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Make him happy. Give yourself a chance to escape later, if you can find the money at some point and help Ruby. Today of all days, it matters.
So I turn around without another word, sinking to my knees in front of him as I slide his boxers down his hips. As I wrap my lips around his cock, I see his satisfied smile above me, and I feel a small flicker of hope.
Maybe I can still win this game.
* * *
“You said I was yours.”
I blurt it out as he sets the plates down on the table for breakfast, the taste of Mikhail’s cum still lingering on my tongue.
“What?” he blinks at me, clearly startled. I’d meant to shock him, since I’ve never willingly broached the topic before. “What the fuck are you talking about, Natalia?”
“You said last night that I was yours. That no one else would touch me or hurt me. But you also said you’re going to give me to Viktor Andreyev.” I tilt my chin up, looking at him defiantly. “You wouldn’t be lying tome, would you? Because that doesn’t seem strictly true, then.”
His eyes narrow, and I see a flash of anger in them as he rises to the bait. “Maybe I plan to ask to kill you myself, as my reward,” he says silkily.
I don’t flinch. “I won’t make it easy for you.”
He holds my gaze for a long moment, and I can feel the simmering tension between us. “You have to keep me alive long enough,” I murmur, still unflinching. “What are you going to do if the stalker comes for me? It was never this violent before. Who knows what he plans to do next?”
Mikhail stands up abruptly, and it’s all I can do not to flinch back at the expression on his face. But when he circles around the table to stand in front of me, reaching for my face, his touch isn’t rough or violent.
He cups my face in his palm, a searing intensity in his gaze as he looks down at me, and I know that he means every word as he speaks. There’s no doubt in my mind.
“If he comes back, if he tries to harm you–” Mikhail’s thumb slides over my lower lip, his touch and gaze as possessive as I’ve ever seen it.
“I’ll kill him.”
* * *
A part of me almost hopes that Ruby won’t come, that she will have gotten herself out of Moscow and away from all of this. When I hear the knock at the front door, I feel a wave of relief and disappointment mingled together–relief that if all goes well, at least I’ll know that she’ll be safe, and disappointment that she’s going to be here in the lion’s den after all.
Mikhail gave me a black slip dress to wear, and I did my best to style my hair with the limited tools and product available to me. I left it mostly loose, pulled back just at the sides, and I pad barefoot to the front door to greet Ruby. It’s the most freedom I’ve ever had here, but he knows there’s no chance of me running now. Not with my best friend here, in the line of fire.
I open the door to see her standing there in jeans and a blue bustier-style top, her red hair tumbling over her shoulders. She has a bouquet of grocery store flowers in her hands, and she thrusts them at me, a lopsided smile on her face.
“I didn’t really know what to bring to some rich guy’s house,” she says with a laugh. “I thought of wine, but that would just be embarrassing. So I figured flowers? It was almost chocolate.”
“Very romantic,” I tell her teasingly as I take them from her, stepping aside to let her in. She lets out a low whistle as she takes it in, looking around as I shut and lock the door, a small tremor of nervousness flickering through me as I think of the possibility that the stalker might be out there, watching us.
“Maybe I shouldn’t blame you for moving in here after all,” Ruby says with a laugh. “This place is gorgeous. And I guess he isn’t so bad to look at, either.”
She turns back to me as I show her to the living room, and I can see the worry underneath the humor on her face. She reaches for my hands, stepping closer to me as she glances over her shoulder, clearly making certain that Mikhail isn’t watching for us.
“You’re really happy here?” she asks softly. “I mean, I can see that it’s a beautiful house, Athe–Natalia.” She catches herself on the name, saying mine with the kind of slight awkwardness that comes with not quite knowing it yet. “I know how nice it can be to be spoiled and pampered and have a guy’s attention entirely on you. Especially when you’ve caught one that’s not just rich but youngandhandsome. But–”
She bites her lower lip, chewing on it anxiously. “I want you to be happy and safe. I know I told you to keep seeing him, but I didn’t think–”
“You aren’t responsible for this decision,” I tell her firmly, my chest tightening painfully at the thought that Ruby might blame herself for anything that’s happened–or that might happen. “You encouraged me to give him a chance, that’s all. You know how hesitant I was. If I hadn’t felt good about it, I wouldn’t have done it. You know me well enough to know that’s true.”
The lies burn on my tongue. I hate this, every part of it–having to lie to the person who has been my truest friend to keep her safe. Making her think that I’m happy, that this is good, when I know that desire aside, Mikhail isn’t a safe place for me.
That none of this was my choice.
“Ladies?” Mikhail steps into the room, and I feel the way Ruby instantly tenses. She drops my hands, a cool, polite smile spreading across her face as she turns towards him. “Ruby. I’m so glad you decided to come.”
“Well, how could I turn down an invitation from my best friend?” Ruby’s smile stays plastered on her face, not quite reaching her eyes. “I wanted to get to know this man who is making her so happy that she changed her entire life in a matter of weeks.”
