Page 86 of Sinful Bride

Someone knocks at the door.

Strange. Lev hasn’t been gone long enough to go all the way down, sign for a package, figure out what it is, and get back up here to the penthouse.

But he’s also not the only guard on duty. Viktor and Dominik have been rotating shifts outside to keep an eye on the feds and their movements.

Shit. I forgot about them. I need to see if they’re going to eat with us, too. I go to open the door.

“Hey, I was just gonna ask?—”

Fear grips my throat. Chokes the breath from me.

Because standing there in the doorway, grinning ear to ear, is the last person I want to see.

“Hey, baby.” Conrad tilts his head to one side. “We need to talk.”

32

DAPHNE

I slam the door in his face.

At least, I try to. I really do. But he wedges his shoulder in before I can get it all the way shut and shoves hard, sending me stumbling backward.

What the fuck are you doing here?! I want to scream at him. But I don’t want to frighten my baby, so it comes out in a sharp hiss instead.

“I had to see you. I needed to see you.” Conrad holds his hands up in that fucking annoying way he always did when he thought I was the crazy one who needed to calm down. “I know you’re under lock and key here, so I waited until I saw an opening?—”

“You’ve been watching me?”

He has the audacity to smile. “Of course. We need to talk, so I’ve been watching and waiting for a chance to see you.”

“We have nothing to talk about.” I move for the door. “You need to leave. Now.”

Conrad lunges at me, slamming his ruined hand against the door and grabbing my wrist with his good one. “No, I’m not leaving. Not until we?—”

The crack of my palm on his face silences him before the sting does. It’s enough to loosen his grip and give me the leverage to pull myself free.

It’s also the perfect excuse to rub my wrist.

And discreetly press the panic button on the bracelet Pasha gave to me.

“Okay, Conrad. You want to talk? Let’s talk. But you get three seconds.”

He rubs his stinging cheek for a moment and looks at me with those puppy dog eyes that used to make me melt.

Back when I was younger, dumber, and far more desperate for love.

“I messed up, Daph. I messed up real bad.” His bottom lip quivers. Oh, Lord. When he reaches for me again, I dodge to the side. That only makes his tears fall harder. “I want you. I love you!”

“No, you don’t. Now, get out. Your three seconds are up.”

“Brittany’s such a bitch!”

I blink so he doesn’t see me roll my eyes. There’s no good that can come from antagonizing him. And given his unstable mind, me simply breathing the wrong way could set him off.

“I fucking hate her! I hate her!”

“You chose her, Conrad. You have to deal with the consequences. Leave.”

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