I have no idea how I’m supposed to look him in the eye, set their food down like nothing’s changed, and pretend I’m not the one who’s just been ordered to betray him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
KIRILL
Sloane leansin to whisper something to her friend just as we slide into our usual booth, and for half a second, I tell myself she’s just busy. That I’m imagining it. But I know I’m not, not when it’s Mandy who comes over with a notepad in her hand instead of Sloane.
“What can I get you guys?” she asks.
“Why isn’t Sloane serving us?”
She hesitates, teeth catching on her bottom lip. Her shoulders lift like she’s brushing it off, but the tension in her face says something else entirely.
“There’s been a little moving around today,” she says. “I’m your server.”
Across the room, Sloane is already at another table with her back to me, shoulders tight under that diner shirt, hair pulled up, hands moving fast as she writes down an order. When she glances over, it’s quick, like she regrets it the second her eyes land on mine. Then she turns away again.
Yeah. She’s avoiding me. And I don’t fucking like it. Not one bit.
My attention is still on Sloane as I give Mandy our order and she scribbles it down.
“All right, I'll get you your drinks. The food should be ready shortly.”
She heads toward the back while I remain focused on Sloane. On why she’s acting like this.
What the hell happened? Is this about the other night? How I told her it wouldn’t work between us?
Blyat. I never want her to think I’m using her. She should know by now I would never do that. Haven’t I shown her how much I care?
Just because I told her we can’t be together doesn’t mean she doesn’t matter. It’s the opposite. She matters too much.
And I hate that she doesn’t know it.
Mandy comes back with our drinks and sets them down, but instead of walking off, she hesitates, her eyes flicking toward where Sloane is.
“She really likes you, you know,” she says quietly. “She’d probably kill me for telling you—and hell, you probably don’t even deserve her—but she deserves to be happy. She’s an amazing person.”
Before I can get a word out, she’s already turning away, heading back toward the counter and leaving me sitting there with that little bomb she just dropped.
I wrap my hand around the glass, barely tasting the drink, eyes finding Sloane again. What the fuck has she told Mandy about me?
When our food arrives, I barely touch mine and let Lev finish before we head out.
On our way to the door, I cut toward Sloane and stop in front of her just as she turns from the counter, ready to head to another table. She stops short the second she notices me there, her face going carefully blank, like she’s purposely trying not to act like herself with me.
“Kirill.” Her voice is polite. Too polite. Like I’m any other customer.
I reach into my wallet and hand her a stack of cash. “This is for you. I was going to leave it as your tip, but you decided to avoid me today. Any reason why?”
“Kirill, please. I don't want your money, okay? And I wasn't avoiding you. I…um…was just serving another section today.”
A dry laugh slips out of me. I lift my hand and catch a loose strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear, my fingertip brushing her soft skin. Her lashes flutter, her chest rising on a sharp breath she tries to hide.
“You expect me to believe that? You think I don't know you well enough to know when you're ignoring me?”
She sighs. “I can’t keep taking money from you.”
“Why not? I have more than I know what to do with.”
