Page 56 of Stolen Seconds

I loved my father, I did. But he neversawme. Even within those four walls of our family manor, he never saw me—understood me.

“When you complete your mission, you’ll be home in Russia where you belong, and we can be a true family again.” My heart splintered, the pain spreading throughout my body. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Yes,” I breathed when all I felt was the weight of his words curling around my neck in a suffocating grip.

Chapter 15

Irina

I’d exerted all my energy into the punching bag, rage drifting off me with every hit.

It was late in the night when I had decided to come to the Underground Club and get in a workout.

Was I disappointed that I didn’t run into a large brute? Only slightly.

Every time I was at the Club, it reminded of that night in the sauna. It was the first slip in my demeanor, and I’d let Luca touch me in all the ways I didn’t want him to. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally.

I passed by the front desk, nodding my head at Giuseppe who hosted the night shift. I’d gotten used to seeing his face more than the other workers and I’d like to think he made exceptions for me when I’d come at odd hours of the night, considering there was usually no one else around.

“Goodnight, Miss Irina,” he said before I slipped out of the building.

I had my head down, searching in my bag for the keys to my bike when my skin pricked at the sensation of being watched.

With my jaw clenched tight, I looked up to find Luca leaning on his bike—where it was parked next to mine. His stance was casual, a cigarette hanging from his mouth as smoke billowed out, but his caramel eyes were set on me, narrowed intently.

“Are you following me now?” I asked, trying to avoid the way my heart somersaulted in my chest from having him near me.

His low chuckle slithered along my spine, my stomach fluttering from the deep sound.

He took another drag, watching me as smoke wafted in the air. “How else would I reach you?”

“You don’t.” He didn’t have my number or access to me at all times and I intended on keeping it that way.

“Are we back to this again then?” He tilted his head to the side. “Pretending that we aren’t—”

“Aren’t what?” I asked sharply, the vein in my neck throbbing.

My annoyance wasn’t only directed at him; it was at myself too. For not being able to stay away from him no matter how many times I reminded myself of all the reasons I should.

Thick tension coiled around us as we stared at one another, waiting for the other to break.

He threw the bud on the ground and crushed it beneath his boot. “I want to take you somewhere,” he said, diverting the conversation.

“And why would I go anywhere with you?”

“Because you’re curious,piccola ribelle.”He killed the distance between us, staring down at me with a heady expression. “You can waste time and fail to convince me otherwise or you can sit your pretty little ass on your bike and follow me.”

I’d rather bite down on concrete than admit that he was right.

I hoped the glare I shot his way would set him on fire until he turned into ash for being right.

“Brute,” I mumbled, ready to turn away from him but he caught my chin, pulling me back to face him.

My breath hitched as he pinned me in place with a sheen of possessiveness coating his eyes. He split me open with the scrutiny of his gaze as if he were trying to dissect the very essence of my soul.

Heat flared inside my chest, obliterating any notion that this would ever end. Whether it’d be happily or tragically, I knew if what we had ever ended, we’d perish with it.

After a moment, he nudged under my chin and returned to his bike before revving the engine to life.

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