Page 30 of Obsession of the Bratva

“He followed me for months!” The room remained silent, and I laughed, the sound bordering on hysterical. “This is insane. Oh god.”

Something finally snapped inside me, completely and irreversibly. I swept everything off the desk in one violent motion. Papers exploded across the room. Folders scattered and photographs floated toward the floor like confetti, but I barely noticed. The rage had become too large and consuming.

For the first time since arriving here, I felt marginally better. I wasn’t happy or calm. Just better. I sank onto the sofa and waited for sleep to come, but it failed me once again. I needed to do something else. Something more. I needed to feel the sting of sweet revenge raging through me the way he had felt when he paraded with Bianca in front of me.

My gaze drifted toward the hallway, my mind going straight toward Nico’s room. A dangerous idea began forming. It was not because I wanted forgiveness or peace. I was done being passive. I was done waiting. I was done allowing him to dictate every emotional battlefield between us. I knew I had done the wrong thing by lying to him and breaking up with him and choosing to marry another man, but I had my reasons, and he was refusing to understand those reasons.

He wanted war.

Fine.

I could participate. I would give him war, and this time, he would be the one bleeding.

I rose from the couch, and my heartbeat accelerated immediately. The hallway felt unusually quiet, and each step carried me closer. The door stood slightly open with just a sliver of darkness visible beyond it. I paused, realizing he must have come home sometime in the night. I entered slowly, and the room was dim. Moonlight spilled across the floor while Nico occupied the large bed.

He was asleep for once. Actually asleep.

The sight hit harder than expected. I used to spend hours watching him sleep whenever he stayed the night, or I stayed the night with him. I loved studying the patterns of his face and the slow, labored movement of his chest. It was the only time he was properly at peace. I walked closer to him and looked at his handsome face.

The last six months had changed him. The sharpness remained. The danger stayed. But exhaustion lingered beneath it now. It was something heavier and older. I stood there for several seconds. Watching and remembering, but hating myself for remembering. Eventually, my attention shifted, and the idea that had taken root returned to me.

And once it did, it refused to leave. A slow smile touched my lips.

“Your turn to suffer, Romanov.”

The words emerged quietly like a challenge or a promise. For days, I had been playing by his rules. I had been scared of stepping over his feelings because I had constantly felt guilty, but that was ending tonight. Because if Nico Romanov intended to make my life difficult, then he was about to discover I could be difficult too.

Very difficult.

I walked towards his walk-in closet and directly into the en-suite bathroom, which was made entirely of glass walls. Without wasting another second, I stripped out of the pink pajamas I had on and walked inside the massive shower, knowing fully well what I needed to do. I turned on the multiple overhead jet sprays, and a stream of warm water cascaded over me at once. Stepping inside the bath, I laid down in a comfortable position, letting my body turn soaking wet while my fingers found my aching clit.

I hadn’t done this in forever, and suddenly the need to make myself come felt greater than the need to take revenge on Nico.

I rubbed my index finger slowly over my clit, the motion sending me into a different dimension of oblivion.

“Oh god,” I moaned softly, allowing my body to relax completely, sinking into the bath tiles.

I inserted my index and middle finger slowly inside me, the warmth and wetness of my pussy clinging to them. I wanted to come at once, but I was also determined to prolong it. I had to prolong it. After all, this was for Nico as much as it was for me. I knew exactly what I needed to do to piss Nico off, and soon enough, he would wander into the shower and realize that pissing me off always came with consequences.

Chapter 7 - Nico

What woke me was not my alarm but a sound instead.

For a few seconds, I remained half asleep, staring at the ceiling of my bedroom while my brain attempted to make sense of it. It almost felt as if I was imagining it, not wanting to ruin my sleep for mere whims. I had already slept really late after driving around aimlessly and had a long day ahead of me. I need these few minutes. The house was usually silent in the mornings. The floor-to-ceiling windows inside my bedroom were still dark with the last traces of the night, and the city beyond them had not yet fully come alive. The gardens were spilling with soft moonlight, but I didn’t care.

The sound came again. It was soft and familiar, and my eyes closed briefly.

Jesus Christ.

Not again.

I was so tired of dreaming about Vera. For months, she had occupied every corner of my head without fail. No matter how much I tried letting her go, I just couldn’t. She was there during the day and during the night. During meetings and even during negotiations. During the rare moments when I actually managed to relax and sleep and have some time to myself. I didn’t mind it so much while we had been together because it reminded me how much I loved her, but after the breakup, it was a constant reminder of the betrayal and hurt she had caused me.

I didn’t wish to feel that again and again.

“Go away, Vera,” I whispered groggily in the empty room, willing for the voices in my dream to go away.

But no matter what I did, she was there and refusing to leave. I rolled onto my back and rubbed a hand across my face. The sound came again, and this time my eyes snapped open. I waited for a couple of seconds for the sound, and it was still there, loud and clear, someone in my room.