Page 44 of Secret Heir

I go to my own bedroom and strip off my clothes, stuffing them in the back of the closet like I can hide what happened if I just hide the evidence.

Then I stand in the shower and let the hot water beat down on me until my skin is red and the smell of him is finally washed away.

But I can’t wash away the memory. I can’t erase the feeling of his hands on my body, his mouth on mine, his voice rough with anger and need.

This was supposed to make things better. It was supposed to release some of the tension that’s been building between us for weeks.

Instead, it’s made everything infinitely worse.

Because now I know that the attraction is still there. The chemistry that drew us together eight years ago hasn’t faded. If anything, it’s stronger now.

I don’t know what that means for us going forward.

I don’t know how to face him tomorrow and pretend nothing happened. How can I watch him with Daniel and not remember what it felt like to have his body inside mine?

I climb into bed and stare at the ceiling, knowing sleep won’t come.

One month in this house, and I’ve already broken every promise I made to myself.

I’ve let him see my weakness. I’ve let him touch me. I’ve let him inside my body if not my secrets.

And the worst part—the part that makes me want to scream—is that I’d do it again.

6

MAKSIM

Sleeping with Aria was a mistake.

I know this the moment I leave the library that first night, my shirt torn from her nails, scratches burning on my neck that everyone will see in the morning.

I know it when I lie in my bed alone and can still smell her on my skin and still feel the ghost of her wrapped around me.

I know it’s a mistake.

And I immediately want to do it again.

Over the next two weeks, we fall into a pattern that’s as destructive as it is inevitable. We fight during the day and then at night we fall into bed together and channel all that rage into something physical.

It’s definitely not love making. It’s pure fucking, both of us trying to hurt each other.

She claws at my back hard enough to draw blood.

I leave marks on her body that she has to hide under long sleeves and heavy concealer. We fuck like we’re at war, and maybe we are.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” she tells me afterward, every single time. She’s lying in her bed and her voice is devoid of any emotion even though her body is still trembling. “This is just physical.”

“Agreed,” I say, because what else can I say? She still won’t tell me what she’s really hiding. We can share our bodies but not our secrets.

The irony isn’t lost on me.

But even as we’re destroying each other at night, something else is growing during the day. Something that matters more than the complicated mess between Aria and me.

Daniel is blooming.

“Maksim?” His voice comes from the doorway of my office, tentative and soft. “Are you busy?”

I look up from the financial reports spread across my desk and feel my chest tighten the way it does every time I see him.