Page 165 of Wicked Savage

A knowing chuckle follows. “Ah, you thought that if you speak her language, say something nice, something that makes you seem sincere, she’ll believe you, huh?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, I’m nothing if not a romantic at heart.”

Right. The man who prefers to feed body parts to his pigs isdefinitelya romantic.

“I will teach you everything you need to know,” he continues.

“I found some stuff online. Thought you could help me figure out if the translation’s right.”

“No, no. Don’t waste your time with that nonsense. I’ll teach you proper Russian.”

“Alright,” I mutter, feeling like I just inhaled glass. “Thanks.”

Fuck, that was hard to say. But I’m willing to do anything, even swallow my pride.

“Anything you think I could do to win her over?”

“Did Dinara ever tell you about her mother?”

“A little.”

“She was a good woman. Kind, gentle, loved her kids. She used to make this cake Dinara adores. If you bake it for her, you’ll have her heart. I’ll send you the recipe.”

Baking isn’t exactly my forte, but I’ll try anything. “Alright.”

“I’ve sent it to you. You know, I always said we’d be friends one day.”

“Yeah, don’t push it, Marinov.”

He chuckles as I glance at my phone, relieved to find a text with a recipe attached—thankfully in English.

“After you share a meal and some cake, look into her eyes and say this: ‘Moy teli mir v tvoikh glazakh.’” The words roll off his tongue smoothly, making them sound more poetic than I ever could.

“What’s that mean?”

“My whole world is in your eyes.”

Damn, that’s good.

“Thanks for the tip. Hopefully it works.”

“Listen,” he continues. “I’ve always known you two would end up together, even when I wanted to kill you after she got into that accident.”

Cold dread hits me. “What accident?”

He pauses. “You didn’t know?”

“No. What fucking accident?” Rage fills my veins.

“The day after you left. She was driving to Natalia’s, crying on the phone, and it was raining. A car hit her. Came out of nowhere. To this day, I can’t find the bastard who did it. It’s my biggest regret. But thankfully, we didn’t lose her.”

The words land like a heavy blow to my chest.

A fucking accident?

My hands tighten on the steering wheel, my pulse pounding in my ears.

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