I narrow my eyes. “Have you been talking to my mother?”
“No,” she says with a suspicious amount of innocence. “But maybe I should.”
“God, please don’t.”
We burst into laughter, and for the first time in days, it’s like I can breathe again.
Emilia grounds me. She always has. She reminds me I’m still the girl who dreamed of being a lawyer. Of doing good, putting away the bad guys. The girl who didn’t fall for mobsters with dark eyes and hands that make you weak.
But the truth creeps in anyway. The way Aleksei looked at me last night, like I was something he treasured. The way he traced every inch of me like a map he already knew.
And I wonder, just for a second, how crazy it would really be if I was his wife.
No. No, no, no.
I shake the thought loose, but Emilia’s gaze sharpens like she sees too much.
“You gonna be okay?”
“Yeah.” I force a smile. “I think your crazy might be contagious. I need to quarantine. Immediately.”
She smirks. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
FIONA
There’sa weight in my chest before I even leave the house. A pressure that has nothing to do with Aleksei, yet everything to do with him. Because even when I haven’t seen him, I feel him, like smoke clinging to my skin long after the fire’s gone out.
It’s been a week. A full seven days since I let him touch me again. Since I dropped to my knees for him and hated how much I liked it.
I haven’t heard from him. Haven’t even seen him. But I know he’s still watching.
I check the mailbox out of habit before getting into my car, my hand remaining on the cool metal just a moment too long before I lift the lid. No letter today. No envelope with mocking, cryptic threats.
Maybe whoever’s sending them finally got bored. Or maybe this is just more of their game.
I exhale a slow breath as I slide behind the wheel and try to clear my head. I need to if I want to make a good impression on the new investor Mom was going on about yesterday. She didn’t give me much info when I asked, which I did find weird, but I think after Wesley, she’s being extra cautious.
All she knows is that Wesley backed out after meeting me. That’s what his text said the next day, though I’m not convinced he even sent it. If I had to guess, it was Aleksei who made him write it.
Maybe he’s already dead. I haven’t looked into it. I don’t want to know.
Either way, Mom’s been pissed. She didn’t see it coming, and I get it. She thought Wesley was a sure thing. She even asked what I did to scare him off.
I told her the truth. That he was a creep. That he put his hands on me. That we didn’t need someone like that anywhere near our family business. She agreed. And Dad swore he’d kill him, which is laughable, because the man couldn’t hurt a fly.
When I pull into the lot beside the main building, a few cars are scattered around, but one stands out: a sleek black Bentley that definitely doesn’t belong to anyone here. Must be the investor.
Straightening my spine, I grab my bag and head inside, knocking once on the office door.
“Come in,” my mom calls out.
I step inside and immediately notice the tension. They’re sitting on the sofa, whispering until the door opens. My mother throws on a smile that’s way too bright, and my father…won’t even meet my eyes.
The hell is going on?
