Page 96 of Fierce Pursuit

Why hadn’t I used that information against him?

Even if it was just to wound him, to drive a blade between his ribs with nothing more than words, I had never done it. Never even considered it.

I’d like to say it was because I wasn’t that kind of person, but that would be a lie. We all had it in us, the ability to be cruel when backed into a corner. To use whatever weapons we had at our disposal.

If it had meant the difference between freedom and captivity, I should have done it.

So why hadn’t I?

For all her faults—and there were many—she was my sister. And I had loved her unconditionally. That was the thing about unconditional love. It didn’t vanish when someone died. It didn’t dissolve just because you disapproved of their choices.

And yet, here I was, having done the very thing I had sworn I never would.

I had slept with her husband. Twice.

A nauseating wave of guilt coiled through me, twisting my insides into knots as I stared down at the untouched plates of food. The decadent feast that, only moments ago, had seemed like a luxury now made me sick.

“What just happened?” Kostya’s voice was low, wary.

I forced a smile, brittle and hollow. “Nothing.”

He didn’t believe me.

“Marina,” he said, his tone edged with warning.

I shivered. I should have been afraid of that voice. Maybe I was. But more than fear, it was something else entirely, something darker. The way he said my name had always held weight, as if he owned it.

“I just miss my sister,” I whispered.

I watched understanding dawn in his expression, darkening his eyes like a storm rolling in. He knew. He felt it. The guilt that had me in a chokehold, turning every moment of pleasure into a crime.

“Marina.” This time my name was softer, almost coaxing.

What kind of woman did this? Who betrayed the only person who ever truly loved her? The details of their marriage didn’t matter. She had been his wife. And I had taken him anyway.

I swallowed against the tightness in my throat. “It’s okay. I know that even if you didn’t love Veronika, you still respected her.”

Kostya’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t want you to think less of her.”

He meant that. I could see it in his eyes. And yet, it didn’t make any of this feel less wretched.

“If it makes a difference, I told her it was a bad idea. I asked her to stop.”

“How long did you know?”

I hesitated. “Since the beginning.”

The muscles in his jaw flexed, his silence stretching between us.

I couldn’t tell him everything. That she had betrayed him from the moment they said their vows. That she had sought out his rival deliberately.

That I was pretty sure Solovyov wasn’t the only man she’d been sleeping with.

There had been another man toward the end.

Someone so dangerous that she wouldn’t even tell me his name. Only some stupid Batman villain nickname.

He would take it personally. What man wouldn’t?

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