Page 99 of Bought By the Ruthless Pakhan

He was still like this. Refused to trust me.

Even now, with our relationship so intimate, he still wouldn't be honest with me.

I only knew he was wealthy. But what else? Did he have other identities? He was like an iceberg—always hiding half. I could only see the tip of tenderness floating above water. How massive, how cold it was underneath—I had no idea.

I pulled away from him, screwed the ointment cap back on, set it on the nightstand.

"You still won't tell me, will you?" My voice was calm, so calm it surprised even me. "What am I to you, really?"

"Anna," Ivan sounded a bit helpless, "it's not the right time yet. When this is all over..."

"What if it never ends?"

I cut him off. "You're never planning to tell me anything about yourself, are you?"

His eyes darkened, his relaxed brow furrowing tight.

The room held only the ticking of the wall clock, each sound striking my taut heart.

He reached out to touch my shoulder, but his hand froze mid-air.

His Adam's apple bobbed. He spoke quietly. "Anna, I'm not doing this on purpose. When the time comes, I'll tell you."

Again. The timing was always wrong. He just wouldn't trust me.

Ivan left my bedroom. First time he'd walked away after getting worked up. Looking at the empty edge of the bed, I could still feel the warmth of his palm on my skin.

I pulled the covers over my head. My nose stung.

Maybe I really was just a bird Ivan kept in a cage. Play with me when he's happy, lock me up when he's not.

So many years had passed. Round and round, we seemed to have returned to square one.

Five years ago, he bought me for six hundred grand. He was my patron. Five years later, I worked hard, only to stumble into him again. And this time he became my employer.

He was still so good to me. Impeccably good. But that goodness always came with his forceful control, always with a layer of unbreakable glass between us.

He had his world. I couldn't enter it. And he never planned to let me in.

I wanted equality. Respect. Two people together, always honest with each other. But he couldn't do that. The beam lying between us had never disappeared.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ivan

I went back to the study.

I couldn't answer Anna's question, and it wasn't because I didn't trust her. My identity was too complicated. Normal people couldn't handle it. I loved her, loved her so much I was terrified this identity would drive her away from me.

So I ran like a coward.

I leaned back in the chair. Even away from her, my body stayed wound tight.

Around Anna, I was like an animal in heat. Every second, all I wanted was to take her. Take her hard.

Maybe this was what they called physical attraction.

The door swung open just as I grabbed my cigarette pack. I thought it was Anna coming to find me and looked up—