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“Lovely,” I mutter under my breath.
“What was that, Lenochka?”
“Nothing.”
His grip tightens on my hair, but he lets it and the subject go.
“Let’s sleep.” He extends his palm, and I want to refuse it. I want to pretend it doesn’t exist, but that will only result in more punishment and I really want to sleep.
As per every night, I try to scoot to the edge of the bed, facing away from him. Adrian doesn’t stop me, as usual, but he spoons me from behind, his knee pushing between my thighs and his chin resting on my shoulder. He smells like woods and shower gel. Clean and strong like everything about him.
His hand slips under my arm and wraps around my stomach. Sometimes, he grabs my breast and absentmindedly teases a nipple until it’s sensitive and aching.
I stare at the soft light on the nightstand, attempting to erase his existence from my surroundings, to pretend that his skin isn’t covering mine.
That I’m not a hostage in my own body.
If I at least had a drink, I wouldn’t be feeling so victimized right now. I would’ve numbed it—everything about it.
Fourteen days without alcohol—aside from that slight taste that preceded Adrian’s first and only kiss.
I don’t think I was that much of an alcoholic if I’ve managed to go two weeks without a drop of it. Maybe I merely convinced myself I was one.
My cravings are somehow gone, but my yearning for that state of mind alcohol provided me is definitely real and ever-present.
Adrian traces an invisible line over the cloth on my stomach and it’s hypnotizing—like his touch. I fall asleep almost immediately.
I shouldn’t feel safe enough to fall asleep in the embrace of a monster like Adrian, but it just happens.
A small sound makes me open my eyes. I’m still sleeping on my side, Adrian wrapped all around me.
I blink the sleep away as the sound comes again. It’s almost like the footsteps of a child, but they’re heavier than Jeremy’s.
Something jams against the doorknob. It turns but rolls back into place because of the lock.
Who the hell would attempt to come into the master bedroom at night? Adrian’s guards don’t step inside, except for Kolya and Yan sometimes, but never at night. Ogla never bothers us during this time either.
All sounds disappear and I think I’m imagining things, but the doorknob is jammed again, rattling harder this time.
I gasp, sitting up in bed and pulling the sheet to my chest. Adrian’s arms drop from around me and I shake his shoulder, tentative at first, but it becomes more urgent with every passing second. “Adrian…wake up…”
The doorknob is still twisting and turning with supersonic speed.
“Adrian!” I hiss, but he’s not moving.
The door bursts open, and I suck in a sharp breath at the view.
The ghost I saw from the window is standing in the doorway. Her plain white gown falls to below her knees. Her hair is tied back and her face is pale, but other than that, she’s a replica of me. Even her dark-circled eyes and hollow cheeks look like mine from when I was living on the streets.
“L-Lia…?” I whisper.
“So you know who I am, yet you still dare to steal my husband as if it were your God-given right.”
I shake my head frantically. “No…I didn’t…”
“Home-wrecking cunt.”
I shake my head again. “I didn’t want to…Adrian…” I extend a hand to wake him up, but I’m stopped by her harsh voice.
