Page 53 of The Counterfeit Lover

MICHELE

Andreas had takenhis job seriously and within a week, he'd managed to get Michele video and audio feed of the Kuznetsov house.

It had taken him some…cunningto do it, but he would have done much more for his boss. Especially since this development was something he'd been waiting for a long time.

Yet Andreas couldn't deny that luck had played a big part in the success of his mission. Vlad and his wife were rarely at home these days, always busy with their new academy and gallivanting around the world on their missions.

And so, after a busy day at work, Michele had the pleasant surprise to find his previously bare bedroom wall now filled with screens, all showing different parts of Kuznetsov's house.

Right in the middle, the biggest screen was focused on his pet's bedroom.

Michele smiled to himself, and upon seeing she wasn't yet at home, he decided to take a quick shower and get himself more comfortable for a late night marathon.

As he exited his shower, he noticed the door ajar, a fluff of black hair peeking through. Closing the door, he picked up the little trespasser, cuddling him in his arms as he made himself comfortable on the bed.

Lovely looked up at him with those big, innocent eyes of his—not unlike those of his pet. For a second he found himself lost in them, thrust back in the past. But he quickly shrugged that off, bringing his hand to Lovely's head and petting him lightly, absentmindedly.

Instead, he concentrated on the video footage before him as his pet strutted to her room after dinner.

Immediately, his attention was wholly on her, his eyes eating her up greedily. It hadn't been that long since he'd last seen her, but to him it felt like an eternity as he perused her body, feeling his own stir with an echo of lust.

She was wearing a baggy dress that showed nothing of her curves. Even so, the sight of her alone was enough to send a jolt to his cock.

He'd last seen her a couple of days past at her graduation, but that had been from afar. Even so, it had been well worth it since he'd been able to witness all her teachers making fools of themselves as they'd done their best to apologize, all ending with a bang—literally—as her principal's knees had hit the floor when he'd proceeded to prostate himself to her feet.

Mr. Landers had taken his advice to heart and he'd publicly humiliated himself and elevated his pet, naming her a victim in the whole debacle and offering an apology to her from the behalf of the entire school for not being able to protect her.

His pet had been flabbergasted. Even from afar, Michele had noted the way she'd stiffened with shock—almost as if she couldn't believe that someone would ever takeherside.

But he'd noted later, when he'd managed to get a little closer to her, that she'd been brought to tears by the display, thanking Vlad and Sisi for their involvement though it hadnotbeen them.

Michele had been annoyed that others should take credit for his work, especially sinceheshould be the one getting the appreciative hugs and kisses. It had taken everything within him not to reveal himself and proclaim loud and clear that it had beenhishand that had cut Mr. Lander's finger and fed it to him, forcing him to make his pet the star of the graduation. It had been Michele who'd defended her honor. So what if he'd been the one to sully it in the first place? He'd made reparations and it had been the hardest thing ever to sit by while others claimed the honors.

Soon.

Soon, she would know all about it just as she would know that there was no way out. He'd claim her and take her as his pet once more.

But he couldn't be too rash about it—especially since she was technically Kuznetsov's protégé.

No, he was going to bide his time—just as he always did.

He would wait and when he finally got her, he would let himself enjoy her to the fullest—as he should have done from the beginning.

In the meantime, he had the video surveillance to feed his hunger for her. And as he focused his attention on her, he noted her appearance.

Her hair was tied in a ponytail at her back, her cheeks flushed as she locked herself in her room, resting with her back against the surface of the door for a moment as she regained her breath.

She looked healthy.Glowingeven.

His lip twitched in displeasure.

It hadn't been that long and she'd already forgotten him, hadn't she?

"Woof," Lovely barked lightly as he sought to make himself more comfortable in Michele's arms.

"You like her, too, don't you?" Michele asked, still petting the dog while his eyes were riveted to the woman in front of him.

Especially as she crossed the room to enter her bathroom, shrugging the dress off her body to reveal a modest set of white underwear and a bra.

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