Page 13

I tuck a bookmark between the pages of the novel and close it. I can’t remember the last time I read for pleasure. For a few hours, there were no controlling billionaires, fainting episodesor worrying about the future. Just a young woman learning to navigate a world of dragons and treachery.

A quiet whoosh sounds behind me. A door sliding open. The hairs on my arms rise up as my heartbeat quickens.

Another problem I didn’t anticipate: my wild hormones making me very, very aware of Michail. Aside from that forty-five-minute break, he’s been here the whole day. Us being in separate rooms for almost all of it didn’t make a difference to my body. Every time I heard the deep murmur of his voice as he made a phone call or the creak of him going up the stairs to the second floor, my pulse ricocheted as the muscles between my thighs tightened.

“Are you cold?”

I grit my teeth. His husky voice sweeps over me even as the question itself kindles my irritation. Part of the problem is me. I’m used to doing things on my own. The only person who ever took care of me, who I felt like I could trust, was my mom. Having someone who doesn’t even like me that much sliding into that role with such confidence is uncomfortable.

Slowly, I make myself relax. It’s not a weakness to ask for help. I’d always encouraged my clients to reach out to relatives and loved ones. To be aware of when they need support.

But to be the one to acknowledge that I need help, that I can’t handle something on my own, feels like failure.

“It is breezy.”

Something warm and soft wraps around me. I stiffen against the melting sensation inside my chest as Michail drapes a blanket over my shoulders. His woodsy scent drifts up from the fleece. I barely resist the urge to bury my face in the cozy fabric and inhale.

“Thank you.”

He walks around my chair. My breath catches in my chest. His hair is rumpled, thick locks falling over his forehead as if he’srun his fingers through it repeatedly. The top two buttons of his dress shirt are undone. I glimpse tanned skin in the dimming light. His black pants hug his thighs and emphasize his sheer size as he walks across the terrace to a chair right next to the wall. With New York City at his back and the encroaching night, he looks like a dark, mythical god.

I glare down at the book. No more fantasy for me.

“How was your day?”

His tone is conversational, as if we were any other ordinary couple catching up at the end of a long day. The pang of longing is thankfully short-lived. We’re not a couple. We never will be. He can’t stand me, and despite my physical attraction, I’m not a fan of his, either.

“Fine. Yours?”

“I took another look at Lucifer’s will.”

Not at all what I was expecting him to say. But a safer topic than the baby or what we’ll do after he’s born.

“Is anything wrong?”

His lips quirk into a sexy almost smile that makes my heart do a small flip in my chest.

“Aside from his manipulative stipulations, no.”

I glance out over Central Park again. Lucifer had first mentioned the marriage clause when I’d visited him in Santorini. The first and thankfully only time I ever met with him in person. Never in my career had I had a client demand something that devious and controlling. His threat to have me fired hadn’t fazed me. But his oath to wreck Kingston and ruin the careers of everyone in the firm had.

A shudder passes through me. That was the day I got a glimpse of the devil people had whispered about. The man may have been dying, but his impending demise hadn’t dampened his ability to hurl vases against walls or fling cruel insultsdesigned to cut so deeply you couldn’t help but wonder if he saw something no one else did.

“I didn’t agree with it.”

“Yet you wrote it in?”

My back straightens, but unlike the previous times we’ve argued, there’s no malice in his tone, no anger on his handsome face. Just curiosity.

“No. The original will evenly divided his assets between Rafael and Gavriil with no stipulations. He told me he wanted it included, but when I raised doubts, he ordered me out of the house. I was surprised when he didn’t reach out, but I thought maybe he saw reason.” I sigh. “The updated will included both the marriage clause and you. Although if he had decided to ask me to make the change, I would have been obligated to abide by his wishes.”

A fact my boss, Lauri, had reminded me of when I’d traveled back to New York and requested an emergency meeting. But she hadn’t taken his threats lightly, either. She’d stopped by my office later that day to tell me she had had a personal phone call with Lucifer and issued her own ultimatums if he ever threatened one of her people again.

A lump forms in my throat. I really enjoyed my job. And I liked working for Lauri and Bethany. Leaving was the right thing to do. But it was also another loss. Another reminder that there is very little in this world I can depend on.

“You didn’t know who I was when I walked into that bar.”

I shake my head. “No. I didn’t know who you were until you walked into my office.”