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I hummed in delight as I changed into my black silk nightgown. I had just had a refreshing early night bath, having had dinner. What was there not to be happy about? We hadn't even been married for a week, and my plan was already progressing well. I already had a list of two names that often repeated in calls that brought about Mikhail raking his hands through his hair in anger. I was sure there were people who wouldn’t think much of lending me a hand for the right price. Also, I now knew about one of the secret routes his men sometimes went through whenever their alliance with the police went sideways. All this information and more was neatly scribbled in the hardback journal I kept hidden from his view.
I gathered my moist hair and rolled it into a bun as I looked at my reflection. The fading hickey on the skin of my neck flooded me with memories that made me pause my humming. Memories of him lying on his side behind me while he powered into me like a starved beast. Memories of him grabbing my breasts like they were special treasures. Memories of him dropping a lingering kiss to my forehead like I was his prized possession, while I pretended to be asleep as he left for work.
I need to get it together.
And that, right there, was the problem I feared. The hot, living attraction between Mikhail and me. I could no longer lie to myself that he was the only one attracted to my body, and I was just playing my wife role well. I knew for a fact that I was attracted to Mikhail. Every night with him was fire.
I won’t let that stop me.
Men and women get attracted to each other every day in the world; it wasn’t that big of a deal.
He’ll pay for taking Giovanni from me.
That much was sure. A determined smile crossed my face as I moved away from the dresser, picking up my phone. I tapped the screen to check the time.
10:48 pm.
It was late already, but I couldn’t bring myself to go to bed just yet. It had nothing to do with Mikhail.
I’ll see a movie.
So I resumed humming Taylor Swift’sWildest Dreamsas I stepped out of the room. I was a few feet away from Mikhail’s home office door when I saw the light spilling onto the dimly lit hallway. Still humming, I took one more step. Then I saw it.
His office door was open. It made me wonder how I missed that all day.
Opportunities just keep calling my name.
I went over to the door, my hum turning into actual lyrics. Just as I stepped into the room, I threw my hand over my mouth. Mikhail was there. And he was on a call, I could see that even though he had his back to me. And I had just sung my way into his office, totally uninvited.
He turned around to face me at the same moment I spat, “Sorry.”
Steel-rimmed glasses sat atop his nose, giving him a sexy but worn-out professor look. His blue shirt had the first two buttons undone, revealing a white vest beneath, and the tattoos disappearing into his rolled-up sleeves made my hands itch to touch him. I couldn’t look away. I just couldn’t.
“Isabella,” he uttered, holding his phone to his chest. “Come in.”
I nodded and swallowed, unable to speak as he turned around again to look out the floor-to-ceiling window, resuming his call.
Recovering from my stunned state, I went further into the wide room, my hands sweeping the edge of the dark wood desk to my right.
“Sorry you had to have dinner alone.”
I half rolled my eyes, not expecting anything like that.
“What’s there to be sorry about. I eat alone most of the time.”
“But you didn’t make dinner to eat alone,” he pointed out, coming towards the desk with the glasses now in his hand. “Why are you standing? Sit down.”
“Sorry, I disturbed your call. I wasn’t aware that you were back,” I apologized, not quite knowing why, as I sat on one of the two chairs facing the desk.
“You didn’t disturb anything,” he dismissed, leaning against the desk, partially facing me. “I was held up in one too many meetings at the warehouse. I didn’t realize until today, when I thought to text you, that I didn’t have my wife’s phone number. And I couldn’t send any of my men to let you know I’d be late, seeing as they can’t get in. Only Yuri and my brothers have access. Yuri is out of town.”
“Oh.”
That was when he saw my phone in my hand.
“Unlock it,” he demanded, gesturing towards it. “We might forget again.”
