Page 22 of Beautifully Damned
“Time’s up,” he says coldly, already pulling it from my hand.
I clutch the edge of the chair, my fingers white. I have no idea why the devil of the Bratva gave me five minutes in heaven. But God help me… if it was a trap, I walked right into it with a smile and happy tears.
Roman is pacing again. Back and forth. Like some wild caged thing. He turns and walks straight to me.
He crowds me in the chair. One hand lands on the backrest behind me, the other on the armrest, boxing me in. His hips areeye-level now. I swallow thickly, shifting my gaze to the floor, because if I look up, I’m afraid of what my face might say.
"Emir?" he says through clenched teeth.
I press my lips together. I shouldn’t lie. But… a tiny white one wouldn’t hurt. It’s defense. Totally not because I remember how he came back yesterday reeking of cheap perfume. This little white lie might dampen any interest he has in taking my body. Might. But it’s worth a shot.
I clear my throat. “He’s… someone very important to me.”
“Important how?” he asks.
“He’s just... always been there. The one person who gets me.” I offer a small shrug, adding softly, “He knows me better than anyone.”
There. I didn’t sayboyfriend. Didn’t sayfiancéorhusband. But I delivered a message: Not interested in you, Roman Volkov. Roman’s eyes drop to my mouth for a half-second.
And then, his voice returns—flat. Unimpressed. “Sounds clingy.”
He adjusts the cuffs of his shirt even though they’re already perfect. “Funny,” he mutters. “Didn’t take you for the type to like soft men.”
“Who said he’s soft?” I fire back before I can stop myself.
“I’m learning all kinds of things about you,” he says quietly, the words laced with something unidentifiable. “Just when I think I have you figured out.”
I stand, legs a little shaky. But I hold my ground. “Good,” I say. “Wouldn’t want to be predictable. That’d be boring.”
He watches me leave, but his voice trails after me. “You’re playing a dangerous game, little lamb.”
I pause at the door, turning to look at him. “So are you,” I whisper. “Only difference is… you started it.”
And I slip out before I can bear the consequences of being mouthy. Something I never was before stepping into these walls.
?Chapter XV?
Roman
Emir.
Emir.
Emir.
A knight in shining armor. The man who’ll come galloping on a white horse to rescuemy girlafter I’m done tearing her family apart from the inside out.My girl. Huh. Pathetic. She’s not mine. She never will be. I don’t want her to be either.
Yet thisthing—this rot—spreads in my chest when I see her talking to other men.Even mine.When her eyes light up at Matvey’s stupid butterfly cheek. When she speaks of this… Emir.
It can’t be jealousy. That’s a luxury for weak men. I’ve never felt it. Not once. I was raised in steel. Built from silence, blood, discipline. My father saw to it. Any flaw—gone. Any softness—crushed. You cry? You bleed. You stumble? You starve.
What came out of that process was me. Cold. Emotionless. Sociopathic.
And yet here I am. A fuckingsack of emotionsince the moment she stumbled into my world. The leather of my chair groans under my weight as I shift again for the hundredth time. The sun is almost gone outside my window, but the same untouched stack of files still sits on my desk. The same cold cup of coffee. Same gnawing feeling.
I haven’t done a thing today. Because I can’t stop thinking about her. I make a mental checklist. A catalog of all the ways she’s infected me: Tingles.Fucking tingles.I am thirty-six. I’ve been with women in every city that matters on this planet. And somehow, her accidental brushes make my body react like avirgin.Worry. My jaw clenches at the word. It tastes like glass. When she landed in that fountain and moaned in pain, I felt something twist inside me. My first thought was her spine. Her skin. Her safety.Distraction. I haven’t signed a deal. Issued a kill order. Touched a file. My entire day, wasted, because I’m thinking about the girl who has no idea what she’s toying with.
And now? Now there’sfirein my veins because of a man named Emir. Her knight. Her protector. HerEmir.
