I felt the person moving closer, his heat wrapping around my body. Licking my lips, I tried not to move. But it was getting hard not to fidget when the silence started to become too much to bear.
He wasn’t doing anything. His body was just close to mine yet not moving. I could only feel him.
We stayed like that for what felt like hours, even though it was only minutes. Until he moved. Slowly and swiftly. His steps were filled with determination. The way he moved around, it was as if he owned the room. The presence around him felt commanding.
He stopped in front of me, blocking my view of the sunset. Blocking my beautiful escape with his huge frame.
Curiosity got the best of me, and my eyes drifted upward, following the path up his strong legs. And then his chest. He was wearing black slacks and the grey dress shirt he wore was tight around his chest. He wasn’t wearing a suit jacket, so I could see every muscle definition.
I knew instantly he was young, not old like Valentin.
He was tall, his shoulders wide, and his frame huge. This man definitely looked like he could snap someone in half without missing a beat or even be out of breath.
I cowered back into my chair, feeling intimidated, and a sense of fear filled me. Who was he? And why was he in my room?
No one was allowed in my room—not unless Valentin allowed them.
If it wasn’t my husband in the room then it was Igor, my bodyguard. And this man, he was definitely not Igor.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw that my bodyguard was standing by the door, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared straight ahead, his face hard and monotone—emotionless. He was younger than Valentin but many years older than me.
I glanced back at the man standing in front of me, my eyes on his chest. The warning bells rang loud in my ears, but I didn’t stop myself. My eyes continued upward.
His cheeks were rough with a few days of stubble, his lips full, and there was small smirk there.
And finally, our eyes met.
Chocolate brown eyes—the same ones I couldn’t forget. No matter how much I had tried.
The same eyes that had haunted me since I caught a glimpse of them behind my partially closed doors.
My heart stalled, and I couldn’t breathe for a moment. I could only stare at him.
When he noticed that my eyes had finally met his, his lips tilted up in the obvious smirk he was trying to hide before.
He looked…dangerous while smirking. But playful too. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. He appeared to be closer to my age, maybe a few years older. He looked mature, a man set to conquer the world.
“Hello,” he said in Russian.
My heart accelerated. He was talking to me. Nobody was allowed to talk to me.
He said something else, but I didn’t hear it. His eyes narrowed on me as he cocked his head to the side, regarding me with a strange expression.
As if he were trying to figure me out.
I stayed still, trying to make myself as small as possible. His presence was overbearing—almost too much for me. There was something about him that I couldn’t quite catch. His eyes were hard and dark, reminding me of Valentin.
I knew he wasn’t a good man. If he was here, in this estate, he wasn’t a good man. He was just as dangerous. Another made man. Another killer. Another monster.
But he felt different than Valentin.
Even with the fear inside of me, he wasn’t doing anything to hurt me.
“So are you going to say something?” he asked, this time in English. When I stayed silent, he let out a breath and raised an eyebrow.
“You are not going to talk? Silence is very rude when someone is speaking to you,” he continued in English. Maybe he caught the understanding in my eyes when he spoke before.
I still didn’t say anything, his stares warm on my face as I continued to gaze into his. My lips were tightly shut, waiting for him to continue his babbling.
He could speak, taunt me however he wanted—I would never find my voice. That gift was taken away from me before I could even appreciate it. Exactly like my life. It was just like the saying—you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
I wish my mother had said to me, let me know to appreciate every single moment in my life for it could be taken away from you in the blink of an eye.
The man snapped his fingers in front of my face, bringing me back to the present. Sometimes, I got lost in my head. It was a safer place to be instead of living with the pain every day.