Page 29 of His Forbidden Obsession

“I found your tie on the floor in my room. You left it there.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face. How could I have been so stupid? I knew the importance of details. I knew to check any room I’d entered secretly and make sure no one could trace me back there.

You wanted him so bad you couldn’t think of anything else.

That had never happened. Not even when I was a constantly horny eighteen-year-old.

“The next morning, one of my father’s guards woke me and told me I was expected downstairs. My father wanted to see me, and he wouldn’t even wait until I was showered and dressed. I had to go down in only my robe.”

“It’s all right. You’re safe now.” I laid a hand on his leg, and he jumped. I drew back, but he reached for me, taking my hand in his. I squeezed it, unhappy that his skin was still unnaturally cold. The house was stuffy since the air-conditioning couldn’t keep up with the August heat. I held his hand between mine, trying to warm it. “Tell me what happened next.”

“He already knew about us, or at least he suspected, and he demanded that I confess.”

The fucking bastard. “How did he find out?”

“His brother told him he saw you upstairs, and then Mr. Theriot called Ivanov and told him to break the engagement, so he called my father and demanded answers. My father decided I’d asked you to help me and you’d gone to Remington. I tried to deny having seen you, but he sent a guard to search my room, and he came back with your tie. I should have hidden it better. I just put it under my pillow.”

I imagined Niko placing my tie under his pillow, wanting the scent of me there. How long would he have kept it if it hadn’t been found?

“I should’ve gotten rid of it. I shouldn’t have⁠—”

“No. None of this is your fault. I should never have come to your room.”

“I know, but I’m glad you did.”

Before I could stop myself, I reached out and brushed the back of my fingers over his bruised cheek. “What happened next?”

“My father beat me. I don’t think I was conscious anymore when he broke my arm.”

“He will pay for this.”

“Don’t put yourself in danger for me.”

“I’ve already done that. Now I’m going to see it through.”

12

NIKOLAI

The fierceness in Lorenzo’s eyes when he talked about killing my father should have scared me. Instead, it turned me on. Seeing him standing there, looking so strong and gorgeous, ready to defend me like no one ever had, made me dizzy all over again.

He was wearing gray pants and a button-up shirt with the top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up, showing his muscular forearms. I couldn’t stop staring. He was just as sexy dressed like that as he had been in a suit at my father’s party.

I was about to get lost in a fantasy, but reality slapped me when my arm twinged. How could I be thinking about sex when I’d just run away? I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t think about that. But the tears came—I couldn’t stop them any longer.

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

“It’s not that.” I barely got the words out as I reached up to wipe my face. After drawing in a shaky breath, I said, “My mom, she helped me get away, and I don’t know what he’s going to do to her.”

Lorenzo’s expression was fierce. “She should have gotten you away from Dimitri long before now. It was her job to protect you as a child.”

“She tried, when I was little, but she didn’t have any more power over my father than I have now. She was a victim like he was.”

“But she stopped trying.”

I sighed. That was true. “She’s sober today, and she brought me money and a phone and your address.”

“She’s the one who told you to come here?”