Chapter 15 #2
Will we truly find a way to get me out of the wedding I am increasingly certain I don’t want?
“That was the idea. For him to finish all his delegations before the wedding, so afterward we can enjoy the honeymoon without being interrupted.” “Yeah... Pizdets10.”
“You can say that again.”
“Have you spoken to him lately?”
“Only a few messages and short phone calls. Nothing relevant or important. He’s in a different time zone, and we haven’t managed to sync.”
“Such a wonderful relationship, what can I say...”
“I’m telling you again: it’s like this during this period because he wants to resolve everything before the wedding. With my father’s death, we had to make some changes for now, but after the wedding, he says we’ll be like before.”
The truth is that, until a month ago, things were not this cold. We saw each other much more often, spoke almost every day, and Oliver often surprised me with unannounced visits to the gallery just to bring me a bouquet of flowers.
That is exactly why now, when the situation forces us to keep our distance, I do not blame a cooling of his feelings, but the circumstances that make everything unfold a little differently.
And precisely now, I am throwing myself headfirst into a dangerous affair with a Pakhan who makes my heart beat hard and my body feel indescribable pleasures.
“I still don’t like it. He should be beside you, keeping you in love with him, or at least helping the two of you grow closer before the wedding. You’re becoming more like strangers with every passing day, even though in the beginning the relationship seemed more romantic.”
I nod because she is right, but I see it differently... especially after what happened last night.
“To be honest with you, I think I need this break from him. It helps me sort out my thoughts.”
“Your thoughts about what?”
“Shut up,” I scold her weakly.
“My magical intuition tells me your mood has to do with someone. Today you came in here all bright and cheerful, and now you’re relieved Oliver isn’t looking for you.”
She knows me so well it scares me sometimes.
“Don’t push it, Oksana,” I warn her, though I smile at her.
She lifts her hands in surrender.
“I won’t. But at least tell me if I’m on the right track.”
This woman must have been a spy in her past life, because she has a magnificent gift for extracting information from you even if you are dead.
“Yes,” I confess shortly, rolling my eyes.
Her face turns into a beam of light and enthusiasm.
“I’m already starting to create scenarios.”
“Don’t.”
“But, off the record, I can say your story is getting more and more exciting.”
“Exciting?” I’m stunned. “It’s a true nightmare.”
“At least you’re not bored like me, alone and sick of men who only want to fuck me. Or who tell me they’re divorced, and then to find out they have happy families at home and pregnant wives…
I give her a sympathetic look, because she has told me every time what she goes through with the men she meets.
“At least you have peace, and your life isn’t in danger.”
“You’re absolutely right,” she concludes immediately.
I agree, then lean toward the open laptop on the little table in front of us so we can return to our work between other topics worthy of two girls like us.
Meaning gossip. Innocent, but entertaining.
I spend few more hours at the gallery, until Dimitri drives me back to the villa.
As soon as I enter the house, Artem appears from his office.
He is alone and looks impeccable, as always, in his entirely black suit and with that piercing, dangerous gaze that defines him.
Without saying a word, only through the position of his body and those fascinating eyes, he calls me.
And I, weak creature that I am when it comes to him, move forward without hesitation.
I take only a few steps before he decides to meet me halfway, as if he no longer has the patience to touch me.
He catches my throat in his hand, and I never know if he does it to strangle me or only to feel my pulse.
What I do know is that the strong, possessive gesture arouses me every time, especially when he presses his lips to mine in a hungry kiss.
Behind me, I hear Dimitri’s footsteps as he makes himself disappear as subtly as possible.
“Let him,” Artem says when he sees me distracted.
“I didn’t know if it was okay for him to see us...”
“I have no intention of hiding, Ekaterina,” he tells me firmly.
“Of hiding what, exactly? We can’t be together, Artem...”
His mouth tightens, then laces his fingers with mine and leads me toward the office.
It’s the first time I’m in this room. It’s the same style as the rest of the house, with classic black furniture and gray walls, on which there is a single large painting. I cannot guarantee it from this distance, but I suspect it’s a real Picasso.
There is a scent of tobacco in the air, unlike anywhere else in the house, which makes me think this is the only place where they smoke.
“And why, exactly, can’t we be together?” he asks patiently and calm, and when he closes the office door, he releases my hand.
I don’t know if he does it because he knows I need a little space to focus on my answer, or because he enjoys hunting me.
Something in his gaze tells me it is the second option. Especially when he slips his hands into his trouser pockets and tilts his head to one side, studying me as I try to put distance between us.
I swallow dryly, my body warming at the sight of him, so powerful and beautiful.
A Pakhan capable of having the world at his feet, famous for the violent way he obtains everything he wants. And now he looks at me like a predator circling a fragile gazelle.
“So?” he insists when he sees I don’t answer.
“Because I am engaged to someone else.”
He takes a step forward. The cold mask covering his face cracks for a moment, and through the fissures I see something fragile, almost painful, before it vanishes immediately.
“And you don’t want to break the engagement?”
Does he truly believe that?
“Do you love him?”
This time, the question comes harder, through his clenched teeth.