Page 63 of Sinful Betrayal

“What’s the deal with you two?”

“Um…”

I should have prepared an answer. I knew the question of Anton and me would come up, considering the fact that I brought Emma over to his house.

“Because he isinsanelyhot and rich and seems like a genuinely nice guy. He’s the whole package, Nina.”

“I know he is.” I sigh, swirling my wine around in my glass to keep my hands busy.

“Are you a thing? Because if you’re not and he’s available, I will quite happily take him off your hands.”

“I’m working on it.”

I manage to steer the conversation away from Anton and me for the rest of the afternoon, peppering Emma with questions about her recent string of bad dates and hookups in various New York haunts.

She happily gives me all the details, her foul mouth leaving my cheeks tear-stained from laughing so hard.

After devouring a pizza and a bottle of wine, Emma decides to head home around eight.

As much as I would have loved to continue late into the night, drinking expensive wine and talking about boys and ballet, we both have an early morning rehearsal for the Winter showcase tomorrow, which we cannot afford to be hungover for.

Yakov graciously drives Emma back to the city, and I head upstairs, running into Anton outside my room.

“How was your afternoon?” He reaches out to stroke my cheek.

The way he always has to touch me makes me think that he’s just as in awe of me as I am of him. As if neither of us can quite believe that the other is real.

“It was so lovely. Thank you again.”

“Of course.”

“I’m going to go and take a shower. I need to leave for school at six thirty tomorrow for rehearsals, so I should probably sleep in my room tonight.”

While it’s not entirely a lie, I think a night alone to sort through my thoughts isn’t such a bad idea.

Getting possessive over Anton is not good, and while the last week of sleeping next to Anton has been incredible, I really need to turn my focus back to ballet.

After all, when all of this is over, it might be the only thing I have left.

“You don’t trust me to keep my hands to myself?” Anton’s eyes crinkle at the corners.

“I don’t trust myself.” I laugh. “And I really can’t afford to be tired tomorrow.”

“Okay,lapochka.Sleep well.” Anton leans down to kiss my forehead.

I sigh at his touch, my entire body relaxing at the feeling of his warm lips.

I head into my private bathroom and turn on the shower. As I wait for it to warm up, I quickly scroll through the notifications on my phone. I’m just catching up on some messages from Allie and Bea when my phone starts ringing with an incoming call from my father.

My stomach sinks as I glance over at the bathroom door, my heart rate increasing at the thought of Anton walking in.

I cross the room and turn the lock just to be on the safe side.

It’s becoming so easy to pretend that Anton and I exist in this safe little bubble. Getting to spend all day dancing and then coming home to a man who treats me like I’m his world is all I’ve ever wanted, and I hate that at some point, the bubble will burst.

When I agreed to this plan, not that I was given much choice, I never expected to actuallylikeAnton or for him to be such a nice person. I thought he would be an asshole, which would make it easy for me to betray his confidence.

But he’s the exact opposite, and I have no idea what to do.

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