AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Five
“So...” Nik’s voicewas silky. “Care to tell me what that was all about?” He paused. “And also, what the hell is it about you and Gatorade bottles?”
Daria’s stomach sank at Nik’s words. She knew it, she just totally knew it, Daria thought miserably. It was too good to be true that Nik hadn’t asked a single thing about what happened. Not when Viktor had cried like a little boy after getting hit square in the face, not when she had dragged him to the speedboat, and not even when they had made it back to the island. Of course, she hadn’t really given him a chance to, either. The moment they had stepped into the speedboat, she had started chatting nonstop and hadn’t allowed him to get a word in edgewise.
But when the sun had set, the moon had claimed its place in the sky, and Nik still hadn’t asked anything about it, Daria had started to relax. Their dinner was pleasant, even romantic, with both of them finding a private spot along the shore to enjoy some grocery-bought bread loaf, a couple slices of her favorite cheese, and a cheap bottle of wine. It wasn’t fancy, but it had been intimate, and she had loved every second of it.
But as life always proved, things too good to be true really were. She should have known better, Daria thought with an inner cringe. Now, it was obvious that Nik had only been biding his time, waiting until they were in the privacy of his room and all her guards were down before he made his move and pounced.
Nik’s harsh voice intruded in her thoughts. “Don’t have anything to say?”
Let’s get naked? It was the first time she and Nik were in bed and not making love. She had wondered why he hadn’t started taking her clothes off the moment they entered his room, and now she knew why.
Unable to meet Nik’s gaze, she tried to prevaricate first, saying slowly, “The thing about those bottles, well...”
She could feel Nik’s eyes boring through hers, and she gulped. Shit. She thought of Victor and remembered the way she used to follow him around like a lovesick puppy, and she heard herself say, “He’s my...stalker.” Yes, that was it, Daria told herself. The best lies were the ones closest to the truth, and hadn’t she foolishly acted like Victor’s stalker at the start?
Staring at his mouth because she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze, she nodded and repeated resolutely, “He was a stalker.”
“Is that so?”
His mild tone made Daria uneasy, but she forced herself to nod again, figuring that it was better to stick with the lie she had started, for better or for worse. “Yup.”
Goddamn. Beautiful. Liar.
Nik knew exactly who Victor was. The bastard was her fourth boyfriend, and like every man in Daria Everest’s life, he had sworn about Daria being an insatiable wildcat in his bed. In fact, the actual words the bastard had used were cruder, and remembering them made him want to drive his fist into the man’s face. Even if every damn thing he had said was true, no man should speak of a woman in such a way.
He forced himself to look back at Daria, and the sight of her beautiful face had desire and self-loathing battling inside of him. Goddamn. Beautiful. Liar. “How did this stalker find out about you?” Nik knew he was only punishing himself by asking, but he couldn’t stop himself from doing so. Something inside him wanted to see just how far she would go, how much she would lie to keep this entire fucking pretense between them going.
Daria swallowed at the hard look on Nik’s face. “A friend of a friend?”
“I see.” Goddamn. Beautiful. Liar. She and the bastard had no mutual friends. His background check on her had been thorough, and Nik knew that if anyone had done the stalking, it had been Daria. In fact, she had been nothing but methodical in her desire to meet Viktor, pulling strings behind the scenes like the manipulative gold-digging bitch she was.
Perhaps it was like that between them, too? Perhaps she had somehow found out who Nik really was, and that was the only reason she was spending her time with him? With the exception of Viktor, all of Daria’s ex-lovers had been a lot richer than she was.
As his suspicions grew, the more Nik believed he had gotten everything wrong. And if he had, it only meant Daria had duped him in every way. Everything they had – from their first meeting and every time they fucked – was contrived. The sex between them might be off the charts, but that probably wouldn’t be enough to make someone as mercenary as Daria consider an impoverished man as her lover.
No, he thought bitterly. It was time for him to face the truth. Daria was with him because she had found out about who he was, and she had been determined to seduce him into giving her access to the Alexandropoulos billions.
Daria’s fears spread inside her like a crippling virus as the silence between them lengthened. When she was no longer able to bear it, she asked in a small voice, “Are you mad at me?”
Instead of answering, Nik suddenly rose from the bed, and her heart jumped in terror. Was he leaving her? She would have run after him if he did, but instead Nik only stalked towards the window, turning his back to her, and her heart thudded with relief.
She sat up, her fingers gripping the covers tightly. When he still didn’t speak, she said tremulously. “Please don’t be mad.” Without warning, Nik swung around to face her, and she gulped at the fury in his eyes. “Nik, I want to explain—-”
“I don’t want more lies,” he cut her off. “I want you to tell me the truth.” His icily sharp voice made her pale, but Nik ruthlessly pushed aside all feelings of pity. Goddamn. Beautiful. Liar. He knew what kind of woman Daria was, but she was such a damn good actress, her large gray eyes – with the way it swam with tears – making him feel like the world’s greatest asshole.
“Do you think I’m a fucking idiot who will swallow everything you say? Do you?”
Slowly, she shook her head.
“I won’t fucking ask you again,” he said harshly. “Who was that man?”
“A frog.” The words were out before she could even think of what she was saying, but she realized right after that there was no better way to describe Victor or any of the other 27 men she had fallen for and had broken her heart in return.
“A frog, you say.” Nik’s lip curled. “A frog.” His tone was derisive. “Didn’t you tell me you had no other lover before me? Weren’t you the one—-”
“But that’s the truth,” she protested feverishly. “Victor’s never—-”
