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Opening the bathroom door, I took two steps into the bedroom, only to stop in my tracks. It wasn’t Mrs. Volkov standing in the middle of the room with a tray, but her son.
Had he been the one to leave the robe and towel? Had he seen me, yet again, in the shower? I didn’t know, wasn’t about to ask, and was suddenly very thankful for the beautiful stained glass of the shower stall that had hidden my body from him.
He turned to face me as I walked farther into the room, his eyes unreadable as he watched me take a step closer to the bed. But closer to the bed meant closer to him, and I paused, unsure how far I could get before I completely broke down at his nearness.
“Mom had to take a call, so she sent me with food,” he murmured in that deep voice that stupidly still had the power to make me shiver.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hide in the robe. From him. From the world. But more than anything, from myself and the confusing feelings he could still produce in me even after all the pain and gut-wrenching heartache he’d caused me—was still causing.
When I just stood there, unmoving, unspeaking, he pressed his lips into a hard line. “Is this how it’s going to be now, krasotka? You not even speaking to me, and me aching for just a smile from you?”
“What do you want from me, Theo?” I asked in a voice raspy with emotion and disuse. “I have nothing. Am nothing. I don’t understand what you could possibly want from me.”
“You,” he said. “Only you.”
“I don’t believe you
,” I whispered, and a flash of pain crossed his face.
“I know. You don’t trust me, and I can’t blame you. I’ve done nothing to show you how I feel. Given you no reason to believe a word that leaves my mouth. But you will. I’ll prove it all to you, make you believe in me and what I feel for you.”
I stood there, looking up at him, skeptically thinking he was totally full of shit. He had a way with words, that was for sure. If I hadn’t known him so well, I might have thought he was sincere. But unfortunately for him, I knew his words had absolutely zero value to them.
How many times had he made me think he cared, only to leave me without so much as a word? How many times since I was shot had he said he loved me, only to back it up with nothing at all?
I was tired of everything. This game he was playing was probably fun for him. But for me, it was exhausting, and I had no more energy to spare. It was all I could do just to lift my head and stay upright in front of him, when all I really wanted to do was curl into a ball and stay that way until the life finally faded from my soul.
Two taps on the bedroom door alerted us to a newcomer just as it opened and Sofia stuck her dark head into the room. When she saw me standing there, her face split into a beaming smile, and she rushed toward me.
I was engulfed in her tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re awake. I’ve been so worried about you.” She leaned back, her blue eyes finding mine. “How are you feeling? Still tired? In pain? Hungry?”
“I have her tray right here, Sof,” Theo informed her, and Sofia’s gaze snapped to him, her eyes darkening as they took him in.
Stepping back, she crossed the distance to her brother and took the tray from his hands. “How kind of you. Now get out.”
Guardedly, I watched the two siblings. After witnessing their tight-knit relationship over the years, seeing the tension between them now was a bit surreal. Yet animosity was flowing off Sofia like a physical entity. It was so powerful, it felt as if her rage could slash through her brother like barbed wire.
Yet as confused as I was by this new strain between the two of them, I was glad to have her pushing him out the door.
“I’m staying,” Theo informed her.
“Stay in the house all you want,” his sister told him tightly. “But you have no reason to be in Tavia’s room. She’s no longer your responsibility, and from the way she’s cowering from you right now, it’s safe to say that your company is at the bottom of her list.”
“She and I need to talk,” he told her in a menacing tone. “You’re the one who needs to get out.”
“I seriously doubt there is anything the two of you have to talk about. You did your part. She’s back where she belongs, where Mom and I can take care of her. Now, you should just leave her in peace and allow her to heal. Seeing as though all of this is your fault to begin with.” Walking around him, she set the tray on the end of the bed. When she straightened, her bright smile was back in place. “Come. You must be starving. You can tell me all about your time in California while you eat.”
Food wasn’t at the top of my priority list, nor was telling her about my stay on the other side of the country. But more than anything, I didn’t want to have to pass Theo to get to the bed.
“Krasotka, please don’t send me away,” he pleaded quietly, taking a step toward me.
On instinct, I took two steps back, lowering my gaze to the floor.
“Do you call everyone ‘krasotka,’ brother dear?” Sofia’s voice was like the sharp lash of a whip. “Did you call Courtney Blanco that last night when you were holding her in the club?”
Another slice of pain struck me in the center of my chest. I had no idea who Courtney Blanco was, but the pure conviction I heard in my friend’s voice told me she wasn’t just standing there making up hypothetical questions for him. Whoever the woman was Sofia was talking about, Theo had been with her. The night before. Only hours after leaving me behind in California. Alone.
I’d never thought about him calling anyone else besides me “krasotka.” It was a beautiful endearment, one that sounded both passionate and loving when he spoke it. I thought if nothing else, it meant I was a little special to Theo.
