Page 51 of Beautiful Deception

“I am. I don’t know why I feel this way. I know I shouldn’t and for that, I’m sorry.”

“If you only knew what I was really thinking…”

I inhale sharply. “Maybe you shouldn’t tell me that.”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t.” His eyes rake over my body once more before he turns away abruptly. “I need to get back down there.”

“Viktor,” I say before he can leave. “I just want you to know that… I feel safe with you.”

He looks over his shoulder at me with soft eyes. It only makes me like him more. “I’m glad.”

“You’ll keep me safe?”

“Do you feel like you’re in danger?”

Natasha’s face flashes to my mind. “No. I just want to know.”

He nods once. “I’ll always keep you safe.” Then he finally walks away and I put my new shirt on and we both pretend that what happened didn’t happen.

Chapter Eight

Inessa

ViktorandIdancearound each other for days. Neither one of us looks at the other one directly. At least, not when the other one is looking.

I’ll find myself turning in Viktor’s direction and seeking him out whenever he’s in the room but the moment he turns towards me, I look away. But I have caught him looking at me before he turns away himself.

This goes on for a few days before Mrs. Green confronts me about it.

“You and Mr. Smirnov. Did something happen?”

The memory of him looking at me in my bra makes my stomach flutter. I want him to touch me like he did that day in his office. But he pulled away before anything could really happen.

As a Bratva daughter, I was taught to wait for my wedding night but my feelings don’t care about that. I’ll never marry a Bratva man with the lack of connections I have so I’m not sure that it matters if I’m a virgin or not.

The only thing that I need to worry about is the fact that if I give my heart to Viktor, he’ll break it.

“No,” I say on instinct.

Mrs. Green’s expression tells me she doesn’t believe me one bit. “Then why are you two acting strange? I know something is going on. I haven’t lived on this earth for fifty years to not notice something. I’m not naïve, Inessa. What happened?”

I brush past her as I head into the laundry room. I clench my eyes shut when I think of Natasha pressing a knife to my throat in here. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I have to be.

“Nothing happened.”

She grabs my hand, stopping me from pulling the laundry out. “You’re lying. I can tell. You’re not very good at it.”

I’m a much better liar than she thinks I am.

Viktor still doesn’t know who I really am and that’s another reason I can never be with him. If he knew my father tried to kill him and I never said anything, he might think I infiltrated his home to hurt him for my father. I’m in too deep and I can’t come out of it now.

“Mrs. Green, nothing is happening between Viktor and myself. I would never do that.”

“I should hope so. But it’s not you I’m worried about. It’s him. He’s the one with all the power. He could take advantage of you.”

I tug my arm away and start pulling the sheets out of the dryer. “I didn’t know you cared that much about me.”

“Don’t be naïve, girl. Of course I care about you. You’re the only person I talk to all day. You’re young. I don’t want to see you get used by him. Now, I think Mr. Smirnov is a good man. A successful, powerful one. I hope he doesn’t do anything to hurt you. But I am worried.”

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