Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Ilya
I could only hear one side of the conversation, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that the person on the other end of the transatlantic call wasn’t happy.
Leaning against the doorframe, I watched as she sighed. Her fingers sliding through Alec’s hair. "It’s not like that, Graham."
My head snapped up at that. She was on the phone to a man? Right here in front of me. Sure, it was her boss, but things happened between employer and employee all the time.
"You know I value the job. You know I love it. It’s all I’ve dreamt of my entire life." Her eyes lifted to me, and a little line appeared between her eyebrows as she glanced down at my body.
It was only then that I realized my hands had clenched into knuckle-white fists at my sides.
She lifted an eyebrow in a silent question.
"I’m sorry, Graham," she finally looked away. "But I am taking the time. The call was just a courtesy. I have that right. I have—" her hand paused in Alec’s hair, and she smiled down at him. Her whole face came alive when she looked at him, and his did exactly the same.
How had I not noticed how much they looked alike when they smiled? They both had such expressive faces. Full of life.
Rage boiled through me. They looked like they doted on each other. Like they had been as thick as thieves his entire life. When Alec looked at her, he didn’t see the woman who had abandoned him.
He saw his mom.
"I have family things to do here. No, I don't know how long it will take. I’m sorry, but—"
She paused, and for a second her eyelashes fluttered and a blush crept up her throat to heat her cheeks.
"No, Graham, this hasn’t got anything to do with what happened before I left," she said softly.
My head snapped up, a frown pinching my eyebrows together. What the hell did she mean by that? What had happened between her and her boss that would cause her to blush?
Had she been sleeping with him?
"I can still take my classes online."
Again, my eyebrows shot up. She was still taking classes? Hadn’t she said she’d got her Ph.D.? Or was she now studying something else?
It just went to prove how little I knew about her life now. How much I had missed, and that just made me angrier. I never wanted Alec to see that side of me. Not ever.
Turning on my heel, I stalked away, heading towards the home gym with the amazing views over the city, but halfway there, I changed direction.
Exercise might help distract me usually, but that wasn’t going to cut it this time. Not until I found out every single thing that Daisy had been doing for the last six years.
The slight rap of knuckles brought my attention away from my computer screen and back to the present. Frowning, I stared around. It was dark. When had that happened? I had been so engrossed in what I was reading and finding out that I hadn’t even realized that the day had gotten away from me.
"Come in."
Daisy's head poked around the door, and I slammed the laptop closed guiltily.
"What can I do for you?" Pushing my chair back, I studied her.
She had changed; the jeans were a little snug, but not in a muffin-top way.
She looked the picture of domestic serenity.
T-shirt showing a little line of her stomach, and her blonde hair piled on top of her head so little tendrils framed her face.
"I just wanted you to know that I’ve cooked and bathed Alec." She pushed open the door a little further, coming into view totally. "And he’s in bed, asleep."
"I—" I wanted to slam my hands down onto the desk. "How dare you take over that part of his routine. I always do the bedtime routine."
The second her eyes widened in shock, I knew I had overstepped.
"Okay, good to know." Pausing in the doorway, she studied me. "I won’t do that again, but you weren’t available because you had locked yourself in here with your," her eyes darted to the laptop, and she shrugged, "whatever you were doing. Anyway, I have plated up leftovers if you are hungry. I’ll say good night now.
" She turned to leave. Clearly, Daisy wasn’t in the mood for a fight tonight, but I was.
Boy, I was.
"It’s not going to work, you know," I called out after her.
"What isn’t?"
Throwing my head back, I laughed. She could act innocent all she wanted, but I knew what game she was playing. I’d fallen for it once before, but I wasn’t going to fall for it again.
"Cooking, you did that once before, remember?" Seven years ago, she had cooked my favorite meal and made me fall in love with her. Was she really stupid enough to believe it would happen that way again?
"That’s not what I am doing, Ilya." Her voice sounded tired. "It wasn’t what I did back then, either. But I don’t expect you to understand basic human behavior."
My eyes narrowed at that. "I understand the game you are playing perfectly fine, Daisy."
Hands on her hips, she stepped into the room, kicking the door shut behind her.
"I cooked because Alec was hungry and so was I. I bathed him and read him his story because that’s what needed to be done.
Don’t you dare try to make this into something it’s not.
If you want to do the nighttime routine with him, then fine.
" Her eyes glittered. And she had never looked so fucking hot.
"Just make sure you are available to them. "
"Watch your tone when you talk to me, Daisy," I growled out.
For a second she let her eyes wander over my face, and then she sighed. "I’ll be in my room if you need me, Mr. Popovitch."
My eyebrows slammed down. What the fuck was she doing calling me Mr. Popovitch? "My name is Ilya." My voice had dropped to a hissing whisper.
"I am your employee. I think it’s best if we keep things more formal. Do you have the contract for me?"
I continued to stare at her. Truth was, I hadn’t even started on the contract. I had been too busy digging into her life.
"I’ll have it for you by morning, Daisy. And I’m very glad to see you know your place in my home." A cruel smile spread across my lips. "Not as Alec’s mother, but as his caregiver. The paid help."
I watched as her face paled. My words had hurt her. Good. Settling back on the soft leather, I basked in her pain.
Good, everything she was feeling was nothing compared to what she had made me feel. No amount of emotional torture would ever compare to the hell she had shoved me into back then.
"I am Alec’s mother, though," she said softly. "You can pretend I’m not, but I am. So keep your money. I don’t want it. I have enough to live on."
"Because of the big prize you won?" I asked, my chair bouncing as I rocked back and forth and studied her.
For a second she looked shocked. "How do you know about that?" Then her eyes drifted to the closed laptop. "Ah, you’ve been researching me?"
I shrugged. "You graduated early and top of your class at your dream grad school.
" I stared at her, half expecting her to lower her eyes.
Or at least show some kind of shame. "Oxford.
" I whistled through my teeth. "Was published in several peer-reviewed papers and won an award for your work in the field. What was it you found again?"
Finally, her eyes darted downward. "Does it matter?"
Laughing, I shook my head. "I guess not, but it was enough for you to win a pretty substantial amount of money. And then," steepling my hands on the desk, I leant forward. "You became the youngest professor in modern history."
Her eyes narrowed. "I am a guest lecturer, not a professor."
Tap, tap, tap went my fingers on the desk. Each drum a little faster than the one before because I was struggling to maintain control now. The way she just stood there and let me list off her achievements was infuriating.
"You have the life you always dreamt of, Daisy," I smiled at her, the kind of smile that had absolutely no warmth but did promise pain. "Was it worth it?"
She didn’t answer me.
Laughing, I rounded the desk to lean on it and stare at her. "Was it worth abandoning your child?" My voice was growing more ragged by the second. It rasped in my throat. "Was it worth being a fucking ho?"
Daisy's head snapped up so quickly that I heard something pop. "Fuck you, Ilya."
"Been there, done that." I shrugged. "You weren’t that memorable. But hey, it got you your dream, didn’t it?
Tell me," reaching out, I pushed a curl of hair behind her ear. I wanted to see her face as I hurt her. "Is that how you got your dream job?" Back and forth I ran my fingers down her cheek. It was like I couldn’t help myself. I wanted nothing more than to rip her black heart out, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but want to touch her. "You been screwing that Graham guy? He’s your boss, isn’t he? "
She crossed the rug and lifted her hand to slap me. I didn’t move a muscle. If she wanted to hit me, I would let her do it. Once. All it did was prove to me that what I was saying was the truth.
Throwing back my head, I laughed right into her face. "That’s it, isn’t it? You can’t get anywhere by yourself. So you use that sweet cunt of yours to get what you want. Well, Daisy, it’s not going to work on me this time. Alec is my son and—"
Her slap, even though I knew it was coming, took me by surprise.
"He’s my child too, Ilya," she spat and lifted her arm to hit me again. "I won’t let you take him away from me again. So keep belittling me, keep making this whole situation my fault. You’re right, I should have fought harder. I should have let you kill me, but you aren’t innocent."
I grabbed her wrist before her hand could make contact with my face again. "But you are to blame. You are the reason I—"
God, the skin of her wrist was so soft. Absently, I ran my thumb over her pulse point. I didn’t understand what she was talking about. Why would she have been killed? Why on earth would she think I would have murdered her, the mother of my son and the only woman I had ever let myself love?
Hell, she was the only person I had ever loved until Alec had been born.
"Your lies don’t work on me anymore, Daisy."
"Get off of me. This conversation is over. And never touch me again."
The dam holding back my anger snapped. It rushed through me, boiling my blood. "I hate you, Daisy," I screamed into her face, my hand around her wrist turning cruel. "I hate you for what you did."
"Never touch me—" The words had barely left her lips before I yanked on her arm and pulled her against my body. The force of our collision pushing the air from my lungs in a whoosh.
"I fucking hate you so much," I growled out, and then my lips were on hers, kissing her brutally hard. And it felt like I could breathe again.
For the first time in years, it felt like I could breathe.