Page 32 of Shatter Me

“No.” The word comes out breathier than I intended. “I deserve better than being treated like your dirty little secret.”

“Dirty little secret?” His hand comes up to cup my face, thumb brushing my bottom lip. Despite my anger, I lean into his touch.

“What else could it be?” I whisper. “You won’t even look at me in meetings.”

“Because if I look at you,” his other hand grips my hip, pulling me closer, “I remember how you taste. How you sound when you come apart for me.”

My breath catches. “Dmitri...”

“Tell me to stop.” His lips brush my ear. “Tell me you don’t want this as badly as I do.”

“You’re unbelievable.” I shove against his chest, breaking free from his hold. “You think you can humiliate me with the board, then waltz in here and seduce me?”

“The board meeting was business.” His jaw tightens. “This is personal.”

“That’s exactly the problem.” I straighten my dress, putting the desk between us. “I won’t be your dirty little secret that you treat like garbage in public.”

“I wasn’t treating you like garbage.” His perfect composure slips. “I was being professional.”

“Professional?” I bark out a laugh. “You deliberately undermined months of my work. Those certifications are valid, and you know it.”

“The board expects a certain level of scrutiny?—”

“Oh, save it.” I snatch up the proposal folder. “You were being an ass because you’re scared someone might notice you actually care about something besides your precious control.”

His eyes flash. “Careful, Natasha.”

“Or what?” I step closer, chin raised. “You’ll punish me more in the next meeting? Go ahead. But don’t expect me to spread my legs for you afterward.”

“Such crude language from a society princess.” His lips twist into that infuriating smirk.

“Get out of my office.”

“Make me.” He leans against my doorframe, loosening his tie. “We both know how this ends.”

I grab the nearest object—a crystal paperweight—and hurl it at his head. He dodges smoothly, the smirk never leaving his face.

“Your aim needs work,printsessa.” He steps into the hallway. “But I do love watching you get all... worked up.”

The door clicks shut before I can throw something else. I sink into my chair, hands shaking with rage and lingering desire.

Damn him.

I slam my hand against my desk, rattling the papers and my coffee cup. The coffee he brought me. Like some twisted peace offering after leaving me alone in my office.

What was I thinking? I let Dmitri Ivanov seduce me right here. In my own sanctuary. The same man who just humiliated me.

My reflection in the window mocks me. I look perfectly put together in my navy dress, but I’m a mess inside. How did I go from warning Sofia about these men to spreading my legs for one of them? On my own desk, no less.

My skin still burns where he touched me. He wouldn’t even look at me in the boardroom—but I could feel his presence like an electric current. Even now, angry as I am, my body betrays me with memories of his hands, his mouth, the way he made me beg...

I press my thighs together, disgusted with my own weakness. This is exactly what he wants—to get under my skin, to make me doubt myself. To prove he can control me just like he controls everything else in his perfectly ordered world.

The coffee cup catches my eye again, and I dump it in the trash with a satisfying thunk. I won’t be another one of Dmitri Ivanov’s conquests. Another pretty thing he can add to his collection.

Even if part of me still aches for his touch.

God, I’m pathetic.

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