Page 93 of Beautiful Secrets

Sarah drops her fork onto her plate, absently wiping her fingers on a nearby serviette as she gets to her feet. “Mika, you can’t leave now. Your father said—”

“I do not care!” I yell, slamming a hand down on the table.

The three children all jump in their seats. Maddie turns wide eyes to me, her mouth falling open, and one of the twins bursts into tears.

I immediately put up my hands, showing them my palms. “I am sorry, children. Sorry. I did not mean to scare you.”

Damn it, now I need to pee.

I flounce away from the table, aware that Cole is watching every move I make.

Let him.

When I turn to close the bathroom door, he is right behind me. He wedges his body between the door and the jamb, making it impossible to shut.

“I need to use the toilet,” I tell him, enunciating each word carefully, focusing on the language and not the urge to repeatedly slam the door against his body.

Not that it would do any good.

He would probably not even feel it. I stuck in a letter opener in his arm, and I swear he does not even have a bandage on the wound.

“You really that keen to go back?” he says.

I do not like the look in his eyes. They have turned dark, like a tree in the shade, and that gives him a dangerous air.

“What do you have me do?” I demand, throwing my hands up in the air. “You do not want me to stay. You are too happy to get rid of me. To get your money.” I practically spit out the word at him.

“Oh, now this is all on me?” he asks quietly, pointing at himself with his thumb. “I don’t even know who you are anymore, Mika. You say you want to go to Russia, now all you want is to go back home. Which is it?”

My heart wants to explode out of my chest with sudden hope. “You take me to airport?”

He frowns, gives his head a small shake. “You can’t—I can’t—”

I grimace and shove at his chest with my hands. He makes to grab me, but I step back before he can.

Then, because it is obvious he is not leaving, I go and pee.

He rolls his eyes at me. “Jesus,” he mutters, turning and closing the door behind him.

I put my head in my hands, trying desperately to hold back tears.

What the hell am I going to do?

I huff out an exasperated breath as I stand and flush the toilet.

My contingency plan—if I didn’t manage to make it to Russia—was to never let Aleksandr touch me. Since I am sure he was also in love with Vanya, that might not have been too difficult.

But now?

In a few weeks, I will start to show. Aleksandr will know I slept with someone—and it was not him. While I am sure he does not want me, sexually, who is to say he will play along and pretend we are lovers?

Which means, if I go back, I will have to sleep with him as soon as possible and try to pass off Yuri’s child as his.

My mouth twists at the thought.

And then, so does my stomach.

Thankfully I am still close to the toilet.