You’re making the same mistake you made in the past,Don Leo warns in my ear.
Maybe, you bastard. Maybe I’m doing exactly that. But I won’t let this end the way it did last time.
I won’t let Bella die because of me.
I straighten my shoulders, pocket my phone, and walk back into my bedroom just as Bella emerges from the bathroom.
She’s wearing nothing but a towel around her chest, and my mouth goes dry staring at her. Her dark hair is still damp. It curls around her shoulders, and her hand immediately goes to the necklace at her throat when she sees me. Her cheeks are flushed. Her chest rises and falls with each breath.
And those innocent brown eyes are still swimming with the same unbridled fire I stoked inside of her earlier.
I hate that I’m about to dampen that heat, but I have to.
“We need to go to France,” I say before I can let my own desires overwhelm me.
She blinks. “What?”
“Something came up.” I keep my voice flat even as my heart races a mile a minute. “And I don’t trust that you’ll be safe while I’m gone.”
Trust.The word feels foreign in my mouth. Dangerous.
Bella’s eyes narrow. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you on the plane.”
“Why not now?”
“I will explain everything. But we need to gonow.”
She studies me for a long moment, and I can see the calculations happening behind her eyes. Just as I predicted, the heat dials down just a notch in her eyes. She blinks, and slowly, her face rearranges into a semblance of professionalism.
Her teeth graze her lower lip, and I feel blood rushing to my cock.
“I don’t have anything appropriate to wear,” she says.
My eyes dart towards the walk-in closet that has stayed locked for six years. She notices the quick movement of my eyes, and she looks over her shoulder at it.
“Do you always have women’s clothes lying around your penthouse?” she asks quietly.
My jaw clenches.
A few weeks ago, this question might’ve been innocent and practically playful. But right now, nothing can mistake the hurt in her voice.
God, how do I even begin to explain this to her?
“Here.”
I retrieve a small silver key from my night stand, and walk past Bella until I’m standing in front of the locked closet. But my hand hovers over the handle.
I know that once I open this door, she’ll have a million new questions for me that I won’t be able to answer. And once I show her the ghosts inside, I’ll never be able to put them back.
But we need to get to France as soon as possible, and there’s no time to go shopping for new clothes.
Bella’s hand touches my arm, and her voice is soft as she asks, “Slava?”
She’s close enough that I can smell my soap on her skin.
“Give me a moment.”
