Empire of Sin (Empire #2)(93)

“Sounds like a fucking hindrance.”

“It’s not. Damien…please…I want to be with the man I love.”

“Fine.”

I pause, my lips parting. “R-really?”

“I told you, Nastyusha, you have time to ruin this marriage before it happens.”

“But if you tell Papa you don’t want to marry me…”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not going to get on the Pakhan’s bad side for this. It’s your mess. Clean it up yourself.”

“Do you want to marry me?”

“Not particularly. I keep saying that I’m not husband material, but everyone refuses to believe me, so if I have to go through with this, it’ll be with the Pakhan’s blessings. And also…”

He trails off, his gaze getting lost, and for a second, a fraction even, I see a spark in his usually dead eyes. It’s a fire so hot that it nearly burns me, and it’s not even directed at me.

I follow his field of vision and catch a glimpse of a petite Asian girl who’s probably my age or younger.

She’s wearing a simple black dress and heels that match her hair and eyes and contrast against her pale skin. Two Asian men in suits stand on either side of her as she carries a plate of pastries.

The moment her gaze meets Damien’s, she freezes, as if the fire in his eyes could burn her from this distance.

Then she places the plate on the table, turns around, and leaves with a feather-like grace. The men follow after her, clicking their earpieces.

Are they from the Chinese triads? Or maybe the Yakuza?

I don’t get a chance to think about it further, because Damien pushes his glass of vodka into my free hand. The fire that ignited in his eyes a moment ago is now pitch-black and seems darker than I’ve ever seen.

Even more than when he kills people.

“Hold this for me,” he says in a calm yet charged tone, then he strides in the direction where the Asian girl just disappeared to.

Oh, well.

Is it wrong to hope that she’s Abe’s daughter and he changed his mind? I feel bad for the girl, but I also can’t marry Damien.

I feel like I might die.

Opting to get some air, I abandon the two glasses of vodka on the nearest table and go out to the balcony.

I let the cold night air wash over me. Goosebumps pop up on my bare arms and I welcome the shiver.

I tried to avoid getting dolled up today, but all I have are cocktail dresses and beautiful flowery ones, so that wasn’t really possible. I opted for a knee-length one that matches the eyes I’ve been continuously dreaming about.

Blowing out a puff of air, I retrieve my phone from my dress pocket. It’s a new one Papa got for me, where only his, Rai’s, Vladimir’s, and Damien’s numbers are saved.

It doesn’t matter, though, because I memorized not only his number but also two others I probably shouldn’t have.

I type one of them. No clue if it’s the stress of the inevitable or the longing I’ve felt for the week and a half I haven’t seen Knox. Not directly, at least, because I keep stalking him all over the media.

But I don’t think about it as I hit Call. My heart thumps loudly in my ears as I listen to it ring. Is it too late to hang up and pretend this call never happened?

As I’m about to do that, the distinctive sound of someone picking up greets me, followed by a serious female, “Hello?”

“Hi. It’s me, Teal. Jane.”

There’s a long silence at the other end of the line, so long that my breathing thickens. I expected this reaction, but ever since Papa laid out her and Knox’s past in front of me, I couldn’t help feeling the need to talk to her.

Maybe I sensed this all along, which is why I memorized her and Elsa’s phone numbers. We exchanged them that one time we met, and Elsa might have forced Teal to do it. Before I changed phone numbers, Elsa used to send me good mornings and hellos and we chatted sometimes, but this is my first contact with Teal.

“This isn’t your number,” she says finally.

“I changed it.”

“Okay.”

I gulp again. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed about Teal, it’s her no-nonsense personality, so she’d expect me to get to the point soon.

“Listen, Teal…I…I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

“Everything.”

“He told you?” There’s a tiny softness in her voice.

“Not exactly…”

“I knew he would.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. He looks at you differently. Almost like the way Ronan looks at me, and let’s just say I never expected to see that expression on my aimless brother’s face.”

“Teal…”

“So, what now? You feel sorry for us?”

“No. Of course…I…understand, or I hope I do. My childhood wasn’t a colorful one either since I was raised by an abusive father.” I pause, then blurt, “That doesn’t mean that I’m downplaying what you went through. I know it’s much more serious, and you guys are way more stronger than me. I called my biological father for help, but you found it on your own, and I guess what I’m trying to say is that I respect that. So much.”