14. CHAPTER 14
14
IVAN
“D, do you need me tonight?” I ask. I purposefully ignored Tyler while he was here today, hoping it would get under his skin. But I won’t be ignoring him tonight.
“No. Jules and Kai are at the bar tonight as I need to catch up on some paperwork. Why?”
“I’m going on a date.”
Silence fills Dima’s home office, and he looks up from the desk to where I stand next to the door.
“You never date.”
“I do now.”
“Does the other person know it's a date?”
“No.”
Dima rolls his eyes and tries to stop himself from smiling. I’m not sure why. There is nothing funny about this.
“Please don’t fuck up my architect, Ivan.”
“Calm down. He’ll be able to work as normal.”
“I don’t want to know. Go and have fun.”
“I intend to.”
I walk away from Dima’s office, whistling a made up tune, my cock thickening in my jeans at the thought that tonight Tyler will be at my mercy. Just as I get to the front door, a voice calls out behind me.
“You sound happy. Where are you going?” Aaron asks, playing with his knife in his hands. The knife is called Steve, apparently. Weird little fucker. Lev gave him the knife as a gift and Aaron decided to name it after the host of his favorite childhood show, Blues Clues. Like I said, he’s weird fucker.
“What’s it to you?”
“Curious. People like us don’t show happiness unless it's gonna be bad for another person.”
“People like us?”
Aaron walks slowly toward me, sweeping his gaze over me before meeting my eyes. The cute deer look has shifted to a far away and tormented look. Like he is accessing memories. Memories that need to be buried.
“I see you. You’re just like Lev. But your mask is clever. The handsome, welcoming smile, making people think they can trust you. I admire it.”
“Thanks.”
“I’d love to watch you when that mask is removed. You’re a monster in disguise.”
I can’t help but smile at his assessment. Clever boy.
“Be careful, Aaron. Or I’ll tell Lev you’ve been flirting with me.”
“Ha. You wish. Lev is the only one for me. But I still want to watch when the time comes.”
“Kinky little shit. See ya later, Aaron.”
“Have fun with Tyler.”
I look at him, raising my brow in question of how he knew where I was going. But everyone is fucked up in this house.
“I will.”
After driving into the city, it takes longer than my patience can handle to park and walk to Tyler’s building. He doesn’t know it, but I put a tracker on his phone when I gave him my number to contact me about the building work. After days of low key stalking, it was easy to see that Tyler is a loner. He doesn’t go anywhere outside of work and the gym. Which is perfect for me and my plans. The less people he has in his life worrying about him, the less stressful it is for me.
His building is pretty nice, very modern with the popular floor to ceiling windows, he obviously does well for himself. I wait around on the street, hidden from sight as I wait for him to return. He finishes work everyday at six pm like clockwork, and it takes roughly around twelve minutes for him to walk home. Only another three minutes left of waiting if he is as predictable as he appears to be. I check my phone, and just as I look up, Tyler appears at the entrance to his building and walks inside. Time to go.
I hang back as he walks over to the elevators, and I quickly scan the area, noticing it's just us two down here, so I make my move. Just as he enters the elevator and the doors start to close, I grip the opening and slide in, taking enjoyment from the look of shock written over that stunning face.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he says, and the panic emanating off him is so damn intoxicating, I love that I can get these responses from him. It's powerful and addictive.
“I wanted to see you.”
“Now you’ve seen me, you can leave.”
“Not happening.”
“How do you know where I live?”
“I stalked you,” I say. But I won’t tell him how.
Grabbing his hair with both of his hands, he slides his palms down his face, trying to bring himself into the present, like he can’t believe this is happening.
“Oh my god. You’re the most unhinged person I’ve ever met. Why would you ever admit to that?”
“One of the most unhinged. You’ve met my family.”
“Yes, and now I’m considering quitting. Ivan, this isn’t normal.”
We reach his floor and the doors slide open. I put my foot on the opening to prevent the doors from closing as I lean in further to him.
“What do you consider normal?”
He pushes my chest to move me away, and I let him, stalking behind him as he moves out of the elevator and walks down the large hallway.
“Not this. You need to leave.”
“No.”
We arrive at his apartment door and his hands shake as he tries to open it. This is so thrilling. Nobody has ever given me this buzz of adrenaline like Ty.
Just as he unlocks the door, he stops, holding onto the door knob. I push my face into the back of his neck and inhale deeply. He smells so fucking good.
“Open the door, Ty. Or do you want me to make you?” I whisper into his neck. I want to lick it.
I gently push him forward and he opens the door. We enter his apartment and I close the door behind me, locking it. He turns to face me in his hallway, his pupils dilated, his breathing harsh. A complex mix of curiosity and fear rolls off him.
“Leave. Now.”
“No.”
“If you don’t leave…why are you grinning like that?”
“I like your spirit. I’m excited to break it.”
“You’re insane.”
I stalk toward him and he doesn’t move as we stand face to face.
“Yeah. And this is only the beginning, Tyler.”