because my lifeline to Savina was gone in that instant.
In the first twenty-four hours, I thought I would go mad just from the thought of not being able to track her every move and watch her on the cameras I installed in her apartment. It felt like I was going through withdrawal and barely able to function.
I tried going to Savina’s apartment that first night. I needed to make sure for myself that she was okay. But my father had wisely requested extra security be posted outside the perimeter of her building. The guards didn’t let me get within fifteen feet of the damn door, having been instructed to keep me away using whatever measures they deem necessary.
My father thought of everything to keep us apart, and I hate him for it.
I’ve thought about killing the guards at Savina’s apartment probably an unhealthy amount of times, but having an all-out war with my father right now doesn’t seem like the best way to get back in his good graces. My thought process has been that maybe he’ll change his mind right before the wedding if I keep acting like his obedient minion and doing everything he wants. Honestly, it’s my only hope. A last-ditch effort at changing our fate. And lord knows my brother isn’t helping his own cause. If anything, he’s making it easier for me. Pavel has been MIA more than he’s been present, and I know my father is getting fed up.
And so, even if it feels like I’m dying inside, I keep my distance from Savina. I don’t try to call her. I don’t go to her apartment. I simply…stop existing in her world.
It’s only temporary.At least that’s what I try to remind myself even though it’s killing me slowly; the misery and longing slowly consuming me from the inside out until I’ll eventually feel like an empty shell of my former self.
Pulling myself out of my inner gloomy musings, I drive to the address my father gave me and collect a wad full of cash from the man who runs the business, and then I get back in my car. My hands grab the steering wheel in a white-knuckle grip. And before I can second-guess my actions, I’m driving towards Savina’s apartment.
I park on the street and stare up at the windows, hoping to just catch a glimpse of her. What I don’t expect to see is a car dropping off Darby Montague at the front door.She’s back.I don’t know how she managed to escape Cillian Kane’s clutches; but if anyone could do it, it would be her. I’d been trying to locate Darby for over a week to no avail. No leads. No nothing. The Wolf had been willing to help me locate Savina, but his favor stopped there. With only my limited resources, I wasn’t able to find Darby; but now it looks like I didn’t even have to.
Relief floods my veins, knowing that Savina won’t be alone in this now. Her friend is with her, and that’s one less thing to worry about.
I glance at the men stationed outside of the apartment building. They give Darby a hard time, but eventually let her in the building once the usual doorman waves her in. I wonder what they would do if I tried to go in again. Probably shoot me on the spot, as per my father’s orders.
Groaning, I swipe a hand down my face. They won’t let me get a foot inside that fucking building without blood being spilled. I know that for a fact. And me being wounded or dead won’t make any of this easier on Savina or myself. That and that alone is the only thing that makes me start the car engine and drive off.
I can’t get to Savina today, but I’m not going to give up. It isn’t over until she says, “I do.” And maybe not even then.
