Page 25 of Emerald Malice

The silver of his irises has turned to steel. There isn’t an ounce of softness left in the lines of his face as he stares down at me, cold and merciless.

“Is this it then?” I wish I didn’t sound quite so bitter, but I’m not nearly as capable of curating my reactions as he is. “You got what you wanted from me and now, you’re done?”

His eyes flash. “You did say I’d never have to see you again after tonight.”

“You don’t.” I hate how my voice wobbles with hurt rather than anger. “This was a huge mistake. After you walk out that door, I can forget you ever existed.”

Those glacial eyes betray nothing as he reaches into his wallet and pulls out a couple of hundred dollar bills.

He throws the money onto my coffee table and walks to the door.

I don’t even have words for how this feels. Fucked, paid, and abandoned like some cheap hooker. If only he was done there.

But he stops in the doorway, the flickering glow of the hallway light illuminating half of his face, and says one more thing to ensure the damage is complete.

“I’ve already forgotten you exist.”

Only then does he finally go.

9

ANDREY

It had to be done.

Natalia was looking at me like she wanted to cook me dinner and tell me about her day. She was looking at me like she wanted me to stay.

As I walk down seven flights of stairs, lit by bare flickering bulbs, I tell myself again and again that cold cruelty was the only thing that could correct her deluded notions of who she thinks I am.

Not the man you cook dinner for.

Not the man you share your day with.

Not the man you ask to stay.

I tell myself I did it for her. But the truth is, the moment she stumbled towards me, her eyes bright with hope, her lips pursed up in a shy smile, I sensed danger.

Fucking her didn’t scratch the itch like I assumed it would.

On the contrary, when she came down from her orgasm, clutched in my arms, my sweat covering her skin, my cum dripping out of her, and my promise fulfilled because she did smell like me, only like me, all I could think was…

I want more.

It would have taken so little to convince me to stay. That’s exactly why I had to leave.

Because the last time I decided to stay, I got to know the woman behind the pretty smile. And now, I can’t think about that smile without also thinking about her cold, gray lips the very last time I kissed her.

Forgive me, Maria.

Shura is sitting patiently in the SUV when I emerge onto the moonlit pavement. I’m desperate for a smoke, but if I indulge, Shura will know something’s up. It’s a dead tip-off that something’s on my mind, and I’m not in the mood to talk about this shit. Not any of it.

Even still, Shura eyes me curiously when I get into the passenger seat. “That took longer than I expected. I’m assuming you got something?”

I control my expression. “She appears to be clean. Did you find anything else?”

He holds up his phone. “Not much. She lost her parents when she was young. Carjacking.”

I glance up to the seventh-floor window I know is Natalia’s living room. A shadow flickers behind the curtains.

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