A low groan rumbles through my chest as I pull my eyes off her and step into the bathroom, closing the door behind me to try and block out the image of her.
I blast only the cold water, letting it run over my skin to flush away the heated thoughts of her.
It doesn’t help, though, when I climb into bed, and she is already asleep, her hair spilling over to my pillow, her perfect lips parted, and her breathing soft.
When I pull the blankets over myself, she mumbles in her sleep and reaches for me.
I freeze as her hand rests on my chest. My heart aches. My body spikes with need.
I close my eyes and do my best to ignore it, but it’s practically impossible.
I leave before she wakes up.
It’s very early, and only just growing light outside the windows. But I can’t be here. I need escape. I need to clear my head.
When I get to the warehouse, there are only a few people there. The ones who like to arrive early and have a cup of coffee in peace before the day begins.
“Good morning.” They smile at me when I walk past.
The quiet is peaceful. It’s what I need.
In my office, I don’t rush to get to work; I just sit there silently, staring out the window that looks over the warehouse floor.
I try to keep my mind still, try to stop myself from thinking of her.
After a while, I give up, open my laptop, and start going through the morning’s emails and tasks.
The day drifts by without incident. I focus on my work. I ignore messages from Selene. I ignore a few calls. I keep my head down and do the best I can to avoid her and whatever the future holds for us. I’m not ready to face the reality of it. I’m not ready to face the idea that I might have to give up on her and what I thought we had.
Around three in the afternoon, I get the shock of my life when she storms into my office.
“What the… ?” I stammer, standing up at my desk, my eyes shooting wide.
Selene storms in and closes the door behind herself. I shake my head, immediately against this.
“What are you doing here? You need to leave. It’s not safe,” I demand, trying to step around her to open the door and usher her right back out.
She steps in my way, blocking me.
“No, you are going to talk to me, Simon. You are going to talk to me right now. And don’t try to tell me when things aren’t safe. I am a Bratva woman. Do you think I don’t know how the bratva world works? I grew up in it. I’m not naive to it!”
“I’m busy,” I huff.
“No, I am tired of tiptoeing around you, I am tired of this horrible tension. I am tired of whatever the hell is going on…”
She’s furious.
“You should have thought about that before you…”
“Stop!” she shouts.
My mouth snaps closed in surprise. I have never seen her this forceful before.
“Stop repeating thesamestory youmade upbefore you even gave me achanceto explain myself. You assumed the worst and you stuck to it and you are still sticking to it, and it isn’t fair of you!”
I open my mouth, then close it again.
Dammit. She has a point.
