Til Death Do Us Part (Kornilov Bratva Duet #2) - Nicole Fox Page 0,52

“Just hello.”

“In that case, goodbye.” She waves at me, her hand curled under her chin. I frown, confused, and then she grins and leans in for another kiss.

This feels perfect. Magical. Dreamlike.

Yet, there is a current of guilt sitting in my stomach as Molly strokes her hands down my chest. I need to tell her what her friend tried to do. She deserves to know.

We are both breathless when she pulls away. “We should say goodbye a lot more often if hellos are going to be that good.”

I grab her hand from my chest and kiss her knuckles. “What are you still doing up? I assumed you’d be asleep.”

She rests back on her pillow and points at her computer. “Just reminiscing.”

I twist over to see her screen, and my stomach drops.

It’s a picture of Molly and Hannah when they were younger. Just teenagers. Molly’s eyes are bright, her smile carefree and wide. She looks happy, her arm slung over a younger Hannah’s shoulders.

“It’s the only picture I have of the two of us together,” Molly says. “I had to search through, like, twenty old classmates’ Facebooks to find it, but there it is. Both of us before life kicked the crap out of us.”

She laughs, but then frowns. “Sorry, that sounds dark. It’s just …”

“Life kicked the crap out of you,” I finish for her. “You don’t have to apologize to me.”

She gives me a sad smile and sighs. “Hannah gets me, you know? I know the two of you are tense around each other, but she knew me before the shit hit the fan, and I like that we have so much in common. She understands my feelings on a lot of things. In a way no one else can.”

The knife in my stomach twists. “Not even me?”

“Not even you,” she says gently. Molly curls her fingers around my hand on her thigh. “You’ve been through a lot, too, but Hannah and I both had kids so young and spent time on the streets. We lived the same way for so long that we can understand each other.”

I nod and swallow.

So much has been taken from Molly in her lifetime. Do I really want to take this away, too? She has a friend. Someone she likes and relates to and trusts. Can I really strip that away?

“Viktor?” Molly’s voice is gentle. “Are you mad?”

Hannah was drunk. That much was obvious.

Even though her actions were reprehensible, there is every chance she’ll wake up and deeply regret them. Or, better yet, that she won’t remember the encounter at all. Should I really threaten their friendship over something that might not matter after a good night’s sleep and a few painkillers?

“Nothing.” I shake my head and kiss her. “It’s nothing.”

I kick off my shoes, slide out of my jeans, and crawl under the blankets with Molly. She closes her laptop and curls into me, too. As though it is normal. Natural. As though we’ve done this every night before this and we’ll do it every night after.

It feels good enough that I allow myself to forget what happened in the kitchen.

If it happens again, I’ll tell Molly. Without hesitation.

But for now, I’ll find solace in Molly.

A voice in the back of my head reminds me that I need to stay cold, detached. When I relax and let my guard down, bad things happen. But with Molly’s small body curled against mine, her breath warm on my chest, it’s impossible to feel anything other than delicious warmth.

15

Molly

“Wait, so you are holding a photo shoot today so you have family pictures in your house to impress the boss of an Irish Mafiosa?”

“Exactly,” I say, sighing and shaking my head. “It sounds crazy when you say it like that.”

“It is crazy,” Hannah says, taking a long sip of coffee. “I just don’t understand why it is important that you look like a picture-perfect family. Aren’t these people your friends?”

“I hope so,” I admit. “I really like Niamh, but it is also important for an alliance. We have to make sure they trust us.”

Hannah nods. “So, you’re going to lie to them?”

I stab my eggs and shove them in my mouth. “I guess so.”

“Sounds healthy.”

I don’t respond. Partly because I’ve shoved another bite of eggs into my mouth and partly because Hannah’s tone is annoying. I’m not sure whether she means to or not, but every comment is a subtle dig at my marriage. At my relationship. I’ve allowed her to live here with me and