Page 62 of Sinful Lies

“Oh, I’ll do much more than that, Koslov. Now, get the hell out of my club.”

When I strollinto the penthouse an hour later, I sigh in relief at the sight of Zara lounging on the couch reading a book.

She glances over at me and offers me a small smile. She must have just had a shower as her hair is wet, and she’s wearing a pair of pink checked pjs.

I can’t deny she looks fucking adorable, and I want nothing more than to snuggle up beside her.

“I brought us some Chinese for dinner.” I figured if she had a bad day, the least I could do was pick up her favorite take out.

I make my way over to the kitchen and get to work dishing up the food.

“Thanks.” She sets down her book to come and join me at the island as she eyes the containers. “How did you know this is my order?”

“When I saw four separate charges on my card at the same place, I figured you liked it.” I pull containers of egg rolls and dumplings out of the bag. “I called them up and asked for your regular order and got myself the same.”

I watch Zara’s expression, and I’m surprised when her face starts to crumple.

“That wasn’t meant to upset you, I’m sorry,” I blurt but Zara shakes her head, running her hands through her wet hair.

“No, it’s…so sweet of you.”

I shrug. “It’s nothing.” I pick up the plates of food. “Come on, let’s break in my dining table.”

I leave Zara to get the cutlery and glasses while I carry the rest of the food over to the table. To Zara’s credit, the food looks delicious and my stomach growls with anticipation.I decide to pop open a bottle of her favorite rosé to finish off the meal, hoping that once she eats, she might start to feel better.

Though it soon becomes apparent that whatever is bothering Zara is worse than I thought because she barely touches her food, and her eyes are downcast as she nibbles on her lower lip.

I set down my fork and lean back in my chair, deciding I need to do some damage control.

“How was your day?”

Zara grimaces as she pushes her noodles around her plate, barely taking a bite.

“Zara?”

“I… It doesn’t matter.”

“Do you want to tell me why you came home at lunchtime and didn’t go back to the office?”

Zara’s eyes widen as she looks at me.

“I got a notification on my phone that you were home.”

I push my plate to the side and lean forward, resting my forearms on the table as I watch Zara carefully.

She opens and closes her mouth, as if deciding how much to tell me.

That won’t do.

“He’s still bothering you, isn’t he?” My chest tightens at the way Zara’s shoulders hunch over, and her lower lip trembles.

“Yeah,” she whispers. “It’s…worse.”

“Sladkaya.” I sigh, reaching across the table for her hand.

Zara’s face crumples, but she doesn’t pull away from me.

I gently stroke my thumb over the back of her hand, not wanting to push her to talk if she doesn’t want to.

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