Page 13 of Assassin's Heart


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I’m just going to be stuck with him for the time being. And when I’m not with him, I’ll be with Grisha.

It’s not a very encouraging thought.

“What about my studies? My classes? I can’t just stop going.” I glare at him, letting him know that this isn’t something I’ll back down on easily. “I’ve worked too hard—”

“You’ll take a leave of absence. Your illbabushkawill be reason enough for that. The department will be more than willing to accommodate you. In fact, I’ve taken the liberty of filing the forms for you already.”

My jaw drops open. “You—what?”

“They were delivered this morning. In fact, if I hadn’t caught up to you on the stairs, I think your department would have been very surprised to see you there, although they would probably just have assumed you were there to pick up some of your things.”

I stare at him in disbelief. Of all the invasions into my privacy so far, this one feels like one of the worst. My reputation in the department is one of being reliable–even as long as I was with Grisha, I never let him talk me into missing class or calling off from my tutoring job. The excuse Levin has givenisa good one, but the fact that those papers were sent without my knowing, that all of this was set into motion this morning before I was even aware of Levin’s existence, feels like such a terrible manipulation, such an invasive maneuver, that I feel sick all over again.

“You really had this all plotted out before I had any idea about it, didn’t you?” I swallow hard. “You were always going to snatch me this morning, it was just a matter of when and where.”

“I’ve been watching you for a little while now, Lidiya, waiting for the right moment, and for things to fall into place.” Levin’s voice sounds almost apologetic as he explains, but his expression doesn’t waver. “Yes, this is always how it was going to play out.”

A silence falls over the room, heavy and almost oppressive, and I clutch the edges of the bed again, feeling my head start to ache more intensely. I’d almost forgotten about the aches and pains from the fall during my conversation with Levin and the shock of it all, but now they come rushing back, making me close my eyes briefly as a wave of dizziness washes over me.

“I want to take a bath,” I say finally. “If I’m going to be trapped here, I at least want to soak for a little while, so I don’t hurt so badly. Can I do that alone, or are you going to stand over me and watch me the entire time?”

Levin’s eyes heat slightly, as if he’s imagining exactly that scenario, and I feel my own face flush a little. I’m instantly reminded all over again of him holding me up against the door, his hands on my upper arms and his body very close to mine.

“I’ll do you one better,” he says coolly, as if trying to mask that flare of desire that I saw in his face. “I’ll go downstairs to the bar and have a drink, place an order for our dinner, and we can talk more over that, once you’ve had your bath. But,” he says warningly, as he sees the flicker of surprise on my face. “Don’t even think about trying to make a run for it. I’m not the only one who knows you’re here, and it will be easier for you if you don’t try to slip around what we’ve agreed. Remember—this will be easiest on you as long as I’m the one running this mission. Don’t give anyone a reason to put someone else in charge of you.”

He pauses, those piercing eyes meeting mine all over again. “I’ll keep my word, Lidiya, always. As long as you keep yours.”

I shouldn’t believe him. I have no reason to. But something in the way he’s looking at me, in the tone of his voice, makes mewantto.

And truly, at this point, I have no choice.

I just nod, frozen there, on the edge of the strange hotel bed in this strange hotel room, looking at a man who is almost entirely a stranger.

“I think we understand each other, then.” Levin reaches for his jacket, striding purposefully towards the door. He flips the lock that I’d tried so desperately to get to, and opens the door, pausing just once to look back at me.

“Enjoy your bath,” he says, and I see that flicker of heat in his eyes once more.

Then he’s gone, the door closing and locking behind him from the other side.

Levin

I’ll keep my word, Lidiya, always. As long as you keep yours.

Standing out in the hallway of the hotel, the door closed firmly behind me, I wonder if I should have said that. I’m not sure if I can know, truly, that there will never be a time when I have to break my word to her for my own self-preservation. But now that I’ve said it, I feel a deep-seated need to keep that promise, whatever it takes.

I’ve always tried my best to be a man of my word. But I’ve never felt so strongly about it.

I hadn’t expected Lidiya to be so captivating. From what I’d known about her before taking her from the train station, she was a nice enough girl, good-hearted enough to regularly send most of her money to her sick grandmother and pretty enough, from pictures I’d seen. I’d wondered at first if she’d known Grisha was married, if she’d been dating him out of some scheme to get to his money, but that question had been clearly resolved this morning.

But meeting her in person, talking to her at length the way we had for the last few hours in my hotel room, has altered my preconceived notions about her entirely.

She’s smart, fiery, tough. Beautiful, especially once all those ridiculous layers had been peeled away. She’s a woman to be reckoned with, someone strong and kind all at once, and I hate that I’m putting her through this. Deep down, I hate making her go back to him.

He doesn’t fucking deserve her.

I shouldn’t care. This is a job, and Lidiya is far from the first woman I’ve planted to get to a man. But something about her feels different. She makesmefeel different, in a way that makes me glad to get some space from her while she takes her bath.

Fuck.Just the thought of her in the bath brings a flurry of images that I don’t need to think about, and can’t stop all at once. Lidiya, peeling away the sweater and skirt that she’d still had on, tossing them to the tile floor, bending over the tub to turn on the taps.What would she have on beneath it?She’s a practical girl, I can’t imagine that she’s wearing satin and lace under all of that. Probably something more ordinary, tight cotton panties, a simple bra. Black, maybe, stark against her pale skin. Unless she’d worn something to appeal to Grisha this morning, before they’d broken up. But I doubt it. Lidiya doesn’t seem like the type to wear lingerie all day. Maybe more the type to have it waiting after a date, change into it before joining her lover in the bedroom—

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