Be more patient next time,a small voice whispered in my head.We can’t afford to lose her now.
Chapter 25 —Eva
It seemed like Demyon had a habit of ruining my day whenever things were going smoothly between us. He’d done the same thing back in St. Petersburg, where he yelled at me for wandering off alone after I’d already loosened up around him.
I couldn’t understand why he’d put in the effort to make me smile and even lower my guard, only to end up ruining everything with his stupid rage.
Contrary to my initial thoughts, I hadn’t expected to enjoy the night as much as I had. However, his dirty jokes and smooth talk were too enticing to ignore. What hedidn’tknow was that while he was talking, his words were taking me back to the night of our wedding.
I’d tried to bury the memory of what happened, to pretend like I wasn’t ashamed of myself. But the more he spoke, the more the illicit thoughts flooded my mind. Just by reminiscing on the way we devoured each other like hungry animals, that sexual heat began spreading across my body.
I couldn’t help recalling the sound of my own moans and the intensity of his thrusts. Demyon had no idea how wet I was and how I fantasized about him leading me to one of the restrooms. It had always been one of my darkest fantasies—to make love in a toilet of a high-end restaurant.
I’d seen crazy stuff like that in movies, read about it in romance novels, and just wanted to experience it for myself. Since he and I were already intimate, I figured we could make it a reality if he was in on it.
Honestly, considering how turned on I’d been, I was willing to chip in the idea and let him smash again. I’d already made up my mind—after he left to take that important phone call—that when he returned, we’d head to the restroom together.
But he just had to lose control and ruin everything.
Ethan was my cousin, and he was the last person I would’ve expected to run into today. The last time I saw him was about two years ago during Thanksgiving. After that day, we never saw or heard from each other again until that night at the restaurant.
He’d been just as surprised to see me after such a long time. Carried away by that joy and excitement, we embraced each other, smiling and laughing. It was a harmless hug—just two cousins enjoying each other’s company.
However, that wasn’t how it looked from Demyon’s point of view. In that twisted mind of his, Ethan was trying to steal me from him, and I consented to it.
I wasn’t sure what pained me the most: that he thought I was cheap enough to be wooed by just anybody, or that he swung that punch and embarrassed me in front of everyone.
I hated how he was so determined to make me hate him by any means. Each time he had the chance to prove he wasn’t the monster that I thought he was, he ended up doing the exact opposite.
He was a ruthless man whose first instinct at the slightest provocation was violence. How long was I going to keep enduring this? How long until he one day lost control and hit me? Was this the kind of man I wanted to raise my child with?
I lay in bed that evening, thinking about how unfortunate I was and how I never would’ve been in this mess if I’d never cracked that code. If I’d just stayed back in my dorm that night instead of going to check out that warehouse, none of this would’ve happened.
Just a month ago, my biggest problem was my father’s creditors blowing up my phone with empty threats. At the time, it seemed like such a big deal, but after what I’d seen so far, I’d give anything to go back to that life.
Maybe I’d have liked it here under different circumstances, but not these ones.
***
Later that night, at about nine o’clock, I stepped out of my room with the intention of wandering around the building in order to clear my head.
Everything was fine at first until I realized that all the hallways were emptier than usual. There were no guards stationed at their posts—none whatsoever. I didn’t think much of it and just kept going.
However, it soon came to my attention that the whole mansion was as quiet as a cemetery, and there was still no sign of any guards. While walking down one of the empty hallways, I heard the maids’ muffled voices coming from a nearby room.
They seemed to have gathered together and were chatting about God-knows-what. The sound of their belly laughs piqued my curiosity, and I quietly walked over to the slightly ajar door.
From where I was standing outside, I peeked through the gap between the door and the frame. I did a headcount of the women in the room—it was all the maids in the house. I wondered if there was some party going on that I didn’t know about.
By now, the maids were the closest thing to friends I had in the cursed place. On several occasions, they’d kept me company and helped me forget my predicament.
Bored out of my mind, I was about to push the door open and join in on the conversation when I heard something that sparked a bold idea in my head. One of the maids was telling the others about how Demyon’s gang had a serious altercation with a rival group.
According to her, that was the reason why the mansion was left unguarded. She said that all his men were rounded up this afternoon, ready for war. Apparently, the maid was sleepingwith one of the guards, and that’s how she got such firsthand information.
I couldn’t help thinking that whatever was going on might have had something to do with the call he received on our date night. Whoever was unfortunate enough to have started a fight with this devil should be ready to meet their maker.
Demyon Tarasov was as evil as they came. I’d seen him in action, and he was a force to be reckoned with. However, even though I was certain that he would win this war, a part of me couldn’t help worrying about his safety.
