waiting for me in Chicago. You can’t follow me there.”
His serious face briefly showed a sadness that killed me, but it disappeared quickly. “I cannot.”
I nodded. Viktor would never leave his life in the mountains. He liked being here, alone, tucked away in a world removed from the one I lived in.
“Well, I can’t stay here,” I stated quietly, looking down. Even though the thought had crossed my mind at least once or twice. But living here with Viktor wasn’t realistic. It was a fairy tale world. What would I do for work? I couldn’t just sit in the cabin all day and wait for Viktor to hunt some kind of animal for us to eat. And what about my mom? I was going to Chicago to live the life she’d never had a chance to live. Disappearing into the forest, never to return again, wasn’t going to work.
It was adorable of Viktor to vow to protect me. Heart-warming. And he was so damn sincere, it tugged at me in a way I’d never felt before. I was in trouble. Not only was I in absolute lust with this guy, but I was starting to fall for him. And I couldn’t let myself do that or I wouldn’t be able to leave. I needed to leave soon. The sooner the better.
But saying goodbye was going to be difficult as hell. And I couldn’t say it was something I wanted to have to do at all.
Viktor
The weather had been on my side since the mudslide where I’d found Angela. She hadn’t been able to leave; she’d been forced to stay with me, and that suited me just fine. I liked having someone to welcome me back after I was out in the wind and weather.
I liked looking after her, too.
But the weather wasn’t on my side anymore. The rain had stopped, the clouds had disappeared, and the sun had crept out. The world was beautiful, bathed in its golden light.
But with the sun out and the rain gone, it also meant nothing was keeping Angela here with me anymore. She was set on leaving. And even though I fucking hated the idea, there was reason for her to go. A new life, somewhere else.
A life that didn’t include me.
Fuck. Why did that piss me off so much?
It wasn’t just about her leaving, either. It would suck balls not having her around me anymore, but it was dangerous. Maksim was here. Or his men were, representing him. And they were hunting me.
If they found out about her, they were going to kill her to make me suffer. Likely in front of me, to teach me a lesson. Maksim was a mean motherfucker, with no mercy and no compassion. The son of a bitch would do whatever he could to hit me where it hurt. Physically, I could take whatever he dished out. I wasn’t even scared of fucking dying, if it came to it. But if he went after Angela.... Now that she was in my life, everything had become a hell of a lot more complicated. I loved having her around, but she was a liability. If Maksim put his hands on her… I saw red at just the thought, my hands balling into fists. I wanted to break Maksim’s face, just thinking about it. If he laid a finger on her, he was going to know the very damn definition of pain.
“Viktor?” Angela asked, coming from the room. She’d taken a shower, and I’d come to the living room to build a fire. But the logs lay in the basket, untended, and I stood at the window that overlooked the valley, my thoughts snapped back to the present by her voice.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
I nodded, taking in the sight of her. She’d bought two outfits in town that she alternated, and she looked fucking good in both of them. Hell, she looked good in just my robe. She would look good wearing nothing but a black bag.
She was so fucking delicious, I wanted to eat her up. But her eyes were concerned.
“Everything is fine. I was just looking at the weather.”
She came to stand next to me, and I caught the smell of my shampoo in her hair. Instant hard on. Fuck me, I wanted her so badly. I couldn’t help myself. Having her here, so close to me, having her a part of my life like this, was a hell of a turn on.
“It looks good,” she said.
I