Her eyes narrow just a little. “Roman.”
“You’re not getting them back.”
“That’s not normal.”
“Neither are we.”
That wipes out whatever she meant to say next.
She’s still shaking when I unlock the door. Still flushed. Still wet from my mouth.
And when I look at her one last time before opening it, I know with cold certainty that the war outside this room has nothing on the one I’ve just restarted inside it.
24
KATERINA
The secondhe leaves the music room, I want to kill him.
The second after that, I want to kill myself.
Not literally. I’m not dramatic enough for that anymore. But enough that I stand there with my back against the piano, fixing my sweater with shaking hands, and think,Well done. Brilliant. You’re nearly thirty, you have two children, your father is trying to barter your future over lunch, and you just let a dangerous man put his mouth between your legs in your family home.
My panties are gone.
That fact alone nearly sends me into hysterics.
I smooth my skirt down, drag my fingers through my hair, and try not to think about the way my body still feels. My thighs are unsteady. My lips are swollen. Worst of all, my pussy is still throbbing, a deep, humiliating ache that makes every shift of my legs remind me exactly what he did to me and how eagerly I let him.
I hate myself for it. I hate him more.
The door opens before I can finish hating either of us properly, Roman still standing just outside.
Sofia walks in, Roman follows.
I go cold.
She stops in the doorway and looks from me to Roman with instant suspicion, her little face scrunching up in a way that would be adorable if I were not moments away from death.
“What are you doing?”
Roman does not even blink. “Playing hide and seek,” he says.
I turn and stare at him.
He looks back at Sofia as if this is a perfectly reasonable explanation for two flushed adults.
Sofia narrows her eyes. “With the door locked?”
Roman crouches slightly, as if he has all the patience in the world for this interrogation. “I was hiding very well.”
Sofia thinks about it for a second, then points at him. “I want to play.”
Roman says, “That sounds like a bad idea.”
“It’s a great idea,” she says, already taking his hand.
He looks at me once.
