"I am fine," I say. "I do not need a break."
He nods once. "Alright. Just let me know if you change your mind. We got your back out here."
"Thank you," I murmur.
I pretend everything is completely okay. I will stand here until the sun comes up, ignoring all my fears and doubts.
For Valentina. Always for her.
Chapter Nineteen
Valentina
Itoss and turn as I curse myself for the thousandth time.
I called himdaddy.
The reminder makes my face burn hotter in the dark.I, Valentina Blackwood, called a man daddy. God, how am I ever going to look him in the eye tomorrow? Now that the red-hot sex craze has completely emptied out of my system, the embarrassment is killing me. I have a total of zero kinks. Where did that even come from? What was I thinking? Maybe I’m not that different from the creepy old men in our circle after all.
The soft click of the penthouse door breaks off my spiral. I immediately close my eyes and force my breathing to slow, desperate to fall asleep. I can't face Viktor right now.
But as the minutes tick by, my skin begins to itch. Despite the embarrassment paralyzing my chest, it’s like I’m a doll on a string. Pulling me up. Pulling me out of bed. I slip out of my room and pad silently down the hallway.
Viktor is sitting on the edge of the couch, his head buried in his hands. His white button-up shirt is undone nearly all the way to his belly button, and his dark hair is in absolute disarray. The poor thing is so exhausted his shoulders are slumping.
A wave of pure tenderness replaces my embarrassment. I walk closer to sit down on the cushion right beside him. I reach out a hesitant hand, hovering over his back. Maybe I can justmassage his shoulders a little. He’s working himself to death for me; it's the least I can do. But a tiny voice in the back of my mind warns me to be careful—I’m terrified the sex demon will return the second I touch him.
"Hey," I say quietly. "You look exhausted."
Viktor keeps his face buried in his palms. I lean in closer, intending to speak again, when I take a sharp breath. My nose wrinkles.
A heavy floral scent is on his skin. I despise floral perfumes, so it sure as hell isn't mine. The tenderness in my chest instantly turns into ice.
"Viktor," I whisper, my right eye twitching.
He slowly drags his hands down his face. His eyes are bloodshot. On the cotton of his open collar is a bright, smudged streak of red lipstick.
My lungs squeeze tight as I see another red mark on his neck, and another messy smudge dragging right up his jaw.
The ice in my veins instantly turns to gasoline.
"Who the fuck touched you?"
My fists knot into the collar of his half-open shirt, tearing the fabric wider as I shove him backward into the cushions.
"Valentina, wait—"
"Who was she?!" I scream as my vision blurs. Despite myself, my fists pound against his arms. "Is this what your 'work' is? Letting other women get their mouths all over you while I’m sitting here losing my mind?!"
I am crashing out completely. I don't care that he’s twice my size, I want to tear his skin off just to get her scent off him. "Did she touch you anywhere else?"
Viktor absorbs the blows of my fists against his chest like he doesn't even feel them. I reach up to try to rub the lipstick off his jaw.
"Enough," he barks.
He yanks my arms down, twisting my body around in the same breath. He pins me flat on my back, his heavy frame hovering directly over mine.
"Let go of me!" I shriek, bucking my hips, completely wild with fury. "Get off me!"
