He gave a slow shake of his head. Without another word, he bent to retrieve his clothes, the silence so thick and heavy it nearly strangled me. Was I making more out of this than I should? He’d said he’d wanted me for years. Had that been a lie? Had I not lived up to his expectations? Had I been a terrible fuck and he was trying to get away without saying so?
I watched without a word as he dressed and headed for the door, my heart twisting.
Maybe he didn’t really have any feelings for me. Maybe he’d fooled me all along. Maybe all he’d wanted was to say he’d fucked a Popov.
Well, now he had. He’d fucked a Popov. The weird one.
Tears welled in my eyes. I blinked rapidly, fighting them back. I would not let him see me cry. I would not let him know how much he’d hurt me.
It’s too late for that. He knows.
Adrik paused at the door, slowly turning to meet my stare. “Annika…” He broke off, blanching when he noticed my tears. “I don’t want to hurt you. Ineverwant to do that.” His words were laced with regret that only pissed me off even more.
I lifted my chin, sending him a glare. “You didn’thurtme,” I denied. “I was justusing youto scratch an itch is all. Don’t you know that’s what Bratva princesses do? We use and discard men like toys. Now you can go back to justdoing your jobsince you’re so worried about being disloyal to the brotherhood.”
He muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t catch before opening the door and walking out. Instead of slamming it like I expected him to do, he closed it quietly.
Because Adrik was the type of guy who didn’t like to make a scene.
And just like that, it was over.
Before it had ever really begun.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Adrik
Well, I’d just fucked that up. Royally.
What the hell was the matter with me?
I’d made Annika Popov mine in the most intimate way possible. The woman I’d dreamed about for years.
Then, I’d stupidly shoved her away.
Now, she probably hated me.
I stormed down the hallway, my mind in turmoil. God, I was such an idiot!
How did I make this right? Was that even possible? What the hell had I been thinking?
I shouldn’t have been so weak.
I shouldn’t have touched her.
Now her family would certainly kill me.
I found myself in the kitchen moments later, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water. I guzzled it, then crushed it in my hand and tossed it into the can underneath the sink. Tomorrow I would be leaving. Why wasn’t I making the most of this time with Annika rather than shoving a wedge between us?
The dark, rich sounds of Annika’s piano suddenly filled the house. She was taking out her frustrations on the piano.
She’d once told me her piano helped her whenever she had a bad moment.
Guilt stabbed at me. I was currently her “bad moment.”
I paused, resting my hands on the kitchen sink ledge and heaving out a sigh.
Didn’t she understand I owed my life to her family? Sacha had saved me whether he believed it or not. If it weren’t for him, I didn’t know if I would even be alive today. While he was no longer with the Bratva, I still owed the family my loyalty and respect. Yet, I’d just slept with Annika, Dimitri’s oldest granddaughter. An unforgiveable sin. They wouldn’t care that I’d loved her for years, watching her from afar. They wouldn’t care that from the first moment I’d seen her she was the only woman for me. They might look at it as obsession rather than love. They might think it more stalkerish than affection.