That low, lethal whisper.
You're going to pay for breaking my rules.
8
NIKOLAI
She's avoiding me.
I can feel it in the way she hesitates at the top of the stairs.
In the careful silence of her footsteps as she finally descends.
Good girl.
Sheshouldbe wary of me after last night.
I sit at the head of the long dining table, a cup of black coffee in one hand, my phone in the other as I scan through emails that don't interest me nearly as much as the woman currently hovering in my doorway.
I don't look up from my phone. Let her think I'm distracted. Let her believe she has a moment to compose herself before I acknowledge her presence.
But I'm aware of everything.
Of what she’s wearing. The way her fitted jeans hug her curves. The way her hair falls over one shoulder.
The slight hitch in her breathing when she sees me.
"Good morning,malyshka." I set my phone down and finally look at her, letting my gaze travel slowly from her face down to her boots and back up again. Taking my time. "Sleep well?"
Pink blooms across her cheeks.
There it is.
That delicious flush that tells me she's thinking about last night. About watching me. About whatever dreams followed her back to that bed after she fled.
"Fine," she says, her voice clipped as she moves toward the sideboard where my housekeeper, Katya, has laid out breakfast.
I lean back in my chair and watch her avoid looking at me as she fills her plate with mechanical precision. Berries. Pancakes. Honey.
She joins me at the table but is silent as she plays with the pancake in front of her.
"You know," I say conversationally, taking a sip of coffee, "most people would at least pretend to make conversation over breakfast."
She shoots me a look dripping with venom and defiance. "Most people aren't being held prisoner by a murderer."
I smile. "Fair point."
She stabs a strawberry with her fork, and I have to suppress a laugh.
"Did you find what you were looking for last night?" I ask.
Her fork freezes halfway to her mouth. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"No?" I set my cup down. "So you didn't leave your room after I explicitly told you to stay put? Didn't wander through my home looking for an escape route?"
"I was looking for the bathroom."
"There's one attached to your room."
