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Nikolai’s gaze turned to one of interest like he was prepared to question me further.
But a loud banging came from the trunk where the guy rapped his fist against the top. He shouted, and Nikolai grumbled as he tore himself away from me.
I got out of the car then and watched as Nikolai cursed to himself, striding to the back of the SUV. “I need to meet with my brothers to figure some things out.”
He popped it open, then knocked the guy out again with a single sucker punch. The captive went silent again, head thumping as he slumped back. The trunk was closed, and Nikolai slipped back into the driver’s seat.
Before I could say anything else or hope for a goodbye of some sort, Nikolai peeled out of the parking lot and hurried down the highway. Surely, he had to get to wherever he was going before the man woke up again.
The guard gave me an encouraging tap against my back as he followed me, and I didn’t bother fighting it. I walked with him, watching my feet as my mind wandered.
Every time I thought I was getting closer to Nikolai, he only pulled away more. We made amazing progress after our time together, but it seemed it wasn’t enough.
Their business dealings always seemed to get in the way, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
I trudged into the elevator and pressed the penthouse button. The door closed behind us, and opened seconds later. I entered the suite; the bodyguard waited in his usual spot right outside as I closed the door behind myself. Locking it, I thought about what Nikolai said.
Trust no one.
I didn’t bother speaking with Rose. Instead, I walked past her and entered Kat’s room. I found her still tucked away in bed, sound asleep. Releasing a reassured breath, I was put at ease to some degree.
Leaning in, I tucked the blankets around Kat and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. With a small smile, I pulled the door shut behind me and made my way into the master bedroom.
Exhausted and wrecked by my conflicting emotions, I stripped out of the dress and found something comfortable to put on. After, I went into the ensuite and worked my makeup off. I pulled stray shards of glass from my hair and sighed, reminded of how quickly a blissful night had changed.
Too tired to shower, I flopped onto the bed and curled up underneath the blankets.
It was then that I was forced to confront the whirlwind of my feelings. Nikolai was cold, then hot in the blink of an eye, and he seemed impossible for me to read. It never took long for him to turn icy all over again.
I told him what I thought would make everything run smoother. If he didn’t leave me in the dark, constantly wondering how things were between us, and if he was going to return home to me at the end of the day, then I’d feel more inclined to trust him.
Trudging through this forced marriage, left to fight each other at every turn, sounded exhausting. I didn’t want to spend my life like that. For Kat’s sake, I wanted to be civilized at the very least.
Just when I felt like there was no hope for our relationship, Nikolai’s lust would come out of the woodwork and surprise me. That raw passion between us was enough to stun me and make me delirious. It was almost like a delicate, tender thing that we needed to nurture, yet Nikolai would steel himself away from me again, letting that flame smolder.
It was impossible to wrap my head around, and while I had tried to fall asleep in the bed by myself, I was wide awake.
An hour after I laid down, I heard as Rose and Anya left. The door was locked behind them. I so badly wanted to doze off, but I wouldn’t let myself without Nikolai there.
After some time of laying beneath the blankets without any hope of falling asleep, the front door opened once again, and Nikolai eventually entered the bedroom.
Sitting up, I caught his eye immediately, and Nikolai furrowed his brows.
“Why are you still awake?” he asked, crossing the room to pull his jacket off.
“What was it all about?” I asked instead, peering at him through the dim room. It was impossibly dark outside, yet I could just make out the vague shapes of him and his features.
Nikolai recoiled at my tone, and irritation flared in his features “Don’t make demands of me.” Rather than being honest with me, he turned his back and pulled his shirt off. He swapped his jeans for something more comfortable before moving into the ensuite.
Rolling my eyes at his stubbornness, I said sarcastically, “Can youpleasetell me what’s going on?”
Even though there was no reason Nikolai couldn’t hear me through the open doorway, he didn’t say a word. The tap turned on, and water ran from the faucet. Sighing, I tried again. “I grew up in this life, you know. I’ve seen worse than a man getting tossed into a trunk.”
There was another moment of silence once the tap turned off again, and I pictured him towel-drying his face. Nikolai returned from the bathroom a moment later with shadows splaying across his toned body, dressed in only a pair of sweatpants.
Nikolai’s tone was sharp enough to wound me. “And you couldn’t wait to get away from it.” While he wasn’t far from the bed, he didn’t come any closer. “Are you plotting and planning to escape me too, wife?”
There was an almost hopeful twinge to his words, and my heart dropped. It hurt, but Nikolai didn’t seem to notice.
