Page 61 of Obsession of the Bratva

“Everything I learned about you turned out to be a lie.”

The words landed harder than he intended, and I saw the regret on his face immediately. Unfortunately, I felt the pain immediately, too. Neither of us spoke since the old wound was still there. Still bleeding. Still poisoning everything. I didn’t know how long it would take for us to move past that, but it had to happen sooner rather than later. I needed my Nico back. Now that I knew I still loved him and had no desire to leave, I simply wanted him back.

Eventually, I crossed my arms.

“You know,” I said quietly, “you are remarkably difficult to flirt with.”

His eyes widened. Actually widened. I almost laughed. Nico Romanov looked genuinely shocked.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“I don’t think I did.”

I stepped closer to his desk. “You’re impossible.”

His gaze tracked every movement. Every step. Every breath.

“ Care to explain, my love?”

“I walk in here looking incredible.”

“You said it, not me.”

“I look incredible, and you know it, Nico Romanov. Even you cannot deny it.”

His jaw tightened, and I smiled.

“You stared at me for ten seconds.”

“I did not.”

“You absolutely did.”

“I was assessing a threat.”

“A threat.”

“Yes.”

I leaned against the edge of his desk, and the movement brought us significantly closer. His eyes immediately dropped to my bare legs and then climbed back to my face. Slowly. Very slowly. Definitely not assessing a threat. I felt ridiculously pleased at the attention.

“You’re terrible at this.”

His voice sounded deeper now. “You are dangerously confident for someone currently trapped in my house.”

“I haven’t felt trapped here, Nico.”

Something shifted in his expression as it turned softer and warmer, but it disappeared as soon as it had come. But not before I saw it. Not before it affected me. The distance between us suddenly felt much smaller. The room felt smaller, and everything felt smaller around us. Except him.

Nico stood up, the movement smooth and controlled like all of his actions always were. My breath caught immediately because suddenly we were almost the same height, and suddenly he was very close. Too close. And yet somehow, it still did not feel close enough. His gaze settled on mine, and neither of us spoke.

We didn’t need to.

The tension had become something alive. Something breathing. As if it was waiting for someone or something. I should have stepped back, but instead I stayed exactly where I was. His eyes dropped briefly to my mouth, and that was all it took. The world tilted.

“You came here looking for trouble, my love.”