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“THE DEVIL IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN A GENTLEMAN”

—Diane LaVey

fernweh

(n) an ache for a distant place

Breath ragged frorass and padded barefoot across ouruntil I’d cli at listened on entle breeze tousledthe palm trees and htly as the Dior belt around my waist

The five- that expanded inside—though, as always, the sea held me back

I itched to rip the pearls from my neck, to tear my dress to shreds like Cinderella’s stepsisters had, but doing so would de I wasn’t sure what lay beneath So, instead, I dug my French-tipped nails into my palms

There had to be ates, but the desire for uilt inpath that led to the endless ocean, I felt as adrift and stagnant as the buoy that bobbed in the water The only difference was, I was floating on a mundane sea of expectations

I closed my eyes and mentally recited, Je vais bien Tu vas bien Nous allons bien I am okay You are okay We are okay

I was allowed only a few seconds alone before Ivan’s familiar presence caressedmy bare arm

“You cannot run off like that, Mila” A Russian accent and exertion roughened the edge of his voice

The s rumpy disposition, but the amusement faded with the next wave that washed up on the rocks

“If you keep following s,” I said drily

He gave me a look “You know it is my job”

Ivan had come home with o Having been only thirteen at the tiht he was the most handsome boy I’d ever seen I’d fallen in love with his accent and endearingly lilish, and I couldn’t have e him around our spacious Spanish Colonial home