Page 54 of Hateful Vows
TWENTY-THREE
IRINA
“I’m going to shower. I stink of you both,” I complain and almost run, locking both the bedroom and bathroom doors behind me when we reach the penthouse. My hand lands on my heart, beating a wild drum inside my chest. My breaths are so uneven I fear I’m having a heart attack.
The reflection that greets me in the mirror is of someone thoroughly fucked. My eyes are shiny, my make up has run down my face, leaving traces of mascara on my cheeks and red lipstick around my mouth. When I close my eyes, I can almost feel Aleksei coming inside me again, reminding me that his cum is leaking out of me right now.
And I fucking love it.
I almost don’t want to shower. I don’t want to erase the traces of what happened between us. Of how Dante kissed us both and directed our bodies to obey him like his puppets. His playful dominance has awakened something in me I didn’t even know slept in the shadows. And finally having Aleksei was…Fuck, it was everything.
Once everything has been washed away, will we return to what we were before tonight? Two people who have done theirutmost to give each other hell to keep the other at bay. I doubt Aleksei will be anything but disgusted by his lust for me.
I straighten and swallow. Suddenly, the sticky clothes suffocate me. I discard them fast, tearing the fabric of the dress and throwing everything in the garbage bin by the sink. The makeup remover is harsh on my skin as I rub a cotton pad all over my face, over and over, until I turn red.
I can’t manage to make the water hot enough and to scrub my skin raw. Both of them need to be removed. If I bleed, will they be purged from my body and my mind? That’s what I need. I can’t allow myself any weakness. One is hard enough to stomach. Two is a recipe for disaster.
The bristles of the brush are supposed to be soft but I press them against my skin harder, and soap myself a second time. I also use shampoo twice and deep condition my hair, finishing with a shower oil that makes me smell more like me and less like them.
I breathe easier and when I look into the mirror again, I’m back to being me.
A knock takes me out of my twelve steps skincare routine and I sigh in annoyance. Can a woman not get five minutes of peace in this household without being pestered by beasts?
“Irina, stop hiding. Food is ready.” Dante’s voice sounds far away but I hear the jab clearly. And I’m back at wanting to stab him.
Good.
The gall on this man.
I open the bathroom door and enter our bedroom, where he moved all my clothing a few days ago, and take a soft black Egyptian cotton lounge set.
Perceval meows from his place on Dante’s pillow and I click my tongue.
“I know he buys you treats behind my back,” I admonish my baby but still kiss the top of his head before giving him the scratches he craves. He stretches on the bed then jumps into my arms.
My black cat purrs against my chest. It helps settle the rest of the nervous energy at seeing Dante and Aleksei after what happened.
When I enter the living room, I stop short.
“Who are you? And what have you done with the Bratva pakhan?” I ask.
While Dante’s at the island, cooking what looks like Veal Milanese, Aleksei is cutting vegetables and throwing them into a frying pan right next to him.
The large oak table is set for three with placemats, two plates on top of each other and silver cutlery.
My mouth hangs agape.
Dante wipes his hands on a dish towel before prowling to me and handing me a glass of red wine with a smirk.
“Close your mouth,vipera, or I’ll find use for it.”
I glower the best I can but I’m basically in pyjamas, my cat meowing in my arms. I’ve looked fiercer and I can recognise when I’ve been bested. I exchange Perceval for the wine and take a sip, glancing back at Aleksei, who is fixed on his task like it’s all that matters.
“You missed me, baby?” Dante coos at Perceval before going back into the kitchen, opening a cupboard and giving him something I can’t see.
“I knew you were giving him treats behind my back! There’s no way he would like you otherwise.”
He drops the cat to the floor and it disappears again in the corridor.
