Page 104 of Lilies from Hell

“No,” I whisper in a thin voice as I feel his teeth on my neck. His eyes scan every part of my body until they stop at the edge of my pants. When they meet mine again, they seem to have a darker tone than before, and the way he looks at me turns me on even more. I bite my lower lip hard, trying to distract myself with the sharp pain so I don’t stare at the bulge in his pants.

“Stop doing that,” he demands, his jaw tense.

“What?” I ask, tilting my head.

“I have to go.” I part my lips to protest, but he’s already far gone before I can, ignoring my calls.

“Finally,” Jason murmurs behind me before starting to climb the stairs.

I follow him with a bitter feeling in my stomach, thinking that maybe he’s angry with me. Bloody hell, I’d be in a bad mood too if I met his parents and they welcomed me the same way. I dial his number but it goes straight to voicemail. I put on a random episode of Modern Family, knowing that my insomnia will get worse tonight. Just as the episode is about to end my phone vibrates with an incoming call.

“Hello,” I murmur, biting my inner cheek. There are messy noises and random voices on the other end of the line.

Fuck. This is not what I needed after playing the good boyfriend with the in-laws.

“I told you they wanted to get rid of me,” Sergei mumbles from the bed, removing his oxygen mask with annoyance.

“Evil never dies,” Denis retorts dismissively, sitting a few feet away and typing something on his cell phone.

“It’s just a bullet. You will live,” I say. If they don’t kill themselves or each other, someone else tries to finish them off. I swear sometimes I feel like I’m taking care of fucking hamsters. “Do you have any idea who it could be?”

“No. I couldn’t even see the license plate.”

“I could see the license plate,” Polina mutters from her seat.

“And you’re telling us fucking now!?” Sergei barks, causing Polina to jump in her seat.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” I say glancing at the recent notifications on my phone, feeling everything fade away the instant I see her name on the screen before dialing her number.

“I’m surrounded by idiots,” Sergei murmurs under his breath, settling himself on the hospital bed and pressing the bridge of his nose.

“Look who’s talking. Should we put a bodyguard on the bodyguard because he can’t defend himself?” Denis scoffs with a mocking sideways glance at me.

“How about I put a bullet in your ass to see if that shuts you up?”

“I’d like to see you try,” he says, getting up from the chair with a defiant look.

“Enough,” Polina complains, pushing Denis back to his seat. “I can’t stand you guys when you get like this.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I hiss, walking away to one of the corners of the room to finish talking to her. “You don’t want to see me?”

“You know I do.”

“Then I’ll come,” I state with a smile playing on my lips before ending the call. “I want all the information by tomorrow,” I say, staring at Polina as I put my phone back in my pants.

“You can’t just leave everything behind every time she calls you.”

“Says who? You?” The icy tone of my voice is enough to make her swallow her words. “You’re nothing but the shit on the soles of my shoes, Polina. Don’t forget that.”

34

I stand up from the bed when I hear a noise from my terrace. Then I find him sneaking into the room.

“Hey,” he whispers softly. “Sorry I’m late. I was busy with something.”

“With what?” I ask. He pushes my body to the bed. His rough hands keep me pinned to the bed when I plan to get up.

“It’s nothing,” he then says, taking off his tee. My eyes immediately fall to his abs and my mouth almost salivating when I notice his bulge.