Page 3 of Echoes of Sin

It was so romantic I could hardly stand it. “I’ll drink to that.”

We continued chatting about nothing in particular, and eventually, the house grew quieter and quieter until it was just Ilya and me. I hadn’t even noticed how many hours had passed because time flew when I was with him.

I looked around the nearly empty house in a panic, I didn’t drive, and my friend had driven me here, how was I going to get home? “Where’s Lara?”

“Gone to give Chad a ride home. I told her I would make sure you got home safely.”

I frowned. “But you’ve been drinking, and I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

He grinned. “You really are sweet, Brooke. And beautiful. And sexy.”

I shook my head because I wanted to believe his words too badly to actually believe them. “Ilya, please.”

“It is the truth. It is also the truth that my driver hasn’t been drinking and he will take you home when you are ready. Are you ready?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m not.”

“Perfect, because I’m not ready to say good night to you, Brooke.”

With that, his lips softly touched mine and I felt his strong arms around me. As I gave in to the sensations coursing through my body, I realized that tonight was going to be a night for other firsts.

***

“I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation, Brooke,” Lara said, but I was not in the mood for logic.

A bitter laugh escaped as we sat in her bedroom the weekend after winter break ended. “Yeah, the explanation is that he got what he wanted, my V-card, and now he’s ghosted me.” We’d made love in his bed that night of the party and it was the most magical night of my life. He’d kissed me on the porch of his parents’ mansion, with promises of what the new year would bring for us, once he returned from Russia.

“You don’t know that. Maybe something happened and he couldn’t leave Moscow.”

“Something like what, war? A ban on email?” I hadn’t heard from Ilya since he kissed me goodbye. I’d always hoped my first time would be wonderful, and it was. Up until the point he vanished without a trace. Tears formed in my eyes, I was such an idiot. “I’m so stupid. I knew it was a trick and I fell right into the trap.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” she insisted. “If he just wanted to get laid, there are plenty of girls he could’ve had.” She shook her head. “Don’t write him off just yet, Brooke.”

“I don’t need to since he’s already written me off. I went by his parents’ house yesterday and you know what I found?”

Her eyes rounded in shock. “You went there?”

“I did. The place was buzzing with activity. Movers and a big For Sale sign out in the yard.” I shook my head in disbelief as more tears fell. “He knew he wasn’t coming back. That promise to talk about Pride and Prejudice when he returned after the holidays was bullshit. He put on a good show.” I ignored the way my heart shattered for at least the thousandth time.

“It doesn’t make sense, Brooke. Have you tried to contacting him?”

“Of course, but his cell phone number wouldn’t work. And it’s not like I can try looking for him in the Moscow telephone directory—that’s assuming I could even read Cyrillic—because his last name is the Russian equivalent of Smith.” That was a lie. I actually had tried looking, but even with an online translator and hours of scrolling it was hopeless, but Lara didn’t need to know how pathetic I was.

“I’m sorry, Brooke. I never should have encouraged you to go to that party.”

“Of course you should have. My only regret is that I gave him more than my body. It’s the heartache that’s unbearable. The night was a total disaster for me. But at least you and Chad have been inseparable ever since.” And that was the one small glimmer of happiness that came from that night.

Lara tilted her head to the side in a crushing look of sympathy that made my heartache intensify. “Not worth it, if this is the cost to you.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. I want you to be happy.”

“And what about you? There’s no way in hell you think you deserve this.”

“No, I don’t. But I was too eager to believe his lies, and this is what I got.” Why would I ever have thought I was the type of girl who got the guy? One who was smart and handsome and charismatic? Guys like Ilya didn’t go for girls like me and I knew that, yet I believed the lie anyway. “This time next year, I’ll forget that Ilya Kuznetsov ever existed.”

Chapter One

Ilya

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