When she sits beside me, her knee brushes my thigh, and my body reacts instantly.
Then I look at Lev. The guilt hits hard—but not where I expect it to.
I feel worse about letting Lily believe I don’t want her. That I won’t fight for her. That I’m walking away because it’s easy. That hurts more than betraying Lev ever could.
“Mmmm. This is good, Dad.”
I snort. “You’re a terrible liar.”
She nudges my leg.
“It’s nice to see you two getting along so well.”
I clear my throat.
I need to get out of here. But not before stealing one last look at the woman who owns my heart. As I go to stand, my hand brushes her thigh, and she jumps. Fucking twisting the knife in further.
Pushing the chair in, she looks up at me. “Could you drop me at Bella’s?” She pauses before adding, “Please.”
I glance down at her barely eaten breakfast. “Eat your delicious meal first, and then I will.”
She scowls at me, and I bite back a grin. I can’t take her being miserable because of me. I don’t like this awkwardness either.
She picks up a forkful of eggs and shoves it into her mouth. With each chew, the fire in her eyes burns.
“Good girl,” I mouth, my back now to Lev.
There it is. Her cheeks go red. And I have no clue what the hell I’m doing here. I can’t stop myself.
I carry on taking my plate and shoving the food right in the trash. This pull between us, it doesn’t die. I’ll give her a little time. Some space to breathe and recompose. I know this is a lot. This, between us, is all-consuming.
I’ve known that deep down for years. I’ve had longer to adjust to that fact. But fuck this. I’m not letting her go, not like this. I’ll grovel until my knees shatter if I have to.
I will get my lastochka back. I just need to figure out how that works alongside keeping her safe. Because that will always remain my number one priority.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Lily
The door flies open before I’m even out of Drago’s car. My hand is still on the handle when he clears his throat beside me.
He showed me the panic room before we left, and I swear the air was being sucked out of the room when we were inside.
“Have a nice day, Lily.” His voice is quiet. Careful.
“Thanks. You too.”
The words feel wrong in my mouth. Too polite. Too distant. Like Monaco didn’t happen. Like I didn’t fall apart in his arms and feel happy in a way that scared the hell out of me.
I step out of the car but don’t move away straight away. I just stand there, looking at him. Like my body is programmed not to leave him.
“So, do I need you to take me to the gallery? Or can someone else?” I hate how unsure I sound.
“I’ll be your primary bodyguard.” His hands tighten around the steering wheel.
“If for some reason I’m tied up with something else, either the twins or one of the Quinns will take my place if you have toleave Decadence.” He pauses, jaw flexing. “But, I anticipate this all being rectified fairly soon. So, I’m hoping it doesn’t impact your life too much.”
I blow out a slow breath. He has no idea. “Okay. Well, I’ve told Roxy to schedule Marco’s gallery for the end of the year just in case.”
