Page 49 of Lilies from Hell

My phone vibrates with an incoming call that I decide not to answer the call. Knowing damn well what she wants to talk about. First I would have to think of something to tell her.

“You should answer it, we don’t want the little princess to get mad again,” Denis scoffs, referring to the handprint Sergei had on one of his cheeks.

“Shut the fuck up, will you?” I say, feeling a slight headache coming on.

“What’s wrong with that idiot!?” Lizzie shouts, appearing out of nowhere.

“Get out of my damned house. You’re not welcome here,” I say without even sparing her a glance.

The reasons of that being her sneaking naked in places she shouldn’t be, despite of being the actual fling of my father and the one he uses the most.

“I didn’t come here to see your face. I want to know where your father is,” she demands defiantly.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Now get the fuck out before I start cleaning the damn floor with you.”

“I won’t leave here until you tell me where he is,” she says, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of me with her chin held high.

Feeling my patience slipping away I grab her by the arm, and lift her forcefully out of the chair. Then I drag her to the door.

“Let go of me, you animal!”

Denis gets up and opens the door for me, bowing slightly. I let go of her arm and grab her long hair, forcing her down each step of the staircase. Her screams can probably be heard throughout the house, but no one dares to intervene.

I open the large gate and push her through, caring little that her body falls onto the hard pavement. Then I close the door in her face. I let out a snort as I felt the vibrations in my pants pocket for the second time.

My stomach keeps twisting, waiting for the moment we see each other. It’s not until I have him in front of me that I manage to calm down a little.

I’m wearing a short dress that shows off my legs and enhances what little I have of breasts. Grace’s idea. He focuses his gaze there and then slowly sweeps his eyes over my body until he reaches my face. I’m so focused on his eyes that I don’t notice when he takes one of my hands and brings it to his lips very carefully. His eyes shine intensely.

“You look beautiful.”

“Thanks.” My voice sounds a little hoarse as I feel completely captivated by his closeness and his compliment.

“Let’s go,” he says in a soft voice. I nod without even knowing where he’s taking me.

At no point does he let go of my hand or take his eyes off me. When we stop walking, I notice that there is no one else around us. We are in a part of the park I have never been to before.

We sit down on a wooden bench. We are so close to each other that our knees touch. The silence is thicker than the air, making it hard for me to breathe. He begins to caress my fingers, staring at them intently, as if they were something extraordinary.

“How have you been?” he asks.

“Fine. I guess.”

“Guess?” I remain silent, not knowing how to continue. “Tell me what’s wrong, love.”

“Nothing, it’s just that… I’m having some personal problems.” His blue eyes are fixed on my face with a strange look. Then he brings my fingers back to his lips, kissing them one by one.

“You know you can count on me for anything. I’ll always be here for you.” I bite my inner cheek, suppressing a silly smile, the kind I used to make whenever he said anything I considered sweet.

“Thanks, but I don’t want to talk about that now. I wanted to ask you something.” His eyes focus on me even more intently than before, if that’s possible. “Do you know someone named Sergei?”

“Yes,” he says immediately, without even thinking.

Part of me knew that he had something to do with Sergei being after me all the time, but I wanted him to admit it himself. I wanted him to tell me why the hell he had that man watching me so closely. What he was trying to achieve.

“He works for me.”

“Doing what? Spying on me?” My voice is louder than I intended.