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I gasp as the pain sharpens. My hand turns a deeper shade of red while the skin on my wrist is ghostly white. It’s clear that Talia doesn’t just want me out of their life.
She wants to hurt me more than he hurt her.
She wants medead.
“Has he fucked you yet, Paige?” Talia gives my wrist a vicious tug as she continues her taunt.
“I—”
“Of course he has,” she seethes. “I should’ve asked how many times a day.” Her gaze lowers to my breasts, encased in a pushup bra that almost spills out of my dress. Suddenly, I feel dirty in the revealing dress and my heels. “You look like someone that only has sex in a bedroom.” She laughs bitterly. “And only if he’s on top.”
Her expression and composure change slightly, as if the thought of Andrei on top ofmeis doing something to her. I know what’s zipping through her mind. I’ve had those thoughts too. What’s wrong with me that my ex would cheat? And what makes my fake husband able to resist me?
Fantasies of Andrei barge into my head. I envision the way his lean body stalks me across the bed before he crawls over me. The way his eyes watch me moan as his tongue presses against my clit. The taste of his cum returns to my nose like a stubborn perfume.
My face grows hot, and when I look at Talia, her hostility is so tangible it’s like a part of her has grown strong enough to survive on its own.
Sneering, Talia digs her nails deeper into my wrist, forcing the skin into crescents. The pain makes me gasp loudly. She hears it before I can swallow it and pulls me toward her. Her mouth twists as she yanks my arm down, forcing me to bow down to her.
“If you have any sense in your thieving head,suka,you’ll back off,” she hisses. “And stop playing with what doesn’t belong to you.”
I hold back unwanted tears of pain. I won’t let her make me cry. “You’re hurting me.” My words of warning come out in a pathetic squeak.
“Good.” Smiling, her nails bite in deeper. “If you can’t handle a talk, then you better run, Paige. Because it’s only going to get worse, you cheap fucking whore.”
I may not know how to pick a fight, but my old neighborhood—and my cousin Kenney—taught me how to get out of a situation just like this. I relax my wrist, letting my arm go slack, and then quickly turn it toward Talia’s thumb.
The move frees me, and quickly, I move away.
Talia looks annoyed at her empty hand. And before I can fully recover, she grabs hold of my other wrist and jerks me down onto the table. I sense her looming over me as I struggle again to get away. She won’t fall for any cheap tricks this time.
“You’re very pretty, Paige.” Her voice lifts the hairs on the back of my neck. “Almost beautiful. But beauty is only skin deep.” Her nail traces a line across my cheek from the corner of my mouth to my ear. “It won’t take much for me to take that beauty away from you. Andthenwho will Andrei love?”
I close my eyes, hating myself for being a coward. The room suddenly feels small, as if the ceiling is pinning me in place. I know this woman has no compunction about destroying me. My knees start to shake. I wonder if she’ll saw my throat open with the butter knife and leave my bloody corpse for Andrei to find.
“I didn’t know,” I whisper. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s always a reason,” she hisses. “And it isn’t always love. But why you? You’re a nobody. You’re nothing.”
Cool air rushes into the stifling room as the door opens. I can’t raise my head, but I turn my gaze and see Andrei step inside, closing the door behind him. He places a wine bottle on the table, the neck clutched tightly in his hand. Relief floods through me at the sight of him.
“Let her go, Talia.” His voice is low, and I can hear the concern as he speaks.
“We’re just talking, Andrushka,” she replies in a tone filled with cracks. “Aboutourfuture.”
Andrei takes a quick step forward, and his large hands pull Talia off me in one swoop as if she’s a piece of lint on my shoulder. I gasp for air, and for a moment, I hold onto the table before moving quickly away, determined not to be caught again. I take a step back, positioning myself by the door and wondering why Andrei hasn’t called a guard.
“Your quarrels are with me.” His voice remains calm. “Not my wife.”
My wife.
My shoulders drop to a natural position as relief sweeps over my heated face. I hold onto my stinging wrist, wondering again why Andrei hasn’t called a guard. I glance at the door and then back at them.
They face each other, and though Talia is a foot shorter than Andrei, her body conveys a predator’s skill that effortlessly matches his. Their hard gaze and fearless stance mirror one another as if they’re a set of tigers on the verge of combat.
His eyes darken, but Andrei does nothing as Talia curses him in English and Russian. My throat tightens as I realize he’s not going to call his guards on her. Andrei won’t want the guards to hurt her.
Fists at his side, he stares silently at Talia as if he deserves her unhinged abuse for destroying her heart.
