Chapter 6 – Anya
The leather seat of Drew’s car felt cold against my skin, even through the fabric of my dress. I sat rigidly in the passenger seat, my hands folded in my lap like a good little girl being driven to school, while fury simmered in my chest like acid.
I’d convinced Maxim that I wasn’t leaving, especially with my show coming so soon, so Drew had shown up at my door an hour ago with instructions from Lev—instructions that I was apparently supposed to follow without question.
Mr. Antonov has assigned me to your security detail, he’d said in that calm, measured voice that reminded me uncomfortably of Lev’s own brand of controlled menace.
I’ll be accompanying you wherever you need to go today.
What he meant was: Lev couldn’t be bothered to protect me himself, so he’d palmed me off on his colleague like I was some unwanted responsibility he needed to delegate. Like that night had meant so little that he couldn’t even stand to be in the same car as me.
The rational part of my brain understood that he was grieving, that losing his father would have knocked anyone off their axis.
But the part of me that was still raw from this morning—still stinging from his cold dismissal and clinical analysis of my virginity—wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all.
I’d gone to him. I’d put aside every principle I’d held about staying away from Bratva men, every promise I’d made to myself about not getting tangled up in their world of violence and shadows.
I’d seen him hurting, and I’d offered him the only comfort I knew how to give, and he’d taken it like it was his due before reducing it to a mistake I should have warned him about.
“Miss Voronov?” Drew’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. “We’re here.”
I looked up to see my mansion’s gates, the familiar sight of home doing nothing to ease the knot of tension in my chest. “Thank you,” I managed, reaching for the door handle.
“I’ll wait here while you collect whatever you need, then escort you to your office.”
The presumption in his tone made my teeth clench. “That won’t be necessary. I’m staying home today.”
Drew’s steel-gray eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and I saw something implacable there. “Mr. Antonov’s instructions were quite specific. You’re not to be left alone.”
Mr. Antonov. Not Lev. Not even my boss or your brother’s partner. Just the formal title that created distance between us, as if what had happened in his bed was so insignificant it didn’t even warrant using his first name.
I wanted to argue—to tell Drew exactly what he could do with Lev’s instructions—but I was tired. Bone-deep exhausted from a night of too little sleep and too many overwhelming sensations, followed by a morning of rejection that had left me feeling scraped raw.
So I simply nodded and walked through my front door, letting the familiar scents of vanilla candles and the lingering fragrance of yesterday’s roses wash over me like a balm.
Home had always been my sanctuary, the one place where Bratva shadows couldn’t reach me.
Where I could pretend that my world was normal and safe and didn’t revolve around men who solved problems with violence.
Sasha was waiting in my office, her ash-blond hair pulled back in a neat braid and a manila folder clutched in her hands. She looked up when I entered, her icy blue eyes immediately cataloging my appearance with the kind of keen observation that had made her invaluable as an assistant.
“Rough night?” she asked gently, and I realized I must look as wrecked as I felt.
“Something like that.” I settled behind my desk, grateful for the solid wood barrier between myself and the rest of the world. “What do you have for me?”
She opened the folder and spread several documents across my desk with efficient movements. “Show permits that need your signature by end of day, investor clearance forms that Legal wants reviewed, and the final model confirmations for next week’s show.”
I stared down at the papers, trying to summon the enthusiasm that usually came so easily when discussing my work.
My clothing line was my baby, my proof that I could build something beautiful and successful without relying on my brother’s connections or the violence that seemed to define everyone else in my orbit.
But today, even the sight of my own logo couldn’t penetrate the fog of exhaustion and hurt that seemed to have settled over me like a shroud.
“The Fresh Face casting is confirmed for the final walk,” Sasha continued, making notes in her precise handwriting. “And I’ve got backup options for the other slots, pending your approval.”
I nodded and reached for a pen, forcing myself to focus on the familiar routine of signatures and approvals. Work had always been my refuge, the one place where I had complete control over outcomes. Where my decisions mattered and my vision could become reality without anyone else’s interference.
But as I worked through the stack of papers, I found my mind drifting back to the way Lev had looked at me that morning. The careful blankness in his expression, as if he’d erased every trace of the man who’d whispered my name like a prayer against my skin just hours before.
You should have told me you were a virgin.
The memory of his words sent a fresh wave of humiliation through me.
As if my inexperience was some kind of character flaw I should have disclosed upfront, like a medical condition or criminal record.
As if giving him something no other man had ever touched somehow made me deficient rather than precious.
I’d always imagined my first time would be different.
Softer, maybe. With someone who loved me, someone who would treat the moment like the gift it was supposed to be.
Instead, it had been desperate and consuming, marked by grief and hunger rather than tenderness.
And while my body had responded to his touch with an enthusiasm that still made me blush, my heart had been left confused and aching.
Because despite everything—despite his coldness this morning and his deliberate distance—I couldn’t regret it. Couldn’t bring myself to truly believe it had been a mistake, even though I’d thrown those words at him like weapons.
“Anya?” Sasha’s voice pulled me back to the present. “Are you alright? You’ve been staring at that contract for five minutes.”
I blinked and looked down to see my pen hovering over a signature line, my hand frozen in indecision. “Sorry. Just tired.”
She studied my face with the kind of gentle concern that made me want to confess everything—the years of wanting someone I couldn’t have, the night that had changed everything, the devastating realization that I’d fallen for a man who saw me as nothing more than a momentary lapse in judgment.
Instead, I signed the contract and moved on to the next document.
We worked in comfortable silence for the next hour, the familiar rhythm of business helping to settle some of the chaos in my head. By the time we finished with the permits and approvals, I almost felt human again.
“I should get these to the office,” Sasha said, gathering the completed paperwork into a neat stack. “Traffic’s going to be murder if I wait much longer.”
I glanced at the clock and realized it was already past three. The day had slipped away while I’d been lost in work and memories, and I felt a pang of guilt for keeping Sasha so late.
“Take my car,” I said, reaching into my desk drawer for the keys to my Audi. “Your Toyota’s been acting up again, hasn’t it?”
She hesitated, clearly torn between accepting the offer and maintaining professional boundaries. “Are you sure? I know how you feel about other people driving your baby.”
I managed a small smile, the first genuine one I’d felt all day. Sasha was one of the few people who understood my attachment to material things, the way I used possessions to create stability in a world that felt increasingly unpredictable.
“I’m sure. Just promise me you won’t let Drew drive it.”
At the mention of my unwanted bodyguard, Sasha’s expression grew curious. “Drew? The new guy from Russia? What’s he doing here?”
I realized I’d never explained the security situation to her, had been too wrapped up in my own emotional turmoil to think about how my circumstances affected the people around me. “Long story. Maxim’s being overprotective, and Lev assigned Drew to babysit me until further notice.”
Something flickered in Sasha’s eyes—concern, maybe, or recognition that there was more to the story than I was telling. But she simply nodded and accepted the keys, her discretion one of the many reasons I trusted her completely.
“I’ll have Drew drop me off on his way,” I added, walking her to the front door. “The exercise will do me good.”
We stepped outside together, and I immediately spotted Drew leaning against his black sedan with the kind of casual alertness that marked him as a professional. He straightened when he saw us approaching, his pale eyes scanning the area with automatic thoroughness.
“Change of plans,” I announced before he could protest. “Sasha needs to get to the office, and her car won’t start. You’re going to escort her there and back.”
Drew’s expression didn’t change, but I caught the slight tightening around his eyes that suggested he wasn’t pleased with the deviation from whatever orders Lev had given him.
“Mr. Antonov was very specific about not leaving you alone,” he said carefully.
“I’m not leaving the property. I’ll be perfectly safe behind locked gates and a security system that could probably repel a small army.
” I crossed my arms and gave him the kind of look that had been making grown men reconsider their life choices since I was twelve years old.
“Unless you think a twenty-minute round trip is going to result in some kind of catastrophic security breach?”