Page 52 of Maddening Fixation

No one dared move.

The only sound left inside the grand dining hall was the slow dripping of Sergei’s blood... and the suffocating dread of a family realizing their past was finally catching up with them.

I turned away from the table and walked toward the only person in that cursed mansion whose presence didn’t fill me with hatred.

Yarina.

Every measured step felt strangely lighter than the last.

The murderous rage still burned inside me, but the closer I came to her, the more another part of me—the part I’d buried beneath ten years of prison walls and endless violence—began to surface.

She slowly lifted her head and our eyes met.

Everything else disappeared.

Her beautiful dark eyes shimmered with tears.

Her gaze fell briefly to my hand.

Then back to my face.

Without the slightest hesitation...

She reached for me.

The instant our fingers touched, a rush of warmth spread through my chest.

Her hand was still small against mine.

Still impossibly familiar.

She tightened her grip as though afraid I might disappear if she let go.

Then every ounce of strength she’d been holding together simply gave way.

“Romeo...”

Her voice broke.

She stepped forward and threw herself into my arms.

A sob tore from her chest.

Then another.

Within seconds, she was crying so hard her entire body shook against mine.

I caught her instinctively.

One arm wrapped securely around her waist.

The other cradled the back of her head, shielding her against my shoulder.

I held her firmly, refusing to let the world touch her.

The scent of her hair filled my senses.

Soft perfume. Rain. Salt from her tears.