Chapter 20
CHAPTER
TWENTY
Sia
“So you and my dad are obviously getting along,” Lettie said, and my head shot up. We were in her room, and I watched as she unpacked her things. We’d all come back to the Petrov manor after her impromptu visit to her dad’s office. She smiled. “I mean, he let you come to Peters & Burg with him. He doesn’t even let me do that, usually.”
My heart settled after she clarified her statement, and I hugged one of her many pillows. I sat on her bed as she unloaded three bags worth of stuff for what she said would be a weekend stay. She’d literally just come to surprise her dad. She came to surprise me and said that.
The guilt sat heavy that I was here and just…silent. Truth be told, I had no idea what was about to happen before she’d called, but Maxim and I had been close before he stopped, his cock close…
Mr. Petrov.
He was Mr. Petrov, and I’d been stupid. Odds were nothing was about to happen. It was true I’d come onto him after what I’d seen him do in his office, and yes , he grabbed me, touched me, but he also had a knife to my throat.
It’d been hot.
It got to me on a primal level, and I…loved it.
He’d probably been about to turn you down.
He no doubt saw me as a young, na?ve girl, and yeah, he’d gotten off to a naked video of me, but he could have done that with anyone.
But the fact he took the video…
I couldn’t so easily write that off. He had taken a video of me, and he used it. He’d done that in his most intimate moments, and I couldn’t get that out of my head.
Lettie’s look was curious. Probably because I was just sitting there silent and had been since we got to her house. I answered all her questions about how I was and what was going on with one or two word answers. I was too in my head.
She stared at Polly on the bed and grinned. “Also, he knows Polly’s in here and hasn’t said anything.”
He definitely knew because Polly followed us upstairs. She gave me a fright the night she’d gotten lost, but I obviously found her. Anyway, Maxim had taken Lettie’s bags up here for her after we got home and hadn’t minded when Polly followed us. He even hadn’t said anything when Polly had gotten on the bed, and Lettie nearly fainted when she saw that. Things had certainly changed since she’d left for college.
You’ve changed.
I felt like I betrayed my friend by gaining a crush on her dad. Not to mention coming on to him. God.
Maxim had even come to check on us at one point and hadn’t made eye contact with me at all. If anything, he ignored me, which told me everything I needed to know. I made a mistake and probably was just a body for him to jerk off to. I mean, how could I be anything more? I was around his daughter’s age, and how did I even feel about him? Weeks ago, I hated him.
I chewed my lip. “He and Polly have been getting closer.”
“And that’s obviously because of you,” Lettie said. She looked great of course and strong . I thought she’d had a dancer’s body before, but she’d come home jacked. She was lean and chiseled like a fitness model. She sat on the bed in her white dress. “I’m glad it’s worked out. Dad even seems happier.”
Did he?
Stop it.
These were the thoughts of a kid, and I wasn’t being fair to my friend. I should have never acted on a crush, and it was a betrayal after she’d gotten me a job and let me live in her home.
“How’s your semester been so far?” I questioned, wanting to talk about anything but my na?veté. I rubbed my arm. “Fun?”
“Well, fun is subjective with how hard they’re making us work and midterms were shit, but I think I did okay.”
That was good. I nodded. “I want to hear all about it. I’m sure it’s been way more exciting than my time here.”
I felt like I was lying to her, but it didn’t stop me from asking the question and wanting to get certain thoughts out of my head. Thoughts about her dad and how exhilarating it’d been to have his hands on me today. How I wondered if he’d hurt me, but in the back of my mind knew he wouldn’t. I’d wanted to test him and feel the danger of him around me. It’d been a different kind of drug. It’d been…
“Sia?”
I blinked, and Lettie laughed. She lounged on her arm, petting Polly. “I was saying we should go to a party tonight. I want to see my boyfriend. His frat is having one.”
I couldn’t remember the guy’s name, but I knew she was seeing someone. It was nice to know they were still making things work with the distance. She’d said he stayed here and went to school at the local college.
I didn’t really want to go to a party.
Perhaps that’s why you need to go.
“Sounds fun,” I said, and Lettie hugged me. She had always been affectionate and maybe a night out with her would get me over this little fascination I had with her dad. I highly doubted what happened today was what I thought it was.
It was time I acted my age.