Page 10 of Shadows of the Past
For a heartbeat, I sense chamomile in the air and my steps falter. This was Vera’s scent, and I know I’m imagining this, but her memory is fading with each passing day, so these moments where something triggers a visual of her make my stupid heart beat faster.
Five years gone, Maksim. This isn't her. THIS ISN'T VERA.
Yet something about this girl might destroy everything I've built.
If you knew what I’d done, what I’d allowed, you’d be disgusted, Julia.
I don’t hear what Ivan says, because I walk out the door and lean against the wall.
My forehead touches the cold wall, and I try to count my breaths.GET AWAY! GO FARTHER AWAY!
Standing by the door, I know I should move, but I’m stuck. My muscles are frozen. It’s because, deep down, I know if I don't turn back now the sparkle in her eyes will be gone next time.
Something inside me says that even though I could sleep with all those pleading eyes on me and do nothing about it, Julia’s gaze will haunt me.
And now I’ve done what I swore I’d never do again. I cared for someone and walked back into the room where I sealed her fate.
Julia stands with her eyes on the ground while Ivan analyzes her from a couch.
“Ah, changed your mind?” he asks, and there’s something in his tone.
Something that makes me weigh my words even more carefully.
“Aren't you the one who always tells me to diversify my portfolio?” My words are bitter on my lips, but I know that's what he wants to hear. He wants to know that I’ll use her. He wants to hear that I’ll degrade her. To him, that's what it means to be a man.
“I'm glad to see you're finally listening.” This time, I catch the pride in his voice. “She’s all yours, son,” he says and lights up one of those cigars that leave a heavy, earthy smell in the room.
The feeling of nausea returns when he calls meson, but commenting on it might mean someone else won’t live to see tomorrow.
Julia has a slight tremble in her body as I approach her. She’s wearing a simple white T-shirt and faded jeans. As I get closer, I smell something sweet, like honey.
She has some recent bruises on her face. Who knows where the hell she was picked up and dragged here from?
I lift her chin with a finger and suppress the shiver that wants to run through my whole body at this simple touch.
Who is this girl?And why don't I feel shivers of disgust where my finger meets her skin?
Her mouth opens slightly, and I see a breath get stuck in her lungs.
“Come with me.” That’s all I say, and I curse myself for everything she’ll have to endure.
Because although I see relief in her eyes, she has no idea that she became the main target of every monster in this house the moment I marked her as mine.
Chapter 6
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Julia
I find myself in a mansion that seems to belong to royalty, given the opulence and decor surrounding me. Are the frames actually gold?
Por Dios, Julia, do you really care about the frames?
I close my eyes for a moment and follow the man who took me from that room down an endless hallway.
For the past seven days since waking up in Martin’s bed, all I’ve felt is emptiness. A great, gaping void. I had blood on my thighs, and when I tried to move, every nerve ending in my body screamed. I was a virgin.
I was.
