“To leave me alone,” I answered, my voice cold and distant.
The lady stared at me in silence, her head tilting to the side with a look of confusion on her face. “I don’t…I don’t understand…” she stuttered.
“Just take the money and go.”
She swallowed hard, then looked around as if to be sure she wasn’t the only one seeing this. Quietly, the girl accepted the money and rose to her feet. She didn’t leave right away; instead, she towered over me, her expression softening by the second.
I reached for my glass of vodka on the table before me, and while taking a sip, I sensed her gaze lingering on me. When I glanced up at her, I caught a glimpse of something in her eyes—something that told me she hated this life.
“Thank you.” Her voice was laced with genuine gratitude, and her cheeks were red with a hint of embarrassment.
She crossed her hand over her chest, concealing her breasts as she walked away in silence.
My cousin’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief as his gaze followed the girl until she disappeared from his sight. “Whoa, what was that about?” he asked me.
I leaned back on the couch, swirling the glass in my hand with my usual blank expression.
The girl’s reaction had surprised me as much as it surprised him. I only wanted to get rid of her without being rude; I didn’t think it would have that much effect on her.
Clearly, she was new to this and was doing it only for survival. I had no idea how much I gave her, but it was more than enough, given her reaction. Deep down, I felt a strange sense of satisfaction, like a reward for doing something right.
Adrik dismissed his women, and as they left the VIP section, he edged closer, elbows on his knees. “Talk to me,” he said. “What’s going on with you?”
“What do you mean?” I lifted my glass to my lips.
“Don’t bullshit me, Demyon.” A small, cocky grin tugged at the corners of his lips. “Is this about the girl?”
“What girl?” I teased, sipping my vodka.
He let out a soft scoff and relaxed back on his sofa. “Itisabout the girl.” He adjusted the tie around his neck. “You’ve tasted the forbidden fruit, haven’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He chuckled. “She must’ve been really good for you to chase all these sexy women away.”
Indeed, she was.
That instant, memories of our time together came flooding into my mind—the sounds of her moans and the images of her face, masked with pleasure. It took everything inme to stop myself from drifting away and getting lost in those memories.
“What’s her name, anyway?” His voice snapped me back to the present.
I hesitated. “Eva.”
“Eva,” he repeated, crossing his legs. “Nice.”
I noticed the grin on his lips and asked, “What’re you smiling about?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “Just didn’t think I’d live long enough to see the great Demyon Tarasov fall in love.”
My brows knitted together, his assumption striking me harder than I expected. “Me? In love? You must be joking.”
“Am I?” He curled his lips into yet another pesky little smirk. “Ever since you took the girl home, you’ve been different,” he began. “You zone out during important meetings, you get easily distracted—not to mention the fact that you took her on a trip to Russia.”
I locked my jaw, displeased by the truth I didn’t want to hear.
“You’ve never flown any woman in your jet before. Not even one.” He brought his glass to his mouth and took a sip. “And now…now you act like other women suddenly repulse you.” He locked eyes with me. “How do you plead, cousin: guilty or not guilty?”
I drained the drink and set the empty glass on the table. “Not guilty.”
