Her body language speaks volumes accompanied by her reluctance to respond.
“Anika,” I press, and my desire for her flares to life as her chin lifts in that subtle act of defiance that gets me every time. Sighing, I comb my fingers through my hair and force myself to focus. “She’s important to you,” I observe.
“She is,” Anika admits, the confession looking almost painful.
“So, when I asked you who should be at the wedding, why didn’t you mention her?”
Her slender throat bobs, and Anika drops her eyes as she picks at her nails. “I was worried you might hurt her if you knew she was a Novikov.”
The truth cuts like a knife, but I can’t blame Anika for her concerns. It’s not like we took the Novikov compound peacefully—and she witnessed firsthand the gory death I dealt Pyotr.
But that doesn’t make me the kind of monster who would hurt an innocent, unarmed old woman.
“I could have hurtyouif I were that kind of man,” I point out.
Anika nods, but she still refuses to meet my gaze, and a sinking disappointment settles in my stomach.
She still doesn’t trust me—or maybe men at all. I can’t quite tell where she draws the line, because the men she’s been surrounded by were all a part of the attack that turned her life upside down.
But I thought we were moving past that. Yesterday, it felt like she was starting to lower her guard. And last night… as far as I’m concerned the sex was out of this world. But it would seem that Anika is back to freezing me out this morning.
I don’t know what to do.
“Sorry. If you’ll excuse me,” she murmurs, keeping her eyes down as she flees toward the doors to the house.
Stunned to hear just how little she trusts me, followed by her abrupt departure, I stand frozen to the spot, watching as my wife flees to the safety of the house.
18
ANIKA
Heart hammering against my ribs, I all but sprint back up to the master bedroom Miko and I now share.
The hot flush of my skin is a burning reminder of the complete lack of composure I demonstrated in Miko’s presence.
A combination of guilt and anxiety roils in my stomach.
As rude as my abrupt exit was, I couldn’t bring myself to stay.
Not just because of the clear offense he took at me suggesting he might hurt Svetlana—but because, apparently, I can’t trust myself around him.
From the second I spotted him in the garden, my pulse quickened, but not just from my initial fear about getting caught talking to Svetlana.
That anxiety was quickly overshadowed by the realization that my body is undeniably drawn to Miko after what happened last night. The very sight of him unleashes butterflies in my stomach.
I’ve never felt like such a schoolgirl—almost giddy in his presence.
For a moment there, I completely lost my train of thought.
But I know better than to trust that attraction.
It will fade once Miko starts to reveal his true colors. And this time, I won’t mistake the early signs.
Sucking in deep lungfuls of air, I pace inside the master suite, trying to calm myself.
I still don’t know what to make of his response:“I could have hurt you if I were that kind of man.”I’m not entirely confident that he wasn’t threatening me.
Perhaps his point was that heisthe kind of man who’s capable of hurting me if I try to keep things from him like I did with Svetlana.
