Silently, Zaal lifted my hand and placed it on his shoulder, then my other in his hand, which he brought to the warmth of his chest. Zaal’s free hand wrapped around my waist and he pulled me flush against his hot skin.
Then we began to move.
Zaal led us slowly around the room and I pressed my cheek to his chest. I closed my eyes, letting the old song express to Zaal everything that I felt.
We had found our own peace in our brutal world. And I wouldn’t change it for anything. This was my heaven. Zaal was everything.
He owned me.
Possessed me.
Was soldered to me in every possible way.
As the song drew to its close, Zaal’s hand on my waist traveled north to rest under my chin. He guided my head up and he fixed his gaze on mine.
Green to brown.
“Talia,” he whispered. I nuzzled against his cheek. Zaal’s head leaned down and he said, “Potzeluy menya.” “Kiss me.” I smiled wide and a soft contented sigh left his parted lips. Lifting my chin, he crushed his mouth to mine on a low hum. His lips were soft. I felt his love, all of his love, in this one simple touch.
Breaking from my mouth, Zaal pressed his forehead to mine and whispered, “You are … for me.”
I smiled again. I whispered back with absolute conviction, and tears in my eyes, “I am … for you.”
They were our own words.
Straight from the heart.
Because I was his.
And he was mine.
A Kostava and a Tolstaia.
Heart to heart.
Scarred soul to scarred soul.
* * *
Unnamed Female
Manhattan, New York
The door to my apartment burst open. Footsteps pounded down the hallway. I jumped from my seat and faced the door, my heart thumping. Panic quickly consumed me.
Had they found me?
Did they know I was here?
Had they finally come for me?
I held my breath, just waiting, when Avto rounded the corner and ran into the room. I exhaled a long relieved breath at my old friend, then noticed his aged face was flushed, and he was shaking.
Frozen to the spot, fear seizing my limbs, I could feel the incredible heat from the open fire burning my back. Avto fought for breath and I kept waiting, waiting for him to speak.
“Avto?” I whispered in question, eventually drawing lost breath.
I watched him swallow hard and his dark eyes met mine. “He’s alive, miss. I’ve just discovered he’s alive.”
My eyes widened and my hands joined Avto’s in shaking. “Which one?” I asked, voice trembling.
Avto stepped forward, his old body moving slowly. My pulse pounded in my neck when he informed, “Zaal, miss. Zaal is alive.”
My knees went weak and I dropped to the floor at the news. Staring at Avto, with tears in my eyes, a single word slipped in a whisper from my lips.…
“Sykhaara.”
Playlist
The National — I Need My Girl
Lorde — Glory And Gore
Billie Marten — In For The Kill
Emile Haynie — Come Find Me
Of Monsters And Men — I Of The Storm
Lykke Li — Possibility
X Ambassadors — Renegades
Five Knives — Savages
Johnnyswim — You And I
Imagine Dragons — Warriors
Marina and The Diamonds — Forget
NEEDTOBREATHE — Multiplied
Emika — Wicked Game
WrongChilde — Love Is A Battlefield (feat. White Sea)
Sia — Chandelier (Piano Version)
Lia Ices — Love is Won
First Aid Kit — Long Time Ago
Dinah Shore — I’ll Walk Alone
Savage Garden — You Can Still Be free
RHODES — Breathe
To Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/user/authortilliecole/playlist/6ObTTCIweNU6wCguQkzzha
Follow Tillie at These Sites:
https://www.facebook.com/tilliecoleauthor
https://www.facebook.com/groups/tilliecolestreetteam
https://twitter.com/tillie_cole
Instagram: @authortilliecole
Or drop me an e-mail at: authortilliecole@gmail.com
Or check out my Web site: http://tilliecole.com
Acknowledgments
I can’t believe I’m writing these acknowledgements.
I feel like I am dreaming. I feel like I am in some kind of fairy tale—as dark as that fairy tale may be—that I never want to wake up from.
To Mam and Dad, thank you for all the support. How crazy is this moment? Love you both.
To my husband. You have been there from day one, and you’re still hanging in there with me. I love you to pieces. You are my inspiration, my rock, and my heart.
Sam, Marc, Taylor, Isaac, Archie, and Elias. Love you all.
To my fabulous beta readers, Thessa and Rachel. Your comments and advice were invaluable.
To Liz, my super agent. The best decision I ever made was pairing up with you. You believe in me. You champion me. I wouldn’t be here without you.
Eileen, my wonderful editor at St Martin’s Press, thank you so much, for believing in my dark and twisted Bratva world. Thank you for loving Kisa and Raze. Thank you for giving Zaal and Talia a chance to live. I CANNOT WAIT to see where this journey will lead.
Tracey-Lee, Thessa, and Kerri, a huge thank-you for running my street teams. And to all of my street-team members—LOVE YOU!!!
My FlameWhores on Instagram. You ladies brighten each and every day.
Jodi (The other Mrs. Tolstaia) Alycia, Celesha, and Natasha. Love you, ladies. Your support is everything to me.
Gitte and Jenny. You were the first to ever take a chance on me. I can’t thank you enough. Love you.
My IG girls. You can be summed up in three words: fun, amazing, fabulous.
And now my readers. We have been on one hell of a journey these past two years. But in you, I have the best cheerleading squad a person can ask for. Love you. Let’s keep trucking.
And finally, to Luka, my Russian boy, my RAZE. You tortured me to give your story life. I resisted, but you broke me down.
I’m forever glad that you did.
About the Author
Tillie Cole hails from a small town in the Northeast of England. She grew up on a farm with her English mother, Scottish father, and older sister, and a multitude of rescue animals. As soon as she could, Tillie left her rural roots for the bright lights of the big city.
After graduating from Newcastle University, Tillie followed her professional rugby player husband around the world for a decade, becoming a teacher in between and thoroughly enjoying teaching high school students social studies for seven years.
Tillie has now given up the nomadic rugby life, settling in her forever home where she is finally able to sit down, write (without the threat of her husband being transferred), throwing herself into fantasy worlds and the fabulous minds of her characters.
Tillie writes romantic comedy, contemporary romance, dark romance, young adult, and new adult novels and happily shares her love of alpha-male leading men (mostly with muscles and tattoos) and strong female characters with her readers.
When she is not writing, Tillie enjoys nothing more than strutting her sparkly stuff on a dance floor (preferably to Lady Gaga), watching films (preferably anything with Tom Hardy or Will Ferrell—for very different reasons!), listening to music, or spending time with friends and family.