AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good. Do you need anything?”
The truth would be delightful, thanks. “Um, I was just gonna go get some water.”
He tosses his coat over the nearby armchair. “Wait right there. I’ll get it for you.” He leaves me sitting on the couch, wondering—and again, I’m aware that I’m being pathetic and petty and stupid and ridiculous—if this was the kind of thing he did for Elena.
Did he take care of her the same way? Did he learn to cook for her? Was he as protective? Did they ever talk about having kids of their own one day? Did?—
“Here you go.”
He hands me the glass of water. I mutter a quick, “Thank you” and take it from him, careful not to let our fingertips touch.
I’m hoping he’ll sit down, but he shows no signs of it. Instead, he retreats toward the hallway. “I’ve got some work to do. If you need anything else?—”
“Who’s Elena?” Yeah, yeah, I know. Real fucking smooth. I curse myself out internally and try not to be too terrified by the darkness spreading across his face. “I’m sorry; I know it’s none of my business, but?—”
“You’re right,” he spits. “It isn’t any of your business.”
“I just want to know you a little better, Dmitri,” I rasp. “I want to understand.”
Anger ripples across his eyes. There’s no mistaking that that’s what it is, but this is different than any anger I’ve ever seen him show before. It’s scarier by miles.
“You want to ‘get to know me’? What the fuck do you think is going on here, Wren?”
I push up to my feet so that I’m not craning my neck to look up at him. “I just think?—”
“You think, just because we’ve fucked a couple of times, that means we’re in some sort of relationship?”
I draw in a breath. In my head, I start to sing, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words…
“Or maybe you think of yourself as my mistress? It seems to be a role you’re comfortable with, historically speaking.”
Never mind. Words can definitely hurt me. Those hurt worse than anything he’s ever said.
My vision blurs behind a veil of tears.
“That’s not fair.” The heat of my words is lost in their tremble.
“What’s not ‘fair’ is that I’m stuck having a baby with you,” Dmitri snarls. From my peripheral vision, I notice Bee lingering at the entrance to the living room. I can’t bear to look at her. Either Dmitri doesn’t see her or he just doesn’t care. “Since you seem to be confused, let me make this clear for you?—”
“Dmitri!” Bee’s voice is raised in alarm, but he ignores her as he advances on me, suddenly huge and broad and utterly terrifying.
“We are not friends. We are not lovers. And you are most definitely not my girlfriend. You are nothing more to me than an incubator for my son. And once he’s born, I will have no more use for you.” He pauses just out of reach and stares at my tears unflinchingly. “Is that fucking clear enough for you?”
I nod once, turn tail, and run. “Wren!” Bee calls desperately, trying to grab me. I push past her and take refuge in my room. Except it’s not my room; it’s his. Everything is his.
His apartment.
His world.
His son.
Even the woman I consider my friend is his fiancée.
So—where does that leave me?
Nowhere.
It leaves me nowhere at all.
