Nikolai.
*missed call from Aleksandr*
Nikolai.
*missed call from Aleksandr*
*missed call from Aleksandr*
*missed call from Aleksandr*
Nikolai
:)
Nikolai wasn’t insidemy door before my hand was wrapped around his throat, shoving him against the wall. The little bitch had the nerve to look amused as I growled, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't strangle you where you stand."
"Because the world would miss my dashing good looks and striking wit?"
I narrowed my eyes and tightened my grip. "Strike one."
How had someone not killed him before? I’d been around him for almost thirty years, and I was ready to bury him six feet under so he’d finally shut up.
"Because Aunt Maria would be very upset if you killed her darling nephew?"
"She can cry on my shoulder at the funeral."
Niko's eyes widened when he realized I was serious—something he should have considered earlier. It had been almostthree weeks since I met Eva, and I had gone past being impatient and straight to feral.
Where the fuck was she? I knew I didn't have much information about her, but with every Drakov man scouring camera footage, returning to the park where we met, skulking about city records, it shouldn't have been possible for her to hide from me. And yet she remained out of reach.
It drove me off the cliff toward madness.
Every night, I replayed our kiss over and over in my mind, wondering why I was so obsessed with a girl I barely knew.
Her light pulled at my darkness, igniting a hunger I hadn’t felt for years. I needed to consume her—not just her body, but her mind, her very essence—until the thought of leaving me became impossible. She would belong entirely to me.
Logic screamed that a weakness like her should be snuffed out. But desire—possessive, raw, unforgiving desire—roared louder. I would burn the city, crush anyone who stood in my way, and drag her into my world whether she wanted it or not.
The captive men currently tied up in my warehouse, their blood still crusted under my nails, were the only things keeping me from actually doing it. They did not fully satisfy the beast, but they pacified it. For now.
Was she a ghost? A figment of my tired imagination?
No. I wasn't sure what she was, or what kept her hidden from me. But it didn't matter. Eva was mine. Every thought, every breath she took, every secret she clung to. All of it belonged to me. Whether she realized it or not, she would not escape me again. I would see to that.
"Fine, fine, fine," Nikolai gasped, face beginning to turn a sickly gray-blue. "But I haven't told anyone where your girl is, so if you kill me, you'll never know."
My scowl must have been a terrifying sight to Nikolai, who stepped back as soon as I let go of him, putting several feet of distance between us in case I got the urge to kill him again.
"You have five minutes to convince me you know where she is," I growled, running my hands through my hair. The dark brown strands had been standing straight up since I woke up the morning after meeting Eva, expecting to get a call that they'd found her, only to hear radio silence for days.
Nikolai fixed his rumpled clothes with much exaggeration. "Hello to you, too, cousin. I see you've been working on your hospitality."
"Where is she?"
"God, you used to at least pretend to be normal. Now it's 'Niko, find her', 'Niko, where is she?', 'Niko, I'll kill you.' You know, you could at least take me to dinner before you threaten me.”
I watched Niko’s pulse jump as I turned to face him. And considering what he saw—what I saw every day in the mirror—I couldn’t blame him. My eyes were bloodshot and red, the bags beneath them dark as bruises. My jaw was locked so tight it ached, and my usually put-together ensemble was covered in blood and probably a little urine from one of the captives.
