AllFreeNovel
Share Us
* * *
Avery
It’s finally Friday.I have the next two days to lie around my apartment and do absolutely nothing until school on Monday. Unless Kevin messages me that he has a shift open this weekend. Apparently, that thumbs up only meant that he’d seen the text. He hired a new waitress the next day. I’ll be lucky if I catch a shift once a month. Not that the money was great there, but it was something.
I’ll have to start looking for another night job soon so I can afford to add two online classes to my schedule next semester. The faster I finish this degree, the faster I can get moving with my life. And after the last few weeks, and these last several days, that’s what I really need to be focusing on.
Moving forward.
And forgetting all about that sexy Russian bastard who ripped my heart out.
I stop chopping the carrot I’m going to add to my ramen noodles and close my eyes for a moment so I can redirect my thinking. Every time Luka pops into my head, I have to do this, otherwise I’ll end up spending the rest of the night nursing a bottle of cheap wine.
As I start chopping again, there’s a knock at my door. I take the knife with me, just in case it’s one of Luka’s old friends. Maxim assured me I was perfectly safe, that there was zero threat to me or to Luka. But can a Russian mafia man ever be truly safe?
I undo the advanced locks Luka had installed what feels like forever ago and open the door just a crack, just enough to see who’s on the other side.
“Pchelka.” Luka’s dark eyes steal my breath. “You’re here.”
I swallow. “Of course, I’m here. Where else would I be?” I ask, still only holding the door open a crack.
“At home, where you’re supposed to be,” he practically growls.
“I am home, Luka.” I swallow hard, trying to keep the excitement of seeing him from building up. It’s taken me days to get to the point that I don’t break down in tears when I think of him. I’m not about to jump right back to square one.
“No. If you were at home, we wouldn’t be talking through this door. We’d be standing in the front hall of the penthouse.” He presses a hand to the door. “Open up.”
“Luka. You left. You went home, so I came home.” I keep my voice as firm as I can.
“Let me in, Avery, so I can explain.”
I stare at him, uncertain what to do here. Because my heart wants me to fling the door open and jump into his arms, but my head is reminding me of all the nights I cried myself to sleep over the past days.
“What is there to explain? You made things clear. I’m not allowed in your world. I’m just someone to keep on the outside. Someone you’ll play with from time to time, but never truly allow in.”
“That’s not true.” He shakes his head like he can shove away the evidence of how he really feels.
“You didn’t even tell me where you were going or why you left. You just disappeared.” My throat thickens as I remember the sinking feeling when I found out he was gone.
“We can’t talk through the door. Open up,” he says again.
“What’s wrong, Luka? Do you not like standing on the outside? Being allowed to peek in a little, but never truly being let in?”
“Avery, If you don’t open this door, I will.” It’s a promise, and one I know he’ll keep. There’s been enough turmoil this week; I don’t want to add having to get a new door to the pile.
“Fine.” I let go of the door and give him room to come inside.
As he walks past me, he takes notice of the butcher knife in my hand and raises an eyebrow.
“I wasn’t sure who it was,” I explain as I lock the door.
“Well, you do now, so maybe put it down.” He points to the cutting board on the counter.
I put it down, then spin around to lean back against the countertop. “You’re back then.” I fold my arms over my chest to keep from trying to touch him. I’ve craved the warmth of his touch for days, and he’s right here. Right in front of me.
“I am.” He gives a curt nod. “Stepan is dead,” he says after a long pause.
It takes me a second to grasp what he said. I shift from one foot to the other. “I figured he would be.” A traitor doesn’t live long in his world.
