It’s like I don’t even exist.
Except, I do. There’s no way we could share what we did in the pool and not be molecularly aware of the other. Even with stretches of marble separating us, I can feel his presence like a warm hand on the base of my spine. Lips on the nape of my neck. Intimate, potent, impossible.
I’m so tired of being nothing, of being dismissed. It doesn’t matter how we’ve ended up here, but we have. And Alik doesn’t get to dismiss me anymore.
I make a break for him before Dimitri has a chance to stop me, Alik’s men scattering like cockroaches as I approach. “Something’s going on, isn’t it?”
“Hello to you, too.”
“Nuh-uh. You don’t get to brush me off after?—”
“After what?” Alik levels me with a dispassionate look and I trip over my words.
I might be thinking about it, but that doesn’t mean I’mgoing to bring up that explosive orgasm in front of Dimitri and the men still loitering in the foyer.
I square my shoulders. “After you promised me revenge. Something is going on. You moved us to this place. There are suddenly tons of armed minions around. No keeping me in the dark, it’s not fair.”
Alik stands his ground, looking entirely unimpressed by my argument. “Fair has nothing to do with it, Sera. You’ve lived in this world long enough to know that. Go upstairs. Eat, rest. Remember what we agreed—Idecide when your revenge quest starts, not the other way around. Tonight’s not the night. So…” He waves at Dimitri, still standing sentry at the bottom of the stairs.
Undeterred, I shove Alik in the chest, vaguely registering the surprised sound Dimitri makes behind me. “Enough with the eating and rest! It’s all I’ve been doing and I just can’t anymore. Tell me what’s happening. If it has anything to do with the men my uncle was going to sell me to, you’ve got to tell me. Please.”
There’s no hiding the anguish in that last word.Please. Alik’s expression softens the tiniest bit and I press my advantage. “Revenge is all I have left,” I say. “Everything else is gone. My friends, my home, my future. I barely know who I am anymore, Alik. The one thing I’m clinging to, the only thing giving me purpose, is the promise of getting revenge against Rocco and all the rest for what they did to me.” I don’t realize I’m reaching for his hand until I feel his fingers stiffen beneath mine. “If whatever’s happening tonight gets me closer to that revenge, I’m asking—pleasedon’t cut me out.”
It feels like everyone in the hall is holding their collective breath, waiting for Alik’s answer. He studies our linked hands then steps away, severing our connection. “No.”
“But—”
“I said no.” Alik wears the expression of a generalcommanding his soldiers. The one that confirms his word is law. This is a different side of him, a more ruthless side, and I’d find it ridiculously attractive if I wasn’t so pissed off.
“It’s too dangerous,” he continues. “There are too many unknowns. I barely know what I’m walking into; I can’t have you there too. Your revenge will have to wait one more night, Sera. I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Alik’s already walking away and, goddamnit, I don’t have enough self-respect to stop from running after him. “But not sorry enough to change your mind? Not sorry enough to treat me like someone who has as much skin in this fight as you do?”
He pauses, back to me. We have an audience of at least a half-dozen men and they’re all silent. “Iamsorry,moya voitelnitsa. But no. I’m not changing my mind.” He gestures to his giant enforcer. “Dimitri, take Miss Sera upstairs.”
“Da.”
Alik is gone before Dimitri reaches my side. I’m vibrating with frustration, feeling even more dejected than before, and the oaf gives me no choice but to fall into step beside him. “Time to go, Miss Sera.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” The combination of physical exertion and point-blank rejection has zapped my energy. I’m barely moving under my own steam by the time we reach my suite, lagging several steps behind my guard.
Dimitri tries to make conversation as he ushers me inside, but I brush him off. I’m too tired to banter with him. His boss is breaking my spirit.
And maybe your heart?
I kill that idea almost as fast as I shut the door in Dimitri’s face. It’s rude, I know. The man hasn’t done anything but follow orders. In his profession, that’s the bare minimum if you want to stay alive. I shouldn’t be a brat to him, but I’m too depressed to care.
The night yawns in front of me, empty and shapeless. I’m listless, unable to settle down to anything specific, frustration and hopelessness playing tug of war with my nervous system.
I flip through every streaming channel imaginable but can’t find anything to watch. I pick up and put down the same book at least five times. Not even the tub of ice cream in my freezer appeals. I end up lying on the center of my living room floor, in my pajamas, staring at the ceiling as I do everything I cannotto replay every interaction I’ve had with Alik since waking up in his apartment.
No, further than that—since hearing his voice for the first time.
Oddio. That man has wormed his way so deep under my skin I’m worried I’ll never be able to extract him. A thought that’s about to send me spiraling when there’s a knock at my door.
I startle at the unexpected sound, then jump to my feet, idiotically hoping that an infuriatingly sexy Russian will be on the other side. Hope that dies a very appropriate death when I find a different Russian entirely. Dimitri scans my clothing before stopping on my bare feet. “Good evening, Miss Sera. You need shoes.”
“Shoes? Why?”
