Page 22 of Savage Pakhan

“I wouldn’t want you to. You have an entire empire to live for. I have nothing,” I say with no malice. It’s just the simple truth.

I have no job. No friends. No family, at least, not a family who cares. I have no skillsets. My one and only purpose in life was to be Ivan’s wife. That isn’t happening, so why be in the world at all?

Jumping into the river doesn’t sound so bad now.

But I won’t. I’ve worked too hard to get this far and I won’t let Ivan kill me here either. If I die, it’ll be on my own time, not in a wedding dress I hate.

He squats to become eye level with me and I’m able to see his age. There are fine lines around his eyes and when the sun hits his face just right, there’s the slightest amount of silver stubble on his cheeks. His silver hair is slicked back but one piece hangs wildly over his forehead.

“I don’t care about my empire more than I care about you. Don’t ever speak that way again.” His facial features harden, his dark eyebrows furrowing together. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes. I understand.” I blush, heat flooding my cheeks.

“Good. I don’t ever want to hear you speak that way again.” I gasp when his hand travels down my neck, flattening his palm against my chest. “How are you feeling? How’s your breathing?”

“It still hurts,” I say, ashamed.

He’s having to work so much harder because of me.

“That’s okay. That makes sense. I had to put all my weight into the compressions. You could be sore weeks.”

“I’m sorry.”

He grips my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Don’t ever apologize. I’d do it all over again, do you hear me? There isn’t one thing I would do differently. Saving you is all that matters. If that means I carry you for miles, that’s what it means. I’ll carry you into the very end.”

“But your shoulder…”

“Will be fine. I’m used to pain, Mia. Pain comes with my job. Embracing it and inflicting it. Come on. We have to keep going. We probably have another few hours of walking.”

I slide my arm across his shoulders, my fingers gliding over the strong, wide muscles of his back.

His arms slide under my legs again and he goes from a squat to stand, holding me close as if I was his bride and he was about to carry me over threshold.

I bet he would. Alek seems like the kind of man that respects a tradition like that.

Which has me wondering whatever happened to Mrs. Bykov. Ivan never, I mean never, spoke about his mother. There was never a woman around either. I don’t remember Alek being married and he hasn’t talked about her either.

I’m not sure how long we have been walking for. The sun is starting to set, and the question’s right there on the tip of my tongue.

“What happened to your wife?”

He stops in his tracks for a second. “My wife?” He sounds confused as he starts to charge forward again.

“Ivan’s mom. What happened to her? Is… is she still around? I never saw her come with you guys in the summer.”

He keeps his focus ahead, careful not to trip over any logs or rocks. “I’ve never been married. I never thought marriage would be in the cards for me considering my line of work.”

The silence in my response is the next question and Alek catches on, chuckling as he steps over another fallen tree.

“I wanted children, and I needed an heir. I hired a surrogate. I paid her very well. I still do. She will be paid until I die for bringing a life into this world that I wanted, even if my child is a fucking asshole. There was no love between her and I. It was strictly business.” He tilts his chin down, glancing at me. “Why?”

“I’ve always wondered.”

And it makes me happy knowing he didn’t love her when all I want is for him to love me.

6

ALEK