had taken me. I had never had sex like that; nothing in my life bore any sort of resemblance. Like two animals, lost in the haze of lust, and unable to stay away from each other until they tore each other apart.
I wanted to do it again.
He rubbed a hand down my back and dropped a kiss to the top of my head. “If you’re cold, lyubimaya, we can go inside.”
I didn’t want to move. I wanted to stay in Konstantin’s arms listening to the thrum of his heartbeat until the forest’s roots grew over us, forever solidifying our embrace.
“I’m not cold,” I murmured against his chest.
His arms tightened around me. “If you say so.”
Silence fell, interrupted only by the noises of the forest. The steady rise and falls of our chests synced as we both calmed in the aftermath of our wild sex.
Konstantin was the first to break it. “Another meeting has been called amongst the bosses of New York,” he said. “Would you care to join me?”
“I’m not a boss.”
“No, you’re not. But you would be welcomed as my guest.”
I lifted my head, catching his gaze. “What sort of boss brings a guest to a mobster meeting?”
He smiled. “You were more than happy to join me when I spoke to the Hell’s Henchmen motorcycle club. Are you no longer happy being my guest?”
“Shouldn’t I be?”
“Don’t be coy.” his lips tugged. “But if you insist, I could introduce you as something else other than my guest.”
“Thaddeo’s widow?” I mocked.
Konstantin’s entire expression hardened. “No.”
I tilted my head to the side at his intensity. “Relax, Kon. I am happy being introduced as your guest.”
“No, no. I think another title deserved.” His light-brown eyes searched my expression.
A certain seriousness had settled over this conversation. Both an invitation and offer.
I pressed my lips together. “Konstantin…”
“I will introduce you however you wish to be introduced,” he said. “Even if I have other things, I wish to call you.”
The strange sensation of tears forming welled behind my eyes. “Konstantin…I can’t go to that meeting. You can’t introduce me as your mistress or girlfriend or guest.”
“You require a better title?” His eyebrows rose.
“No,” I said firmly. “I don’t want any title.”
Konstantin’s features flickered. I could tell that hadn’t been what he had wanted me to say. “And why is that, lyubimaya?” he asked softly.
The truth rested on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I could feel the threat of losing what I had hovering over my head. I could lose Konstantin, his arms and care and respect. But I could also lose Danika. Roman and Roksana. Artyom. Dmitri and Anton.
But what was the alternative? Keep silent forever? Would I sit beside her at breakfast, pass her the butter, all while knowing her secret?
I squeezed my eyes tightly, my thoughts growing louder and louder.
“Elena.” Konstantin’s hand cupped the back of my head, his thumb tracing my cheek. “What is the matter?”
I pushed out the words, “I need to tell you something.”
“Open your eyes and tell me.”
I forced myself to peel them open. The concerned look in his eyes almost made me bury my head in the dirt. But I was not one to cower when the moment was right.
There was no other alternative, no more waiting and watching.
It was time to tell the truth.
“Tatiana was never really sick.”
Konstantin paused, brows furrowing. “What do you mean?”
As soon as the accusation was out, the evidence followed easier. “She was poisoning herself. Her symptoms matched with someone overdosing on their prescribed medications.” I swallowed. “The first tonic I gave her was meant to subdue her illness, giving me enough time to actually figure out what was wrong. But when she miraculously recovered…I—I became suspicious.”
“That is enough, Elena,” he warned. “This petty behavior is not who you are—nor does it have any place in this family.”
I shook my head and kept talking, “I gave her a placebo. A fake. Nothing more than water and starch. But she kept getting better. She was lying, Konstantin. Her entire illness—there was nothing wrong with her. I don’t know if it’s Munchausen’s or if something else—”
Konstantin sat up, causing me to scramble to my knees as well. Fury gripped his expression. “Your first tonic could’ve worked, even when you did not mean it to,” he said. “That does not make Tatiana a liar.”
“It doesn’t work like that, Konstantin. Medicine doesn’t miraculously do things it isn’t supposed to. That’s like saying taking ibuprofen accidentally cured cancer. It doesn’t happen!”
He