Possess Me by Michelle Heard
Chapter 20
Alek
Standing in the field where Everleigh was killed, I look for any sign that she was here.
It’s stupid. A year has passed. Of course, there won’t be anything.
Still, I stare at the ground.
I’ve been locked up in my bedroom until now, and this is the first chance I’ve gotten to come to the field.
“Alek,” Misha calls from where he’s leaning against the SUV. “We have to go, or we’ll miss our flight.”
The past twelve months of living without Everleigh have been brutal hell. My father avoided me, but the few times we interacted always ended in violence.
I’ll never forgive him. I’ll never forget.
And one day, when he least expects it, I’ll kill him the way he killed Everleigh.
“Alek,” Misha calls again.
We’ve been out here for over an hour. Misha’s been patient with me.
Honestly, only Misha and Tiana have tried to understand what I’m going through.
Once I got home, Mama fell into a deep depression. The loss of Vincent almost killed her.
She lost her son, and I lost my brother and the only woman I’ll ever love. I’ll never connect with another human the way I connected with Everleigh.
“I love you,” I whisper to the ground. “Forever and always. It will never be the end of us, moya malen'kaya lyubov'. My time on this godforsaken planet will end, and we’ll be together again.”
I close my eyes, and the image of Everleigh sitting on my lap fills my mind.
‘I love you too.’
Lifting my hand, I grip the fabric over my broken heart. “It’s torture living without you.”
Misha’s arm wraps around my shoulders, and he gives me a sideways brotherly hug. “Come, brother.”
If it weren’t for Misha, I probably would’ve ended my life. The past year he’s gone through hell with me, and out of respect for him, I face every brutal day.
Turning away from the last place I saw Everleigh, I walk to the SUV and climb into the passenger seat.
When Misha slides behind the steering wheel, he says, “I’m looking forward to our training at St. Monarch’s, and we’ll see more of Armani.”
Armani is an enforcer for the Italian mafia. We’ve worked with him in the past and built a friendship.
“I don’t want anyone at St. Monarch’s to know about my past or Everleigh,” I mutter.
“Okay.”
Honestly, I’m only going because that’s where Misha will be.
“Don’t baby me either,” I add.
“Okay.”
Mama tried to get me to take medication, but it drained me of my energy. Instead, Misha guards me, always there to calm me down when I lose my shit.
He’s become my voice of reason.
As we drive toward the airport, I close my eyes, letting the memories of Everleigh wash over me.
I spend more time in my fragmented mind than in reality because it’s the only place I can hear her voice and see her beautiful face.
‘If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?’ Everleigh whispers.
Surrounded by the darkness, we’re caught in our little bubble.
I don’t hesitate to answer, ‘LA.’
Straddled on my lap, she pulls a little back, and I feel her breath skim over my jaw. ‘Why?’
‘Well, it used to be LA. That’s where the head of the bratva and my hero live. But now it’s Ohio.’
‘Do you think we would’ve fallen in love if we met under normal circumstances?’
‘I’d always fall in love with you.’
Everleigh’s mouth finds mine, and time falls away.
Our souls connect, and we become one. Love doesn’t begin to describe what I feel for her.
Everleigh is my beginning and my end.
She’s my forever and always.
My soulmate.
