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“No one is forcing you, Katherine,” he says. I can picture his skeevy smile and it makes me grimace. I don’t like how he says my name. Working with him feels something akin to selling my soul to the devil.
“I just need to get rid of Emilia, so Niko will come back to me.”
“Don’t worry. Once Emilia sees the actual contract, she will never stay with Niko.”
“She better not.”
“Make sure you have him there at the restaurant by noon. That’s the only way to make sure the wheels are in motion.”
“I will.” I hang up the phone, slipping it back into my pocket as I make my way back to my drink.
I pick up my glass and move it around letting the ice tinkle together. My attention goes to the bar where Niko has left his phone because it starts ringing. I quickly grab it, smiling when I see it says Emilia is calling.Perfect timing.I quickly grab it, just as it rings again. I hit accept on the call just as the bathroom door opens.
“Let it ring, Katherine,” Niko yells. “I’m almost dressed.”
The door shuts again, and I hum into the phone, my voice sickeningly sweet.
“Niko’s phone.”
“I-I’d like to speak to Niko,” she stutters.
“Oh Emilia, is this you?”
“Do I know you?” she asks, and I grin. I may not need Dante after all. Hopefully, I can get rid of Emilia right here.
“This is Katherine. Niko’s in the shower so we can go out for a bite to eat. We’ve been lazy all day, hiding from the world. Is something wrong? I can get him now.”
It’s important I keep my voice friendly and clueless. I want her to think they’re not meant to purposely hurt her. I know I am though. I can damn near feel her heart breaking from here. It’s music to my ears. While I’m not a hateful person, she’s in my way. If she’s around, Niko is no longer mine.
“You…You’ve been with Niko all day?” I don’t miss the shock in her voice. The stammer really sends it home.
“Of course,” I lie. I wait for a response, but the only one I get is her hanging up which makes me smile.
I click away at the screen, deleting the call and putting the phone back. I don’t want him to see that I answered. That would be bad—very bad. No one disobeys Niko Petrova and lives.
I have no remorse for hurting Emilia’s feelings. I truly feel giddy. She is just a steppingstone to the outcome I’m looking for. I hate that I’m going to have to hurt Niko in the process. But then again, he did me. He pushed me aside as if the years we spent together were nothing more than business. I gave him my heart and in return I got a severance check.
There is guilt because he’s always been good to me at least untilher.I noticed a change in him at Emilia’s sixteenth birthday party. He began withdrawing from me and it just got worse as she got older, until finally he came home and told me it was over, thrusting a check at me as if I was nothing more than a paid hooker.
If he thinks I’m willing to lose the life I’ve had being with him, he really needs to think again.
I won’t allow him to leave me for some kid. It’s not happening.
CHAPTER26
Emilia
I’m not sure how long I stand there holding my phone. There’s a ringing in my ears, my heart is racing, and my breathing is coming in quick gasps. This can’t be happening.
He promised it wouldn’t happen.
I’ve been worried about Kathrine this whole time. I voiced my fears about her to Niko, who made me feel childish for not trusting him and now…
He could have been honest. He could have just told me he wasn’t going to give her up. Instead, he tried to shift the focus on me being too young and not believing him.He’s a coward.
I knew what they had couldn’t be over that quickly. They have years behind them. That doesn’t just stop. Feelings, habits, and everything that comes with that, doesn’t just disappear. He convinced me the other night that all he wants is me. Now, I feel like an idiot. The worst part is, I knew better but fell for it anyway. I believed in him completely.
And now hearing her voice over the phone…
