Page 88 of Obsession

Mihir clapped along with everyone, and then led her to the side.

“Surprised?” Mihir asked.

“Surprisedandimpressed.” She pushed to her toes and straightened his bow tie. “You have quite the moves, Oshnov.”

He linked her hand to his. “I may have learned a thing or two over the years.”

“I want to seeallyour moves, Oshnov. Make me feel only what you can.”

His eyes darkened, and he caressed her cheek. “You’re playing with fire, Anna.”

“Good, now make me burn.” She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Let’s go home.”

His lips twitched. His eyes swept past hers. He looked in the distance and then back at her. “One of the board members is beckoning me. I’ll need to leave you alone for a few minutes. Will you be alright by yourself?”

“Of course. Go do your thing.”

“We’ll leave as soon as I return.”

She nodded.

Mihir went to an older gent. Seeing him engrossed, she drifted towards the grazing table. Various types of cheeses, crackers, dips, olives, canapés, buns, tarts, and finger fruits were spread out in front of her, the tags on them in Russian, with English translation below.

“Try theTvorog,” a voice said from her right. “It’s very authentic Russian cheese.”

She looked to the side and found a tall, blonde man dressed in a black tuxedo and a white mask standing next to her. His icy blue eyes bore into her through the slits in his mask.

She looked at the cheese platter he was pointing to.

“Have it with the apricot jam,” he advised.

Forking a small portion of the cheese, she dipped it into the jam and took a bite. A burst of flavors hit her tongue—sweet, salty, tangy. The combination was delicious indeed.

She swallowed it whole and tipped her fork at the man. “Thank you. That did taste good.”

“You’re welcome. Can I get you a drink?”

Something about him made her feel wary. She shook her head. “I’m waiting for someone, actually.”

“Of course, you’re waiting for Mihir Oshnov. Most women are… The queue of women waiting for his attention is quite long.” His lips thinned. “What will you have? Champagne?”

She didn’t like his sly tone, nor the way he spoke about Mihir. He must definitely be one of the board members who were not pro Mihir.

She lifted her nose. “Sorry, I don’t accept drinks from strangers. Also, Mihir won’t make me wait too long, because unlike other women, I already have his attention. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Those ice-blue eyes hardened a fraction. “Bold and beautiful—now I get why he’s not been able to get over you.”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I watched him dance with you earlier. Oh, he’s definitely not over you. Quite interesting, really.”

“It’s not.”

Her gut clenched in warning. She turned to move away, but his next words froze her. “Ananya Mehra. It’s good to finally meet the woman from Mihir’s past.”

Her jaw dropped as her mind spun furiously. Who was this man? How did he know about Mihir and her being together in the past? She could count on her fingers the number of people privy to that detail, and none of them were here tonight.

The man laughed, the sound cold and harsh. “I can see your journalist mind is getting curious by the second, Ananya. Tell me, how do you feel when you look at him now? Aren’t you repulsed by that ugly scar?”

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