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I nodded.
“And that you will not hesitate to ask me for help if you shall have a need to do so,” he finished.
I frowned. “Sergei—-”
“Promise me,” he said very softly, “or I will not hesitate to interfere and take this case off your hands.”
“Sergei!”
The billionaire’s hard expression didn’t soften. “Then your promise?”
Realizing that it was futile to argue, I said grudgingly, “I give you my word.”
“Good. And one last thing—-”
I stopped walking, arms crossing over my chest as I snarled accusingly, “You’re having too much fun extracting your pound of flesh.”
Sergei’s expression slowly eased, his lips curving into a smirk that should have irritated me but instead had my heart hammering even more violently against my chest. “I suppose so,” he admitted equably. “But I do have one last condition, and youwillagree to it.”
My back stiffened with suspicion at the way his tone turned serious, and I asked warily, “What’s your condition?”
“If you tell me you do not want me in your life again, make sure you mean it.”
My throat tightened at the savage note in his voice. “Sergei—-”
“My mother has been a selfish creature all her life, and for as long as I can remember, she never hesitated to play with my father’s affections and her children’s. When she needed us, she would pretend to be what we wanted her to be. But when she didn’t, she made us feel like we were trash she couldn’t wait to get rid of.”
I whitened, never imagining that my moment of pettiness could dredge up such dreadful memories for Sergei. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t realize.”
“You weren’t supposed to. Only few people know how bad it had been between my parents.” His grip suddenly tightening, he said harshly, “You are important to me,pchelka.But I will not allow myself to be manipulated—-”
I closed the distance between us, and as soon as his fingers loosened its hold, I hugged him as tightly as I could. “I promise,” I whispered against the hard, powerful wall of his chest. Heart aching at the pain I had inadvertently caused him, I said shakily, “No more games. No more lies.”
Even if being with him was like allowing history to repeat itself—-
Even if being with him was the most terrifying risk I had ever taken—-
I meant every word.
