Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Lily
He didn’t touch me again for the rest of the weekend. Even the weekend I had been dreading because we would be stuck in the same house together passed without incident. I’d spent it sunning myself and swimming in his pool.
There were worse ways to spend my free time, but I was constantly on edge, and that wariness grew even worse when I went back into the office with him on Monday morning.
I’d noticed all of last week, especially after what had happened in the bar, but today, the animosity in the office was off the charts.
“Hey, does anyone fancy anything from the coffee shop down the road?” I called out when I went out for lunch, and not one person had answered me. I was pretty sure some girl from accounting had called me a slag under her breath, though.
Maybe I deserved everything they were saying behind my back, but it didn’t feel that way.
It felt like I was completely alone. Sitting by myself in the small coffee shop, I nursed my coffee and half a sandwich and tried Greg’s number.
I had been ringing him almost non-stop, but so far, I hadn’t been able to get through.
It was Monday, so he had classes, but he should have time between them.
“Yeah, I saw him close the door when she arrived.”
I instantly recognised Claire’s voice. It wasn’t like she was trying to be quiet.
“She’s stunning, isn’t she? I mean, of course she is.” Claire’s laughter floated up. “Like Daniil Popov would ever be with someone who didn’t look like a model. That’s why I was shocked by all the rumours about him and Lily.”
My ears pricked up. So she was talking about me. I had a feeling that most of the office gossip was coming from my one-time friend, and this seemed to prove it.
“Not that Lily isn’t a beautiful girl, but she’s just not the Daniil Popov kind of beautiful,” she added quickly, but somehow that sounded like a put-down as well. Clearly, Daniil saw something in me that my so-called friends didn’t. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have pursued me so hard.
“I heard them mention the boy,” another female voice said.
“Yeah, little Timmy. Oh, I mean Timofey.” Claire put on a fake Russian accent, and her whole group fell about laughing. “Daniil’s prodigal son and heir.”
In my seat, half hidden behind a potted fern, I went completely still.
My mind whirled as I tried to make sense of this new information.
Daniil had a son? I lived in his home for over a week, and I did not see any signs of a child living there.
Unless, of course, I wasn’t staying in Daniil’s actual home. Maybe he had more than one.
I rolled my eyes at my own foolishness. Of course, he had more than one. He was a billionaire. But if he had a son, did he also have a wife?
Suddenly feeling sick, I left my coffee and sandwich half-eaten and pushed my way back out to the street. My feet took me back toward the office, even though I still had almost an hour left on my break.
Claire and her cronies had said he was meeting with a woman now to discuss his son.
Maybe if I was quick enough, I could catch him in the act.
The act of what? My subconscious laughed at me.
Daniil isn’t your boyfriend. He’s your boss and the man who sometimes fucks you until you can’t see straight. I had no right to be jealous.
But I was, and the moment I slipped into the office and saw him with the same woman as he’d been having dinner with that night, my jealousy intensified.
She really was beautiful. Younger than I would have thought, but still stunning.
I tried to always look my best, but next to her effortless glam, I felt dowdy.
“It’s not like that,” I heard Daniil say, exasperatedly.
“So you haven’t moved her in?”
“Anya,” he sighed.
Shit, I tried to busy myself so it looked like I wasn’t eavesdropping. They were talking about me.
Did Anya, his young and beautiful wife, know about me? And if so, why wasn’t she screaming at him? They clearly hadn’t been married long because she barely looked twenty. If I were in her position, I’d be throwing things at his head and demanding half of his fortune in the divorce.
“Look,” she sighed. “I don’t care, but we have Timothy to think about.”
“I am always thinking about Timothy,” Daniil snapped. “Everything I do is for him.”
I glanced up just in time to see him reach for her hand. There was a soft look on his face that I usually want to see there.
“For him and for you, Anya,” Daniil said softly.
Vomit rushed up into my throat, and I clamped my hand over my mouth before I could heave and throw up all over my shoes. He loved her, I could hear it in his voice. He loved his beautiful, young bride. They had a child together, and I was—
Shit, I was sleeping with a married man. I was living in his house. Turning on my heel I ran toward the bathroom. Quickly checking to make sure it was empty, I sank down onto one of the toilet seats and cried into my hands.
What the hell was I doing? It was one thing to give myself to Daniil when I thought he was single, but to find out he had a bride and a son? It made me want to vomit.
More than that, it made me want to storm in there and tell him to go to hell and tell his wife everything. I couldn’t do that, though, no matter how much I wanted to. Greg needed this money to pay for his graduate classes, and I needed my job.
Almost crawling from the stall, I quickly splashed water on my face. I had just straightened my clothes when Claire sauntered in. The laughter died on her lips when she saw me.
“Are you ok?”
Forcing my lips to curve up in a smile, I nodded. “Yes, thanks.”
I wasn’t going to give her something else to gossip over.
“I just ate something that made me feel a little uneasy, that’s all.” The lie left my lips smoothly. I didn’t even think about it.
“That’s good because I think—” Her eyes glittered with a malicious light. “Daniil, I mean your boss, is looking for you.”
That was no innocent slip-up, and we both knew it. I stared her down until she looked away guiltily. “I’m pretty sure Mr. Popov is your boss as well, Claire,” I countered and was rewarded when her face fell.
“I think,” she said slyly. “That your relationship with him is a little different than mine. Or are you going to deny it?”
Hands on my hips, I took a deep breath. “There’s nothing to deny.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “No, we were all there last week in the bar, Lily. We have all heard the gossip. Sleeping with your boss.” She laughed.
“Is that how you plan to keep your promotion?” Claire took an almost threatening step forward.
“Maybe if we all fucked him, then we would all get promotions.”
She was jealous, I realized in a rush. Claire was jealous because a man like Daniil had chosen me and didn’t even give her a second glance.
I sucked back the retort on my lips and shouldered past her to push open the bathroom door.
“You shouldn’t listen to gossip, Claire,” I threw over my shoulder.
“It’s beneath a woman of your intellect, but let’s say it’s all true.
Maybe you should be kinder to the woman who you think is sharing your boss’s bed.
I mean, it’s up to you, but I would be. After all, a woman like that could probably get you fired. ”
“Don’t threaten me, Lily,” she said in a low, hissing whisper. “A talentless slut like you is easily replaced. Next week, it will probably be someone else. You aren’t special.”
I shrugged. “Maybe not, but I know one thing for certain. It will never be you.”
Without waiting for a reply, I let the door slam shut. I was still upset, but now anger was my strongest emotion. Anger at her and at Daniil, but mostly anger at myself for being such a fool.
Daniil Popov, my boss, suspected Bratva, and the only man to completely rock my world was a married low-life. He was disgusting, and I hated his guts. He would never touch me again.
“Lily?”
I jumped at the sound of his voice.
“Miss Ridgeway, will you come in a second, please?” he called out again, even more insistently.
Smoothing my suddenly sweaty palms down my pants, I moved towards his door.
He was sitting in exactly the same place as he had been before, leaning back in his leather chair like he didn’t have a care in the world.
The smile on his face was as darkly beautiful as ever.
He was also alone. There was no sign of his beautiful young bride.
“Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Popov?” I asked sweetly. “Maybe coffee for you and your guest?” I made a show of looking around innocently. “Is she coming back?”
Daniil’s lips thinned. A line appeared between his eyebrows. “No, Anya won’t be back today,” he said flatly.
Anya, his beautiful bride’s name was Anya.
“So, a coffee just for you?”
“No,” he snapped, and I froze. There was anger in his voice that hadn’t been there before, maybe because I had mentioned his wife. But how dare he be angry at me for that? He had no right to be. If anyone should be furious, it was me.
And maybe Anya. Yeah, she had the right to be angry as well because her husband, who she clearly adored, was a cheating, two-timing, disgusting pig.
“No, I don’t want coffee, Lily.” Sitting forward, Daniil speared me to the point with his eyes. “Now, come in here and shut the door.”
I swallowed hard. “Am I in trouble?” I scuttled into the room and clicked the door closed behind me. The instant I did, the glass that surrounded us turned opaque again. It gave us privacy, but I wasn’t sure I wanted privacy with this man. Being alone with him was dangerous.
Throwing back his head, he laughed. “Trouble? He cackled. “Now, why would you think you were in trouble sweet Lily?” Holding out his hand, he waited for me to take it. I stole a glance behind me.
“No one can see in,” he said smoothly. “Now come here.”
My feet were slow to move toward his desk, but I didn’t take his hand, and finally, he dropped it.
“Why would you think you were in trouble, Lily?” he said after a moment’s pause. “Is it because you’ve been spying on me?”
I paled under my light makeup. The blood literally drained from my face. “I didn’t,” I stuttered. “I would never.”
Danill continued to stare at me like I was a bug under his shoe. No, that wasn’t it. He wasn’t looking at me like I was a bug. I knew that dark, smouldering look on his face.
“Yes, you did.” He leaned back and tapped his knee. I rolled my eyes, like I would fall for that again. I’d seen what he had to offer, and as good as it was, it wasn’t worth my dignity.
Taking a step back, I shook my head. “No.”
“No?” His eyebrows arched upwards.
“I mean no thank you, sir.” I quickly amended it.
“I don’t think I was asking. I want you to come here. So, will come here and tell me why you were listening in on my private conversation?”
“You’re married,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Part of me expected him to deny it, but he simply nodded. “Yes, I am. That’s no secret, Lily. I also have a son named Timothy. Neither one of those things has anything to do with me and you. Now come here.” His dark eyes narrowed. “Or do I need to force you to come here?”
Again, he offered me his hand, and I took it without thinking and let him draw me around the desk.
“You’re married,” I whispered again when I was pulled onto his lap, right over his straining cock.
“And again I ask you what that has to do with you.” Catching my chin between his fingers, he turned me to face him fully. His eyes roved over my lips and darted down to the curve of my breasts.
God, he disgusted me, even as my nipple hardened under his gaze, but I disgusted myself even more.