Page 93 of Betrayal and Vows

Just being near him awakens my soul. The last few hours have been brutal.

But I know this has to be the last time. My heart will never beat the same again, but this is necessary.

“Three days.”

The words fall out of my mouth as I walk straight into his arms.

“I know, baby,” he murmurs against my hair. “I know.

“He’s…” I can’t say the words. I can’t say that he’s going to kill Anton.

But I have to warn him.

“He’s going to kill you,” I blurt out. “After the wedding. He’s going to kill you.”

His hand cups the back of my head and he presses a kiss to my forehead. “I know.”

“You have to leave, Anton. Leave. Right now. Go.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You have to go,” I beg.

“I’m not leaving you. You are mine, Lena Rostova. When I leave, you leave.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and fight for the courage to make him go.

“He’ll kill you. Me. My family.”

His hands drop and he looks devastated.

“If I don’t survive this, know that you were the only real thing in my life.”

I’ve imagined him saying I love you. I never imagined this. Never imagined how final the truth can sound. I can feel the goodbye. All day it’s been a long goodbye.

I will not let him die for me.

I can’t.

I swallow the lump forming in my throat and answer with my own truth. “If I have to marry him… know that my heart dies with you.”

He exhales, like I just stabbed him. “No. I will not let you marry him. I will save you, mysolnyshko.There is no daylight without you. I will not live in this world without you. Do you hear me?”

“Anton—”

He grabs me, his mouth covering mine in a bruising kiss.

His kiss tastes like desperation and promises he can't keep. I kiss him back with everything I have left, pouring my soul into this moment because it might be all we get.

"Not here," he whispers against my lips, glancing around the chapel. "Not on cold stone."

He takes my hand and leads me to a small room behind the altar. There's an old wooden bench, worn smooth by centuries of use. Moonlight streams through a stained-glass window. He looks soft. And beautiful. The hard edges gone as he looks at me.

Anton shrugs out of his jacket and spreads it across the bench. When he looks at me again, his eyes are soft in a way I've never seen. Vulnerable. Like he's letting me see all the way to his soul.

"Come here,solnyshko."

I go to him. This time when he touches me, it's different. His hands shake as he traces my face. He showers my face with butterfly kisses.