Page 56 of Endless Obsession

“She’s not that hot,” Sarah says, seeing my expression.

“She looks like a movie star.” I watch them walk to their table. Nate doesn’t see me, which feels like a small blessing, but I still feel like I’m crumbling inside. Not because I want him back, or because I still love him, but because—I can’t even really explain why. I don’t want to be on his arm instead of that woman, and yet, I wanted him to be suffering for what he did. I wanted him miserable, sleeping on his brother’s couch, wishing he hadn’t fucked up so badly. Not swanning into this ridiculously expensive gala with the hottest woman I’ve ever seen on his arm, without a care in the world.

“Stop it.” Sarah pokes me again. “Okay, she’s hot. That doesn’t mean anything. So are you. All it means is that either he paid her to come with him, someone bribed her into it, or she hasn’t figured out how shitty his personality is yet. Either way, he’s still the guy who cheated on you and broke your heart. If he doesn’t realize how badly he fucked up yet, he will eventually.”

I know all that is true, and I clearly remember all the texts I ignored, where he begged me to answer him because he clearly has realized he’s fucked up. I don’t know what’s going on here or who she is, but I do know that Sarah is right, and it shouldn’t matter.

It still doesn’t change the fact that I desperately feel like I need to escape.

“I just need some air,” I tell Sarah, taking a gulp of my wine before pushing my chair back and hurrying towards the opposite end of the room, where I see a curving set of stairs. I follow it up, hoping to find a private place where I can be alone for a minute, and see a door at the top, what looks like it might lead to a fire escape or maybe just a storage closet. At this point, I don’t really care.

I shove the door open, chilly air hitting me in the face, and realize that it leads out to a small balcony.

A balcony that Ivan is standing on, leaning on the railing as he takes a drag off of a cigarette.

For a moment, I don’t believe what I’m seeing. The door slams shut behind me, and I jump, letting out a small squeak as Ivan straightens abruptly, turning to look at me as his eyes widen with startled recognition.

“Charlotte.” He blinks, the cigarette held limply in his fingers, and I can feel that my mouth is hanging open.

I can’t believe I’ve unexpectedly seen Nate and Ivan, within ten minutes of each other. I don’t know what Ivan is doing here, or if seeing him is going to make the night better or worse, but I’m seriously considering getting an Uber and going home.

If it weren’t for Sarah, I definitely would. All I can think is that if he knew he was going to be here, why didn’t he tell me?

Unless he’s keeping secrets, too.

“I—” I swallow hard, trying to think of what to say. I take a few steps forward, suddenly shivering in the chill air, and Ivan’s gaze sweeps over me, his usually dark blue eyes darkening even more as he takes in my appearance.

“You look gorgeous,” he murmurs, flicking the cigarette away as he walks towards me. There’s something prowling in his walk, an intent in his eyes that sends a shiver down my spine—but a good one. I’m reminded of the feeling I had walking home the other day, when I imagined my masked man stalking me.

My breath catches in my throat as Ivan stops a few inches away, his gaze sweeping over me once again. We’re alone out here, and I can’t help but think of all the things he could do to me, all the ways he could touch me. We haven’t even kissed, but he looks darkly handsome in his suit, his blond hair styled back away from his face in a way that makes the sharp lines of it look even more chiseled than usual, and my mind is running wild with fantasies that I hadn’t dared to think of before when it came to him.

As if out here, for just a moment, we’re in our own private world. One that no one can inhabit but us.

“I meant to tell you I’d be here,” he murmurs, reaching out to brush his thumb along the edge of my jaw. The touch makes me tremble, for reasons that have nothing to do with the cold. If anything, I feel hot suddenly, warmth blooming through me just from the simple brush of his finger against my skin. “You had to leave lunch in a hurry, or I would have said something.”

I swallow hard, trying to find my voice. “That was Monday,” I whisper, a sharp breeze blowing my hair around my face as I speak. His finger catches one of the pieces, sliding down the length of it before he releases it, and that sends another jolt of heat down my spine for reasons I can’t even begin to explain.

This man does things to me that I didn’t think were possible. That I didn’t think were real. And I want more of it, even if some deep, instinctual part of me is shouting that there’s something dangerous about him, too. Something primal, feral, that I’m not seeing.

That I’m responding to, when instead I should be running away.

“You could have texted since then,” I manage. “You could have told me. You had four other days?—”

“I wanted to explain in person that?—”

“Ivan?” A sweet, lyrical voice floats across the balcony as the door opens before Ivan can finish his sentence, and my heart drops to my feet.

I have no right to be jealous. None at all. I know that, not when I told him that I didn’t want to be exclusive, and yet my stomach twists at the feminine voice, at the sight of the woman walking out onto the balcony.

She’s gorgeous, with blonde hair cut into a soft collarbone-length bob that’s curled around her face, accentuating the delicate lines of it. She’s waifishly thin, dressed in a shimmering rose-gold dress with a square neckline and a peplum waist, designed to give the illusion of hips. She looks at Ivan curiously, but without jealousy, and it makes me wonder what’s going on here.

“We should get back to the party.” Her blue eyes flick over to me, sliding over me with a cool assessment, and my stomach turns.

“So should I.” I break away from Ivan, fleeing towards the door, even as I hear him call my name after me. I can’t stop, though. Even though I have no right to be upset, I am, and I can’t stand hearing an explanation, no matter what it is. On the heels of seeing Nate with his date for tonight, I can’t deal with hearing about why Ivan is here with another woman.

One that he could have warned me about, and didn’t. He could have warned me about all of this.

The door slams behind me, and I try to pick up my pace, but strong, masculine fingers suddenly wrap around my wrist, yanking me back. I can smell Ivan’s cologne, and fear and desire both collide in my chest, making me gasp as he pulls me back.

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