Page 103 of Sinful Lies

“Me too, B.”

I trymy best to stay up until Dimitri gets home but after taking a long soak in the bath and managing to eat a small bowl of pasta, my eyelids are so heavy I decide to crawl into bed and wait for Dimitri there.

Though as the sky starts to turn dark, so do my thoughts.

Lying alone in my bed as I stare at the empty spot beside me, I can’t help but picture my life if Dimitri decides to walk away.

How the hell am I meant to manage a demanding career and a newborn? They say a woman can’t have it all, but I don’t want to have to choose.

My thoughts spin around in circles as I lie on my back and stare up at the ceiling.

Eventually, my door opens, filling the room with light, and I glance over to see Dimitri’s broad frame cast in shadow.

“Hey, sleepy girl,” Dimitri murmurs as he crosses over to the bed.

“Hey.” I turn on my side to watch him as he strips out of his shirt and pants until he’s in nothing but his boxers.

Dimitri’s dark eyes search my face, and his eyebrows pull together in a frown as he reaches out to cup my cheek.

“Have you been crying?” His thumb brushes over my cheek.

“What?” I wipe at my face and cringe at the feeling of my damp skin. “Oh, yeah, I guess…”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dimitri’s voice is so rich and soothing, my lip starts to wobble as I fight back tears.

I reach for him, and he instantly climbs into the bed beside me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me against his chest. I bury my face in the crook of his neck to try and mufflemy sobs.

“Sladkaya zhizn’, what is it?” He gently strokes my hair.

I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him closer, my throat too thick with emotion to get any words out.

“Is it work? Did Giovanni do something?”

I don’t miss the way his body tenses as he speaks my boss’s name.

“N-no.”

Not yet.

The thought makes my body tense, and Dimitri must feel it as he tightens his hold on me.

“I’ve got you, Zara,” he murmurs against my hair.

I nod, but his words don’t comfort me as much as before.

Dimitri can’t protect me from everything, and I can’t let him put his own life on hold to do so. I don’t want him to resent me for taking him away from his work or his family because of this situation with Giovanni, and now with the baby.

But the thought of doing it all alone scares me to death.

“Sleep, Zara.” He presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “You’re safe.”

For now.

“You’ll enjoy it, Zara,”he purrs in my ear as his fingers fumble with the lace of my panties.

“Don’t.” Tears stream down my face. “Please, stop.”

“It won’t hurt as much if you just lie still.”

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