Page 48 of Unholy Tsar

She shakes her head.

“I can do that at home. I take it you have to leave?” She nods at my phone.

I tighten my grip around the cursed device. “Yes. Look, about what just happened—”

“It’s fine. It’s just a mistake, right?” she shrugs, but I can hear the hurt in her voice.

I search her face, but she quickly averts her gaze, her pretty eyes fixating on some spot above my shoulders. Guilt gnaws at my gut as I remember what I told her after we had sex in the library.

I told her she was a mistake, But I was wrong. She’s not a mistake. She’s my addiction. My obsession. But she’s never been a mistake.

As I take in her flushed cheeks, I realize that no matter how hard I try, I’ll never be able to quit her. But I’m not sure I can have her either.

Fuck. This isn’t supposed to be happening.

“No. It wasn’t a mistake. We—” My phone rings again, cutting me off. I reach to silence the damn thing, thinking it’s Dante—the drug den can wait ten fucking minutes—but I stop when I see the caller ID.

It’s Nolan. Fuck.

Raising a finger to my lips, I gesture for Cecelia to keep quiet. Then, I answer.

“Hello?”

“Are you alone?” Nolan’s voice comes through the phone.

I keep my eyes glued on Cecilia. “Yes. What’s up?”

“Well, after our call the other night, I did some digging into the girl, and I finally discovered her real name… along with some other information. You won’t believe what I found.”

My body tenses as he continues talking, but I’m only half listening.

Despite what we just did, Cecelia stares back at me with such vulnerable eyes. Her gaze fills my chest.

It’s a struggle, but I force myself to zone back into what Nolan is saying.

“Alright. Thank you,” I say when he’s done.

“I don’t know the full story yet, but I’m sure there’s a good explanation for it,” Nolan replies. “Just go easy on her, okay? Bree has become much more manageable since they became friends, and I don’t want that to change.”

“You mean you’ve been using her to keep your daughter in line,” I remark dryly.

He just chuckles.

“We’re saying the same thing in different words, Maksim. Anyway, I’ll let you get back to it. I hear you have some trouble to deal with. I’ll fill you in with more details soon.”

“Yes, thank you.”

With that, I end the call.

“Is everything alright?” Cecilia asks, her button nose scrunching with concern.

She must recognize the look on my face.

I stare at her with this fresh information in my head. But try as I may, I can’t see her as anything but my little mouse. Fuck me. “Everything is fine. Why don’t you go home?”

My heart aches as her concern turns into disappointment. I’ll do something about that later. But right now, I have some termites to exterminate.

18