Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Katarina
I think I fall back to sleep with Win on top of me. But I wake when he shifts, cool air hitting my skin.
My eyes pop open even as he smooths a hand over my hair.
“It’s a mess,” I whisper, nipping at my lip.
“I like it like that,” he says back, capturing my mouth again. “But perhaps we should shower.”
“Good idea.” I swear, every muscle is sore after what we just did, and a hot shower would go a long way in easing the aches.
He lifts off me and starts to sit up before he freezes. “Katarina.”
Not Kitten. Honestly, I’ve started to love the nickname. I like the idea of being a kitten that he pets and cuddles.
I am going soft. But Win looks anything but… “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” he rumbles looking down between my legs. I follow his gaze and realize, he’s covered in blood. “Oh my God, Win, are you all right?”
His gaze goes back to mine his eyes going wide. “Me?”
And that’s when I look down at myself. I am the reason that Win is covered in blood. “Should have known. I’ve always been a bleeder.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” he rumbles.
Win doesn’t scare me often, but I’m a little frightened right now. Maybe it’s the vulnerability of my position, or the fact that my muscles are next to useless.
“I don’t seem to clot as quickly as other people. I’ve almost bled out twice,” and then I wave at one of the wounds on my abdomen.
Win is back down on top of my body, his hands coming to either side of my face. “No one is hurting you ever again. Least of all, me.”
“Win,” I sigh. We both know he’s going to hurt me. Badly. “You can’t make that promise. It’s…”
But I trail off as he pushes up again, carrying me with him.
The bed is a mess, but I can’t worry too much as he brings me into the large, tiled shower. He turns on several of the heads and warm water sprays at us from several angles. “It’s like a carwash,” I murmur into his shoulder.
“Not funny.”
“I didn’t think it was too bad. Certainly not my worst joke ever.” I lift my head as he grabs the soap and starts washing my back. He sets me down on my feet and begins gently washing the back of my legs.
“You’re hurt. We’re not talking about putting you through a carwash.”
His protectiveness is really sweet, but he doesn’t need to treat me like some powder-puff princess. “Your shower is a bit like one and—”
He stands holding my face between his hands. “You’re not some object to be used and abused, Katarina Ivanov, and I won’t stand for anyone, not even you, devaluing your worth.”
I stare at him, trying to understand what’s got him so upset. “It’s just a little blood. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“It was a gift,” he says back harshly. “One I don’t take lightly.”
I blink up at him because I think I might be feeling really emotional, and I would find it easier if we were joking about carwashes.
I’m fine with whatever this is, but hope might be the most dangerous emotion, and his words are swelling in my chest.
I reach over to the shelf and grab the shampoo, and I start scrubbing up my hair, even as he bends down, washing me again.
I swear, him scrubbing away the blood is almost more emotional than the sex.
No man who has made a mess of me has ever cleaned it up after. They hurt me and then they walk away.
But the fact that he’s doing this, washing me, even as he declares that he’s going to protect me…
Something inside me is threatening to break open. I rinse my hair and grab the conditioner, thankful for the water that’s pouring down. Not even I can tell if I’m crying.
But as Win moves up my body, he starts kissing my scars again and I can feel a sob welling in my chest.
I’m not emotional. I rarely cry. But I want to now, and it’s not anger, hurt, or injustice that brings out the waterworks. Apparently, it’s kindness that turns me into a complete girl. My hands come to his shoulders and then, I don’t mean to let it out, but a broken noise escapes my throat.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, standing and pulling me close.
“I’m just…I’m not used to…” I can’t get the words out, but I’ve said enough, because he pulls me tight against him.
His large hand cradles the back of my head as he murmurs, “Hush. I’m going to make this world safe for you, Katarina. I swear it.”
I nod into his chest, backing away, trying to pull myself together. We finish the shower in a peaceful quiet and then I wrap myself in one of the ridiculously fluffy towels, and plug in the hair dryer.
Win kisses my shoulder before he wraps a towel around his hips, heading back into the bedroom.
It doesn’t take me more than ten minutes to dry my hair, but when I’m done, I come out to find the bedding gone and coffee and breakfast sitting on a tray.
In addition, Win is no longer in a towel, but in trousers and a collared shirt. “How did you manage that?”
“I had help.” His eyes rake down my body, still only wrapped in a towel and he beckons me closer. He picks up a coffee and hands it to me. It’s an espresso, just like yesterday.
I take a sip and then sigh at the delicious flavor. “So good.”
He crosses to my dresser, opening the drawers, and pulls out a simple dress that looks out of place here in his palace of a home.
But Win doesn’t seem to notice as he opens another drawer and pulls out a bra and cotton underwear.
It would have been nice if he’d grabbed something a bit sexier. “Cotton?” I ask, quirking a brow.
“You need to be comfortable today.” He moves back to me, setting the clothes on the bed. “I’ll need the accountant’s phone number.”
“Sure, is there a pen and paper so I can write it down for you?”
“Just put it in my phone.” He gestures to where the device sits on the bed next to the clothes. “Code is 022526.”
Is he seriously giving me his phone code? I stare at him for a moment even as he grabs the phone, and places it in my hand.
Then he turns back to the bureau. “What are you doing?”
“You’ll need a wider variety of items for everyday use.” He opens a drawer, rifling through the contents.
“I packed light,” I say with a shrug, typing in the code. “I was more concerned with…” But my words die.
Because his call log appears, Ken’s name flashing on the screen several times.
It was his phone buzzing that woke us, and I know he told me that it was a work issue but there are no calls from anyone but Ken.
My chest is ridiculously tight as I open a note and start adding the contact information. “You never told me what happened at work.”
“Nothing unusual,” he says as he lifts out one of three tank tops I brought with me. “But I will need to be gone tomorrow night.”
My throat burns. He’s lying.
The man who swore he doesn’t lie is lying.
It was Ken who called, not work. And if he suddenly has to go out tomorrow night, he’s got some event Ken has planned.
To find a wife.
My throat burns as I finish the note and drop the phone back on the bed.
I should have known better.
Win is lying about this, and he’s lying about everything else too. The certainness that he’s being intimate with me so that I comply with his plans surges to the front of my thoughts.
But I shake it away. It doesn’t matter.
I’m here to hurt my father. Win is still my best chance. My own feelings are irrelevant, and it’s not like I didn’t know this was coming.
“I’ll talk to the housekeeper about ordering more of everything for you,” Win says as he closes the drawer and comes back over to the bed.
He grabs the underwear and bends down. I stare down at him, dumbfounded. Are we really still doing this? Pretending he’s the big, wonderful caregiver?
“Lift,” he rumbles, nudging my foot.
I place a hand on his shoulder and do as he commands before I repeat with the other foot.
His large hands slide up my body, scooting under the towel, until he’s positioned the underwear on my hips. Then he slides his hands over my ass cheeks and pulls my stomach into his face.
I let him, my hands wrapping around his neck.
I won’t cry now, and I won’t tell him what I know. Because I’ve always known Win was going to break my heart.
It didn’t matter then and it doesn’t now.
Whatever time I get with him will be my little oasis in life.
I just wish the fairy tale part could have lasted a little longer.
Will sex feel the same now that my heart is breaking open in my chest?
There is only one way to find out.