Josie blinked fast. “Maybe if we all just talked together, we could...”
“No,” he cut her off.
Josie stared at him, her brown eyes glittering. She swallowed, then whispered, “You can’t ask this of me.”
“I must.” He pulled her into his arms. His hands moved to her back, getting tangled in her lustrous, damp brown hair. He kissed her temple, her cheek, her lips. “Choose me, Josie,” he whispered against her skin. “Stay with me.”
She trembled in his arms, uncertain. Knowing he’d asked her the deepest sacrifice of her life, he persuaded her in the only way he could. He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her with his soul on his lips, holding nothing back. He kissed her with every bit of love and longing and passion in his heart, until even Kasimir was dizzy as the world seemed to spin around their embrace.
“Let me show you the world,” he whispered. “Every day can be more exciting than the last. Choose me.”
Her arms twisted around his shoulders as she sighed against his lips. “I can’t...”
He kissed her again. In the distance, he dimly heard noises outside the dacha—the call of the birds, the crack of wood in the bare forest.
With a sob, Josie pulled away. A single tear fell unheeded down her cheek. “I love you both.” She drew a deep breath like a shudder, then lifted her gaze and whispered, “But if I must choose, I choose you.”
Kasimir’s heart almost stopped in his chest.
Josie chose him.
It was a selfish thing he’d asked of her, he knew. Selfish? Unforgivable. And yet this amazing woman had chosen him. Over everything and everyone she’d ever loved. He got a lump in his throat. “Thank you, Josie,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll honor your sacrifice. For the rest of our lives....”
The outside door banged against the wall. Whirling around, Josie gasped, “Bree!”
As if in slow motion, Kasimir turned his head.
Vladimir and Bree stood in the open doorway.
“Josie.” The slender blond woman ran quickly towards her younger sister. “Are you all right?”
“Of course I’m all right,” Josie tried to reassure her. “You’re the one who’s been in trouble.” She patted her sister’s shoulders as if to be sure she was really there. “But are you okay?” she said anxiously. She scowled at Vladimir. “He didn’t—hurt you?”
“Vladimir?” Bree looked astonished. “No. Never.”
“What are you doing here?”
“We came to save you.”
“Save me?” Looking bewildered, Josie looked at Kasimir with a smile then tilted her head. “Oh. You mean from my marriage.” She sighed. “I knew you’d be upset I married Kasimir, but you don’t need to worry. It started out as a business arrangement, yes, but now we’re in love and...”
Her voice trailed off as she looked at the faces of the others. Vladimir folded his arms, glowering at Kasimir. He stared back at his brother warily.
What’s going on?” Josie breathed, looking bewildered.
Kasimir set his jaw. He’d been so close—so close to getting her away forever. But now he had no choice but to tell her everything—before the others did. He turned to her, his arms folded.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said tightly. “Something I need to explain.”
“Go on,” she said uncertainly.
He desperately tried to think of a way to make her understand, to forgive. “It was... I thought it was fate.” He tightened his hands into fists at his sides. “When you fell into my lap.”
He parted his lips to say more, then stopped.
“Kasimir threatened me on New Year’s Eve,” Bree stated. “He said if I didn’t trick Vladimir into signing over his company, he would make sure I never saw you again!”
Josie gasped.
Her sister scowled. “I had to get the contract signed by midnight tonight, or Kasimir was going to make you disappear into the desert forever. Into his harem, he said!”
Josie’s face went pale. “No,” she breathed. She turned to him. “It’s not true,” she whispered. “Tell me it’s not true. It’s some kind of—misunderstanding between you and my sister. Tell me.”
Kasimir’s shoulders and jaw were so tense they hurt as he looked down at her. “I was going to explain, the night I came back on New Year’s Eve. Having you with me, when Bree was with Vladimir, it just seemed—well, I told myself I’d be a fool not to take advantage of the situation.” He paused, then forced himself to continue. “I...I was the one who arranged for you and your sister to get jobs in Hawaii.”