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“I can’t do that, Grace.”
I let out a frustrated growl. “You can. Just walk away. I won’t tell anyone. I just want to get on with my life and forget you ever existed.”
“I can’t do that, Grace, because I’m in love with you.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
GRACE
It takes a few minutes for me to stop shaking after I slammed the phone down, ending the call with Ivan.He loves me. He said the words, and I wasn’t angry. But I should be because he’s lost his mind. He’s not a well man, and he’s clearly obsessed. Forcing me to shower in his dead wife’s scents so he can smell her again is crazy. It’s crazy. So, why the fuck did I want to say the words back?
I go into the bathroom and stare at the pregnancy test, which is still face down like I left it. My hand hovers over the plastic stick, but I can’t quite find the courage to turn it over. I growl out loud and storm from the bathroom, throwing myself on the bed. I need sleep. My mind is doing crazy shit because I’m exhausted.
I must drift in and out of sleep for a few hours. Dreams of Ivan standing over me, holding a child, wake me more than once until I finally jump from the bed in frustration and go back into the bathroom.
I turn the stick before I can talk myself out of it. The two lines stare back at me like they’re mocking me. “No, no, no,” I whisper, grabbing the box and checking the instructions again. Two lines confirm pregnancy. I scream angrily, throwing the kit in the bin.
IVAN
An angry scream wakes me from my light sleeping. I lay still, waiting to hear her again. When nothing comes, I sit up and call down to reception, asking them to transfer my call to her room again.
“It’s the middle on the night,” says Grace when I’m finally transferred to her.
“You don’t sound like you’ve been asleep,” I point out.
“I can’t stop thinking about all the shit you’ve done,” she says bitterly. “And how much I hate you.”
I grin. “I don’t think you hate me at all, Grace. In fact, you love me, and you hate that you do.”
“Why are you calling?”
“To hear your voice.”
“That has to stop,” she snaps. “It creeps me out.”
“That I love you so much, I need to hear your voice?”
“You wanted me dead, Ivan. You left me to die at the hands of your freaky friends. I don’t know what pisses me off more, that you left so easily or that you didn’t have the balls to do it yourself.”
“I came back, didn’t I?”
“I was raped,” she screams, and I hear her through the wall.
I place my hand against it. “They paid the price for touching what’s mine.”
“No,” she hisses. “No, they didn’t pay, Ivan. Prison would have made me happier. That’s where you all belong.”
“Read me some more,” I whisper. “Of the diary.” It’s painful to know Lara wrote her words into a book and I never knew. Not only that, but she was suffering at the hands of my men when they were meant to protect her. I can never tell her how sorry I am.
I hear some rustling and then her voice returns. “Fine. I’ll find some of the worst bits.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything different,” I say, and I mean it. I deserve to hear the truth.
“Dear Diary, today was the worst day of my life. Igor attacked me. Ivan is away for a few days, and I let my guard down. I was taking an afternoon nap and forgot to lock the bedroom door. I can’t stop crying and shaking. I feel sick. He held a knife to my throat and did the worst things. So bad, I don’t even want to mark these pages with the details.
“The worst thing is, I think Maxim knows. I’m pretty sure I heard him outside the bedroom door. Igor told me if I tell Ivan, he’ll kill us both. Part of me thinks that option would be best. Now, I’m trapped in this hell, and I can’t leave the room in case it happens again.”
“Stop,” I bark, taking deep, calming breaths. “Stop. I can’t hear any more.”
