Page 59 of Nikola

He waved his hand. “Nobody important.”

“Clearly not true,” I signed, irritated, the little green monster eating at me. “You put a suit on for her.”

Tension lingered in his body. “No,zayka. I put the suit on for you, but you were already gone. So, in a fit of jealous rage, I dragged a woman here.”

I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “What’s her name?”

I wasn’t even sure why I asked, except that I wanted to lash out at that unknown woman and warn her away from Nikola.

“No fucking idea,” he signed. “Helena. Or was it Elena? No, maybe Lena… Fuck if I know.”

I forced myself to release a heavy breath and calm the storm inside me. My mama always said I possessed her calm temperament and that it took a lot to piss me off. But then Iturned into my papa. At this moment, I feared she might be right, because the itch to find that woman—whatever her name was—and unleash violence on her was so real I could almost taste it.

But Nikola clearly didn’t care for her if he couldn’t even remember her name.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, his eyes trailing over my body before locking on my face.

“And go where?” I asked, deciding to let it go. Only, that was when something occurred to me and I narrowed my eyes on him. “By the way, how did you know where I was?”

“You’re sharing your location with me,” he reminded me, and I rolled my eyes. How could I have forgotten that the Nikolaevs had my location for “safety purposes.” I was glad he’d come—that was my intention with this whole thing in the first place—but I’d need to speak with Sasha and Branka about boundaries moving forward.

“See, that’s just not fair. You have me under your thumb, yet you ignore my texts. Ignoreme.” Silence tightened around us as I waited for his answer, standing in the empty, disheveled restaurant. “I deserve better.”

“You do.” Well, at least we agreed on something.

“Then why do you only want me now?” I questioned, unable to hide my hurt. “You should have realized you wanted me before I went out with Kostya.”

Of course I was wrong to go out with Kostya for the reasons I did. We were both in the wrong, but it felt too vulnerable to admit it.

“I want to do right by you, Skye. I wanted you to have a normal life, outside the mob world. Even if it meant being away from me.” His admission sent a shockwave through me while turmoil stirred inside my chest. “You deserve so much morethan… me and the shackles of this criminal life, regardless of how much I want you.”

That was when I decided there would never be anyone else for me. I would never—couldnever—love another man because this man wasitfor me. He had always been the one for me.

“Is that the reason you’ve been ignoring me?” My expression softened as I signed the next words, “Because you want me too much?”

“In the beginning, I ignored you because I wanted better for you, but now… Now I’m scheming…”

My brow furrowed, not quite following what he was trying to say. “Scheming about what?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “I can’t multitask when you’re involved.”

“Huh?”

He waved his hand as if to say none of that was important, then directed the staff and security to close down the restaurant and lock it behind them. We watched in silence as they did his bidding, then scattered.

Once we were alone in the restaurant, it almost felt like we were alone in the world. The small space bubbled with ambiance that dated back hundreds of years with two willing souls trapped in it.

He brushed his inked knuckles against my cheeks, then said, “Say my name again, Skye.”

I reared back, embarrassment flooding me.

I opened my mouth to reject him—or was it to give him what he demanded?—when I stopped myself. He didn’t get to demand crap, not after ignoring me for weeks.

“No.” I squared my shoulders and tilted my chin in challenge. “Notafter treating me the way you did.”

His eyes coasted down my body, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

“You shouldn’t have gotten all dolled up for him, Skye.” His words were slow and deliberate, a flicker of something wild in his eyes that he fought to rein in. “Now you’ve unleashed a monster.”