I wake up feeling like something is off.
My mattress feels different. The light is all wrong. I normally sleep in pitch darkness, but there’s sunlight streaming in.
That’s when I sit up and realize that I’m not in my room at all.
“Blyat’.”
When was the last time I spent the night after fucking? I try to remember, but it’s getting harder and harder to remember any night with a woman at all.
As if none of them existed before her.
Olivia sighs in her sleep. I turn to look at her.
It’s nice seeing her like this. When her eyes are open, her guard is up. She’s trying to control everything around her. Always checking over her shoulder for monsters in the shadows.
But in sleep, there’s an abandonment that’s endearing. A vulnerability.
Her eyelashes flutter and her hair is strewn all around her pillow, curtaining her face. I barely restrain myself from reaching over to sweep it from her eyes.
I can’t stop looking at her, though. Even though I know I ought to.
I am not this kind of man, the one who sits awake and stares at the woman in the bed next to him and writes sonnets about the shape of her fucking nostrils or whatever.
My cock is rising slowly, but I halt that desire in its tracks. It’s one thing to fall asleep with a woman; it’s another thing to wake up with her.
Some lines cannot be crossed.
So I slip out of bed, making sure not to jostle the mattress too much. She tosses and moans slightly, but it’s clear she’s not going to wake up anytime soon.
The sheet slips down a little and I catch the curve of her breast and a tiny peek of her nipple. She looks delicious. It’s all I can do not to wake her up by sticking my cock between those luscious pink lips.
“Blyat’,” I curse again.
I grab my shit off the floor, including my phone. I’ve got two missed calls from Demyan and a bunch of text messages.
Hey bro, where are you? We need to talk.
Aleks? Seriously… where are you?
If you don’t call me back in five fucking minutes I can’t be held responsible for my actions.
I check the time on the last message—twenty-five minutes ago. “Fuck me,” I growl under my breath as I step into the bathroom quickly and push the door shut.
I dial Demyan’s number. He answers immediately.
“Yo,” he says, his tone devoid of any real concern.
“What’s happening?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing. Just got worried when I didn’t hear from you this morning. You’re usually up at the crack of dawn.”
“What time is it?”
“Let’s see… 9:40.”
Fucking hell. I can’t remember the last time I slept so late. Or so soundly.
I decide that it means nothing. I was just tired.
Demyan laughs. “You alright there, Sleeping Beauty?”
“I had a late night,” I mutter.
“Yeah, I heard a little something about that,” he says, sounding far too pleased.
“Who did you talk to?” I demand.
He cackles. “I was getting ready to throw out a full-fledged search party when you didn’t reply to my last text. Had your picture ready for the side of the milk cartons and everything. But then I ran into Jen.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic.”
“She told me you were holed up in Olivia’s bedroom. Not just that—she did a walk-by about an hour after you two went gallivanting off, and it seems as if there were some pretty telling sounds coming from the room.”
“What the hell is she doing spying on me?”
“Well, for starters, that’s literally her job title, so if you’re surprised she’s good at it, that’s your own damn fault. But in this one instance at least, she wasn’t actually spying; she was just checking to make sure Olivia was doing okay. No need to worry, it seems. Apparently, you were taking very good care of her.”
“Fuck you.”
Demyan just laughs again. Fucking hyena. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he warns.
“She knows how this works,” I say. “She wants me. I’m not going to deprive her of that privilege.”
But my bravado rings false, even in my own ears. Just yesterday, I could have said it confidently. She means nothing to me. Just a means to an end.
It would have been a lie back then, but a bearable one.
Now, though?
It’s a fucking fiction and everyone knows it. Demyan included.
“If you’re sure that’s all she wants from you,” he says cheerily.
“Where’s Jennifer?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Not sure now. She was looking for you again this morning,” he informs me. “I think something’s come up.”
“Did she tell you anything?”
“Fuck no. That girl saves the best information for your ears alone, no matter how hard I try to coax it out of her.”
“It’s why she’s my favorite,” I say. “And why you’re at the bottom of the list. Although the spying last night certainly knocked her down a peg or two.”
“Heaven forbid. Although I do appreciate her giving me some room to move up the rankings.”
“You are stuck in dead last for as long as you live, sobrat,” I drawl. “Where are you?”
“In your office. I’m going over a few plans for the warehouse projects.”
“Stay there,” I tell him. “I’ll be down soon.”
I hang up, dress fast, and head back into the bedroom.
Olivia is still wrapped up in the sheets, but now, they only come up to her waist. Her breasts are bare and exposed. Her nipples are perfect pink points, begging to be sucked and pulled until she yields like putty beneath my hands.
I wrench myself away from her and storm out the door. I’ve just managed to shut it when I feel her presence behind me.
I have to give it to her—the woman’s good.
“Is there a reason you gave Demyan a full-blown report on me this morning?” I ask with irritation as I turn to face Jennifer.
She makes no apologies as she leans against the wall and crosses her arms over her chest. There are dark circles around her eyes, though she’s tried to hide them under a thick coating of foundation.
Jennifer’s always been an emotional dresser. She chooses her clothes based on how she’s feeling. When she’s happy, she goes with bright colors—yellows, pinks, oranges. When she’s feeling down, it’s blues and grays. Anger is reds and blacks.
Today, she’s wearing deep navy trousers and a soft gray sweater that comes high up her throat. She’s tied her blonde hair back, leaving only a few strands floating around her heart-shaped face.
Depression it is, then. I’m only a little surprised.
“He was worried,” she retorts. “And I wasn’t about to lie.”
“Right, because you’re so bad at that.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Don’t be an asshole.”
“We all stick to what we’re good at, don’t we?”
She goes quiet for a moment, clearly not expecting my antagonistic attitude. The truth is, my anger has nothing to do with her. I’m pissed off at myself.
“You’re falling into the same trap that I did.”
I lean against the opposite wall and stare down at her. “Which trap is that?”
“I made the mistake of thinking I could have a future with someone I had no business being involved with.”
“Your business is what I tell you it is,” I growl.
She is unfazed by my irritation. “What makes you think you’re so different from me?” she asks. “You spent the night with her, Aleks. I remember you telling me not so long ago that you never spend the night with any woman. It’s your most absolute rule.”
“Rules are meant to be broken.”
“Really? Is that how you’re writing this off?” she snaps. “I never took you for a hypocrite.”
“For fuck’s sake, I didn’t mean to spend the damn night, okay?”
She presses forward and catches my forearm in her grasp. “If you’re catching feelings for her—”
“Stop,” I say, cutting her off. “I am not catching anything for her. She was brought in because I needed something strong enough to control that irritating brother of hers. She is nothing more than a weapon I will use to cow him. This marriage was not about emotion; it was about convenience. And when her purpose is served, she will get to go back to her pathetic little life, and I can move on with mine.”
“That’s harsh,” Jennifer says. “She—”
But before she can finish, the door flies open and Olivia stands there, framed against the darkness. The sheet is wrapped around her chest. Her eyes are fixed on me.
She stares at me, waiting for me to tell her that what she’s just heard is a lie, a farce, an act of pride.
I don’t say anything.
“That’s all I am to you, is it?” she whispers.
“Olivia,” Jennifer begins, releasing me and stepping towards her.
“No!” Olivia answers, holding up her hand forcefully. “Don’t come any closer. I don’t want either one of you near me. You realize I’m a person, right? Not a tool or a weapon or… or… collateral damage.”
She looks at Jennifer with tears in her eyes, ready to fall.
“I trusted you. We all did. My mom, she still refers to you as her daughter. Because that’s how our family is. We loved you by virtue of the fact that you made Rob happy. You could have crawled in from the gutter and we would have loved you regardless. You didn’t just hurt him, Jennifer—you hurt all of us. And now, I have to deal with the knowledge that my brother will find out that, despite how deeply he loved you, you never truly loved him back.”
“Olivia—”
“No!” she screams again.
And as she does, for the first time, I see the fight come alive in her. She transforms into a lioness, someone who would go to any lengths to defend and protect her family.
It’s fucking erotic.
“You don’t get to talk. The two of you never fucking quit, always thinking you know what’s best for me. But you’re wrong and you don’t. It’s my turn. I’m speaking now, and both of you can shut the hell up and listen.”
Well, damn.
It’s much more than I expected from her, and I find my hard-on coming back to life.
“As for you,” she seethes, turning her anger on me. “You invaded my life, seduced me, and made me believe you weren’t a complete monster, only to find out that you’re exactly that. No wonder you don’t respect anyone else’s feelings—you don’t even know what the hell they are.”
I want to push back. I want to meet her fire with my own, the way I always have. But there’s something about her strength right now that I don’t want to dampen.
She’s fighting her own battle… and she looks damn good doing it.
“It’s not personal, Olivia,” I tell her.
“Not personal?” She cackles in my face. “It’s all personal, Aleks. This is my family. You’re threatening them and you’re playing with me. Did it ever occur to you that I might actually have feelings for you?”
The words seem to surprise her, too, because her eyes widen for a moment. She goes still. Then they narrow back to furious slits.
“You know what? Forget it. To hell with both of you.”
She steps back into the sanctum of her room and slams the door. Jennifer and I turn to one another.
“Wow,” she remarks. “Didn’t know she had it in her.”
I smirk. “I did.”
“You need to go in there and apologize.”
I frown. “Do I look like the kind of man who apologizes for anything?”
“Maybe it’s time to start,” Jennifer says. “She’s hurt.”
“You had a hand in that, too.”
“That’s different,” she says. “She’s not in love with me.” I raise my eyebrows, and she gives me a sharp glare. “Oh, come the fuck on. Like you didn’t know.”
Before I can answer, Demyan rounds the corner looking flustered. “There you are, Jesus.”
My frown deepens. “What’s going on?”
He sighs. “Shit you’re not gonna like.”
