AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Anger ripped through me, tightening like a noose around my throat until it was hard to breathe.
Without a second thought, I slid the photograph out of the frame and into my pocket. I left the room, needing fresh air, suddenly feeling very claustrophobic even in his massive master suite.
My heart raced as I retraced my steps back to my room.
Once inside, I pulled the switchblade out and slid it under my pillow. I kept the photograph in my pocket.
For the rest of the afternoon, I stewed. I looked at his note and the photograph several times, trying to believe that I meant something to him while also knowing I could just be another notch in his belt. I tried to distract myself while watching a movie, but it didn’t help.
My thoughts all revolved around Maxim anyway.
Finally, at about five o’clock, there was a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I called out, switching off Netflix and glancing at the door as it opened.
It was Maxim.
“I’ve missed you, moya malyshka,” he murmured, and I glared at him, unable to keep my frustration under wraps.
The image of him with another woman flashed before my eyes and it made me want to slap the cocky smile right off his face.
What would his wife even say?
“What does that even mean?” I grumbled.
“It means ‘my baby girl,’ Riley,” he answered, raising an eyebrow in my direction.
I opened my mouth to reply with something sassy, but immediately the smart retort died on my tongue. My heart swelled.
Maybe I did mean something to him.
Not that it matters, you idiot. He’s married to someone else.
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” I finally said, and he chuckled, the sound lightening my mood just the slightest bit.
“Only you, Riley-girl,” he winked. “Now, I have a special dinner planned for the two of us. I want you to come downstairs at six o’clock and I want you to wear this,” he explained, leaning into the doorway so he could hold up a garment bag.
He walked into the room and placed it down on the bed.
“But I’m comfortable,” I protested, my defiance written over every last inch of my body.
I don’t know why I was testing him. Maybe I wanted a reaction, but he paid my words no mind.
“Oh, and Riley?”
“What?” I replied, my attitude more than noticeable in my tone.
“You are to wear nothing beneath it,” he dictated and for some reason, this pissed me off even more.
So I didn’t answer.
Instead, I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away, tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. I blinked them away, not wanting him to see how much he was getting to me.
A few moments later, the sound of the door closing alerted me that he had left, and my anger flared. I spent the next hour trying to figure out my next move and when the clock struck six, I huffed, grabbed the switchblade, and headed downstairs without putting the dress on.
When I entered the dining room, his eyes immediately locked on me.
The man had changed into a different outfit, his hair wet from a recent shower. The dark gray slacks he wore hugged his hips perfectly and the sleeves of his white button-up were rolled up to his elbows. The material hugged his muscles in such a way that he looked like a Russian god carved straight out of marble.
