Circle of Atonement

Ferrara

Present Day

I feel like shit,

A complete fucking asshole.

In my attempts to protect myself from the reality of the slamming ache of betrayal, I had broken the promise I made to the only woman that mattered.

I had hurt Katya Petrov, my love.

And now she was walking in front of me, placing a noticeable distance between us, her shoulders stiffened defensively.

Fuck, I had done all that.

I raked my fingers through my hair, the urge to let out a hot breath of frustration right here in the parking lot burning in my chest.

I needed to make this right, I couldn't lose her, not now, or ever.

Katya got to my car before me and opened the door before I could get to it, stepping into it with her thigh length boots.

Even beneath that pain she was carrying, and the work that had burdened her shoulders,

She was still sexier and more graceful than any woman.

Her strength, was a kick to the guts,

And her loyalty, unquestionable.

But despite my asshole move to imply otherwise, and the fact that