All Chapters of Reckless Hearts: Chapter 141 - Chapter 150

Maybe it was the comfortable silence between them, or the safety of her cosy bathroom, or her hypnotic fingers in his hair, but Andrei found himself opening up to Holly. Before long, as if the floodgates of his painful memories had opened, his long history with Jaco and all the emotions he'd been running from since Iris died, gushed out, like a river bursting its banks after a torrential rain. For the longest time after Andrei had stopped talking, the only sound in the room was that of his regret, growing louder and more unbearable the longer Holly just sat there, running her fingers through his hair, almost as if she was self-soothing and unable to accept the monster kneeling before her. "Milaya," Andrei said, daring to look up at last as he lifted his head. He was prepared for some anger from Holly and a ton of disgust at his past actions. But what he didn't expect was the quiet understanding in her eyes and solace as she wrapped her arms around him in a much-needed embrace.

The announcement hit Holly with the brute force of a blow to her stomach, knocking her breath out of her."I don't understand," she murmured when she'd found her voice again. "You held a gun to Veronika's head, for God's sake! How can your father still expect you to marry her? How is she okay with all of this?""She wants this marriage," Andrei replied simply. "She wants me. I am her payment, and it's time to collect.""Payment for what?" Holly asked, dread welling up in her heart."For killing Iris."Holly didn't know a lot about Andrei's life. Hell, she didn't even know what he did with his time, how he spent his days. But his response…those three words—'For killing Iris'—suddenly brought all the rot in his world, buried beneath the glamour of shiny skyscrapers and tailored suits, into sharp focus."And your father promised you to her?" she said, her voice trembling as violently as her body. If it weren't for Andrei's powerful arms around her, Holly was so sure she would have shatte

"Ivanov!" Austin pulled Andrei away from the window, shutting the door behind him. "The ladies were just fulfilling a customer request, that's all. I won't tolerate you putting hands on them—""But they can put their hands on me?" Andrei retorted as he sat down and poured himself a drink. "It's fucking sexual harassment!""Really? You want to go there?""Well, what the hell do you call someone jumping all over your dick when you didn't ask for a fucking lap dance?""Look, I get it," Austin said calmly. "But they were just doing their job. Your friends—""They are not my friends!" Andrei quickly set the record straight. "They are fucking psychopaths, and I'm starting to think they are stalking me.""Who are they?""The Petrov brothers.""As in your future in-laws?""I'm not marrying into that family. But yes, they are Veronika's brothers, the same woman…""Who killed Iris," Austin finished off the rest of Andrei's sentence, his features darkening with a fury Andrei hadn't seen in him i

It took Austin a little while to get his wife to calm down, and when she finally did, she sent him the source of all her despair—an email with multiple image attachments. "You were right," Austin said, holding up his phone and showing off a photo of Orlando and Adeline in their school uniforms, looking petrified and confused, each holding a black rose. "I don't have all the details, but it looks like that psychopath went to my daughter's school! He went to their school, took photos of them, and sent them to Marybeth's work email. Fucking hell!" Andrei quickly grabbed Austin, holding him in place before he could fall apart. "Listen to me; you have to stay calm. We'll find him," Andrei said, afraid of what Austin would do if he let him go. "He went to my kids' school! He took pictures of Orly and Addy. He made them hold those dreadful flowers!" Austin ranted over and over. All Andrei could do was assure him he totally understood his rage. After all, just a few hours ago, he was in

Holly had just sat down and taken her first sip from her cup when her mom trudged in, looking old and frail. For a startling moment, she could only stare at her, sad and horrified all at once at how much she'd shrunk in just a few days. She knew grief ate away at people but had never seen its true effects until now. Maybe because until today, her family had never experienced such a loss. For many years, while death stopped by friends and neighbours' houses, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake—somehow, it always skipped over the Anderson home, maybe even avoided it. But today, death had finally paid them a visit, and Holly hated how grief—its soulmate—had made itself so comfortable in her aunt's home. She could feel it in all the corners of the rooms and see it in her mom's frailness. If she listened closely, she could even hear it whisper all the sadness her mom felt but couldn't show, because in the face of such a tremendous tragedy, she had to be strong. If not for everyon