Chapter 14 - Vera
I had never been particularly good at playing games.
Not with Nico. Not with anyone, really. I had always preferred honesty, even when honesty hurt.
Especially when it hurt. Maybe that was why everything had gone so catastrophically wrong, because the one time I had chosen lies instead of truth, I had destroyed both our lives in the process.
The thought followed me as I stood in front of the mirror in my bedroom.
For a long moment, I simply stared at my reflection.
A few weeks ago, I would not have recognized the woman looking back at me.
She looked exhausted. Not physically, but emotionally.
Like someone caught between hope and disaster.
Someone who kept finding pieces of happiness only to watch them slip through her fingers.
I exhaled slowly, and then I opened my closet.
Most of the clothes Nico had arranged for me since bringing me here were expensive.
Beautiful. Completely unnecessary since I was literally going nowhere.
I had ignored most of them.
Sweatpants had felt safer. Oversized shirts that I mostly ended up stealing from his wardrobe had become my go-to, except for the last two weeks when I was dumb enough to try to seduce him.
I wanted anything that created distance.
Anything that reminded me of how angry I was.
That I was supposed to stay angry. Because every time I looked at him, I forgot, and that was dangerous.
My gaze settled on a black dress. It was simple, elegant, and definitely dangerous.
I stared at it for several seconds, and then I pulled it out.
The fabric slid through my fingers like water.
My pulse quickened. This was a terrible idea.
An absolutely terrible idea. Which was probably why I put it on.
Twenty minutes later, I stood in front of the mirror again. The dress fit perfectly. Of course it did. Everything in this penthouse fits perfectly. Nico had probably memorized my measurements ages ago. The thought should have disturbed me. Instead, it made my stomach flutter.
I hated that.
I hated him.
I loved him.
None of it made sense anymore. I brushed my hair over one shoulder and sighed.
“You’re an idiot, Vera.”
The woman in the mirror seemed to agree.
My plans to seduce him with skimpy lingerie hadn’t worked, so a black dress might not work just the same.
But I didn’t care. I wanted Nico. And I wanted things between us to work, and the only way to do that was to get him talking.
To force him to break down his walls again so he could let me in.
It still felt like an absurd idea. Unfortunately, I was already committed, and there was no turning back now.
I quickly made my way towards his office and found him there.
Of course I did. Lately, it felt like he lived there, especially since the night three days ago when he had returned home late.
The door stood partially open, but I knocked once before entering.
Nico was behind his desk, and his attention remained fixed on the documents in front of him.
For approximately two seconds.
Then he looked up and froze. The reaction lasted less than a heartbeat.
Most people would have missed it, but I didn’t.
I never missed anything when it came to him.
His gaze moved slowly over me as it started at my face and then traveled lower.
Then lower still. The room became very quiet, and my pulse immediately doubled.
Good.
At least I wasn’t the only one suffering. Nico leaned back in his chair.
“Planning to attend another wedding? Or is that a funeral dress?”
I rolled my eyes. “There won’t be another wedding.”
His expression darkened instantly. Right.
It definitely was the wrong subject. I should have known better.
Neither of us looked away from each other, and I almost shivered as his eyes remained fixed on me.
Heat crawled across my skin. It was ridiculous since he had seen me naked before.
He had touched my skin and held me and done things to me that a person could only dream about.
Yet one look from him still turned my brain into mush.
It was deeply embarrassing.
Nico finally spoke. “What do you want, Vera? I’m working here.”
His voice came out rougher than usual; that tiny crack in his control sent warmth through me. I shouldn’t have enjoyed it, but I absolutely did.
“I wanted to see you.”
One dark eyebrow lifted. “That’s all?”
“Maybe.”
His gaze narrowed. “You’re up to something. Actually, you have been up to something for almost two to three weeks now.”
I smiled. “Maybe. But well, what can I say? I have learned from the best.”
A laugh almost escaped him. Almost. I saw it. The corner of his mouth twitched momentarily and then disappeared again. For some reason, that tiny reaction felt like victory.
Nico shook his head. “I regret teaching you anything.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Everything I learned about you turned out to be a lie.”
The words landed harder than he intended, and I saw the regret on his face immediately.
Unfortunately, I felt the pain immediately, too.
Neither of us spoke since the old wound was still there.
Still bleeding. Still poisoning everything.
I didn’t know how long it would take for us to move past that, but it had to happen sooner rather than later.
I needed my Nico back. Now that I knew I still loved him and had no desire to leave, I simply wanted him back.
Eventually, I crossed my arms.
“You know,” I said quietly, “you are remarkably difficult to flirt with.”
His eyes widened. Actually widened. I almost laughed. Nico Romanov looked genuinely shocked.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I don’t think I did.”
I stepped closer to his desk. “You’re impossible.”
His gaze tracked every movement. Every step. Every breath.
“ Care to explain, my love?”
“I walk in here looking incredible.”
“You said it, not me.”
“I look incredible, and you know it, Nico Romanov. Even you cannot deny it.”
His jaw tightened, and I smiled.
“You stared at me for ten seconds.”
“I did not.”
“You absolutely did.”
“I was assessing a threat.”
“A threat.”
“Yes.”
I leaned against the edge of his desk, and the movement brought us significantly closer. His eyes immediately dropped to my bare legs and then climbed back to my face. Slowly. Very slowly. Definitely not assessing a threat. I felt ridiculously pleased at the attention.
“You’re terrible at this.”
His voice sounded deeper now. “You are dangerously confident for someone currently trapped in my house.”
“I haven’t felt trapped here, Nico.”
Something shifted in his expression as it turned softer and warmer, but it disappeared as soon as it had come. But not before I saw it. Not before it affected me. The distance between us suddenly felt much smaller. The room felt smaller, and everything felt smaller around us. Except him.
Nico stood up, the movement smooth and controlled like all of his actions always were.
My breath caught immediately because suddenly we were almost the same height, and suddenly he was very close.
Too close. And yet somehow, it still did not feel close enough.
His gaze settled on mine, and neither of us spoke.
We didn’t need to.
The tension had become something alive. Something breathing. As if it was waiting for someone or something. I should have stepped back, but instead I stayed exactly where I was. His eyes dropped briefly to my mouth, and that was all it took. The world tilted.
“You came here looking for trouble, my love.”
I swallowed. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“Maybe I got tired of being ignored. You are getting rather good at doing that, I am afraid.”
Something flashed across his face. It was not anger but quite the opposite, actually. His hand settled beside mine on the desk. Close enough for warmth. Close enough to make my heart stutter. I swallowed deeply, suddenly feeling a lot smaller in front of him.
“Nico.”
His name escaped before I could stop it, and the sound affected him instantly. I saw it. Felt it. The air thickened, and his gaze darkened. Every nerve ending in my body woke up.
“You should leave, Vera.”
I laughed softly. “You don’t mean that. You don’t even want that.”
“No.” The honesty surprised both of us.
For a moment, we simply stared at each other, and then he reached up.
His fingers brushed a strand of hair behind my ear.
The touch was impossibly gentle, and my eyes closed automatically.
God. I had missed him. Not just physically, but everything about him, from his voice to his presence, and especially the way he looked at me.
The way he always made the rest of the world disappear.
When I opened my eyes again, he was watching me, and the expression on his face nearly destroyed my remaining self-control. Because for one brief second, he looked exactly like the man I had fallen in love with.
Just Nico. My Nico.
The realization hit hard, and judging by the look in his eyes, he felt it too.
The next few seconds happened very quickly.
My hand found his shirt while his hand found my waist, and the distance between us fully disappeared.
His lips landed on mine like he needed them to breathe, and I kissed him just as hungrily. Just as passionately.
For us, the world ceased functioning properly. Everything narrowed.
His mouth. His hands. His heartbeat beneath my palms. The familiar electricity exploded back to life between us, stronger than before. More dangerous and desperate. Weeks of tension ignited all at once as everything crashed together.
The rest of the world vanished. Nothing existed except us. Nothing existed except the impossible gravity that always seemed to pull us back together, no matter how hard we tried to stay apart.
“I promised myself I would not go down this route with you again,” he whispered against my lips before his tongue entered my mouth again, teasing and exploring.