This is too much. I break out of his gaze and look away. He grabs my jaw hard, making me look at him again, and says, “Listen to me, krasavitsa. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” His thumb rubs across my lower lip. “You’ve belonged to me since the day you decided to become a doctor.”
“I belong to you? You’re gravely mistaken. I don't belong to you or anyone else. This is the second time you’ve said it, and I think you got hit in the head way too many times. Now you listen to me. Just because my dad had an alliance with you, it does not extend to me, so get the hell out of my face and go bother someone else.” I slap his hand away from my face, and in the blink of an eye, his hand wraps around my throat.
He gets close to my ear and says, “You don’t want to get on my bad side, kotyonok. Didn’t anyone teach you not to play with lions? They bite… hard”. His mouth is on my cheek now. My heart rate spikes at the feel of his lips on my skin. God, his lips are so soft. I wonder how they would feel against my own. The sudden sting of him biting down on my cheek snaps me back into reality. I try to move away from his hold, but my body freezes when he starts peppering kisses down my neck. He bites down on the crook of my neck hard enough to leave a mark. Son of a bitch.
I open my mouth to protest, but before I get the chance to, he lets me go and walks away, leaving me stunned. I stare at the wall, with my mouth open in disbelief and the wetness pooling between my legs. I feel like I'm going insane for having this reaction toward him. He has danger and trouble written all over his face, but a sudden thrill comes over me, and I can't lie but admit that I want him. I can see myself getting lost in him, which scares the hell out of me.
That man is going to be the end of me…
After composing myself, I go back to the front and open up the clinic. I have a few patients to see today, and I refuse to let that interaction affect how I treat them. I dive into my work, needing to distract myself. It must’ve done the trick because it startles me when the phone starts ringing. Looking over at the clock, I notice four hours have passed.
“Hello, Perez Medical. This is Sophia, how can I help you?”
“I knew if you didn’t answer your cell, you would answer here. Hi sis, are you ready to explain?”
I let out a silent groan of frustration. This was the last thing I needed right now. Leave it to her to have the worst timing.
“Hi, Jenny.” She doesn't even have the decency to ask how I'm doing.
“I’m doing very well, just a bit tired, but thank you for asking.” I'm not in the mood right now for the interrogation, so I try to get to the point quickly before she has time to grill me.
“Listen, Jenny, I have a hectic day today. Yesterday, the alarm went off here at the clinic. An animal managed to get in and made a mess, so I had to clean it up. I don’t know how it got in here, just that it did, and by the time I got home from cleaning the mess, it was super late. As you could see from the text I sent you, it was close to two am.”
I wasn’t going to tell her the truth that dad kept a secret from us for some reason, and even though I’m mad at him at the moment, I respect his decision. Moreover, Jenny would flip out, and that’s the last thing I need.
“What animal?” she asks, and I get flustered because I have no idea what to say. I'm not a good liar.
“I don't know. It was gone by the time I got here.”
“Don’t do that again. You cannot just disappear like that. You know how depressed and nervous Mom still is over Dad’s death. We cannot add more stress, Sophia. Also, I spoke to Steve today and told him you had an emergency and didn’t mean to stand him up. He’s still willing to go on another date with you,” she says, and I lose it. I don’t have the patience for her crap right now. I’m still on edge after that interaction with Maxim.
“Jenny, I don’t need this crap from you today. Bye.” I hang up and slam the phone on my desk. I will deal with her another day.