I allow myself a small smile. “And maybe you wanted to do something nice.”
“It happens from time to time.”
I crane my neck to see his bag, opening it a bit.
“Black-and-white cookie,” he says. “No stealing bites.”
I chuckle. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” He turns to leave but pauses before turning around. “I’ve been in situations like this before. It’s no fun, but they always end.”
Without another word, he starts off toward the elevators, bag in hand. I sip my tea, and damn, it hits the spot.
I turn in my chair and look out of the big windows, out toward the city that I can only stare at from inside.
“This sucks.”
CHAPTER 25
GABBY
Bogdan had driven me home without a word, eyes fixed on the road the whole time. By the time we reached the lobby, I’d felt more like a package being delivered than an actual person.
The penthouse greets me with thick silence. Soft light glows across glass and steel. Everything in this place looks curated in the exact way to prove how in control Sasha is.I look around. Doesn’t seem like there’s anyone here. Sasha’s probably still at the office. Even with him gone, it’s almost like he never really leaves this place. The air is thick with him.
I head to the wet bar, grabbing a little bottle of tonic water from the fridge and cracking it open. After a quick sip, I plop onto the couch and turn on the fire with the remote control. If I’m going to be stuck anywhere, I suppose this place isn’t the worst.
I don’t know whether I’m more pissed off or scared. I take another sip of my drink and set it down on the coffee table, wrapping my arms around myself.
The elevator chimes. The doors open and Sasha steps through without a word, silently slipping out of his dark wool coat and hanging it up. No smile, no hello. Just calm and in control. Always in control.
With long strides, he makes his way to the fireplace, standing across from me. He slips one hand into his pants pocket; his thumb hooked over the side.
“Where did you try to go today?” There’s no anger in his tone, but the temperature of the room drops by five degrees all the same.
“What difference does it make? I apparently can’t go anywhere.”
“Because I want to know what you’re doing and why.”
His words rub me the wrong way. “You know, most people might greet the mother of their children with a ‘hi,’ or a ‘how are you doing?’”
He purses his lips. “Hello. Good evening. Now, where did you try to go today?”
His tone brings immediate defiance. “None of your business.”
“It’s absolutely my business.”
I’m practically ready to punch the guy. “So are you asking if I tried to go get lunch with a friend, like a normal human being might want to do?”
His expression is still, calm. I can tell he’s not amused by my attitude. I don’t really care.
He moves closer. “I told Bogdan you weren’t to leave. And he passed along this message to you. Yet you tried to disobey. Why?”
I let out a short and bitter laugh. “Because, in case you forgot, I’m not a member of your Bratva. You don’t get to just tell me what to do.”
Sasha doesn’t even blink. “You’re pregnant, Gabriella. You don’t understand how exposed you are.”
Something about the wordexposedhits me in exactly the wrong way. “Oh, don’t make me out to be some fragile vessel or something. I’m pregnant, not made of glass.”
