“I’ll get you something to dry off with, sir.”
She heads out without so much as acknowledging me. We stand in awkward silence—awkward for me, at least—until she reappears with a single fluffy white towel. I’m the one who needs it more, seeing as how I’m still dressed in this wet rag, but she hands it over to Aleks.
“Thank you, Megan,” he says as he takes it. “You can go.”
“Oh. Are you sure? Can I get you anything else?”
“No, thank you. Mrs. Makarova and I will be just fine.”
Megan bites seductively at her lip for an unnecessarily long time before finally curtsying—people still do that?—and going back out the way she came without ever bothering to spare a glance in my direction.
Aleks dabs at himself, then offers the towel to me. I cross my arms and refuse it. Stubborn, I know, but I don’t want his pity or his condescension.
He just shrugs and slings it on the back of a nearby chair.
I open my mouth to tell him not to call me “Mrs. Makarova” ever again. What comes out instead is, “Have you fucked her?”
Aleks laughs as if I said something funny. “Would it matter to you if I had?”
“No,” I lie. “Just curious. Answer the question.”
I hate that I care. I hate that I’m pushing this stupid topic when he’s obviously not interested in giving me a straight answer.
But something about the girl’s body language gives up the goose. I know the answer before he says anything.
“Never mind,” I snap. “I don’t give a shit who you’ve fucked in the past.” I hesitate, then add, “But…”
Aleks arches a brow. “But what?”
“But it is my business who you fuck now,” I blurt out.
He must think I’m a damn comedian, because he laughs again. “Is that so, little lamb?”
“You stole me away from my life and locked me up here in the midst of yours. I don’t have a career anymore because of you. I don’t have a shot at a love life, either. Because of you. So if I have to suffer through this year from hell, then you have to make sacrifices, too. I want compensation.”
“Name your price.”
“If I don’t get to have sex… then neither do you.”
He considers that for a moment. “Is fucking a big priority for you, kiska? Because I can fix that. Simply say the word.”
“That’s not what I want,” I say with a shudder—not because I don’t want that, but because of just how badly I do. “I just want this to be… fair.”
“You’re not in much of a position to enforce any demands,” he drawls.
“Argh!” I shriek, wanting to tear my hair out. He makes me feel like I’m short-circuiting. Every emotion at once, anger and frustration and lust and hatred and safety and lo—no, not love. Definitely not love. “You… you are just…”
He waits for me to find the right word, but when I come up blank, he just offers me a sympathetic smile. “There’s only one way I’ll agree to your terms, Olivia.”
I go still, waiting for him to tell me what it’ll cost.
“You have to admit that you want me. Despite everything you know about me,” he says. “I want to hear you tell me the truth.”
I shake my head. “I don’t.”
He looks not mad, but disappointed. “Then I think you need to go back up to your room.”
The way he says it catches my attention. I feel my body shake as I glance to the door that Megan disappeared through. “Why? What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he says with a shrug. “I think I might just go and see where Megan is.”
My chest rises up and down, up and down. I’m flushed with anger, but I will not sacrifice my pride for his benefit. He’ll probably only laugh in my face, anyway.
And when I feel my bottom lip start to quiver, I know he’s right: it’s time for me to go.
I leave the towel sitting on the armchair and turn my back on him. As I walk away, I wait for him to stop me.
But he doesn’t.
34
ALEKS
A FEW DAYS LATER
“Two visits back-to-back,” I remark. “Should I be worried?”
Jennifer winks. “Always. Where’s Demyan?”
“I sent him off to see to some business interests elsewhere.” I pour myself another helping of my strongest whiskey. It was a sleepless night and I need something to take the edge off. “I didn’t want to deal with the two of you again.”
She laughs. “Are you jealous that I’m not flirting with you instead?”
“No, I just have a vested interest in not puking up my breakfast every time Demy tries to be smooth.” I take a sip and sigh as the whiskey burns down my throat.
“I think he’s cute. But agree to disagree. What have you done with the information I gave you the last time I was here?”
“Nothing.”
Her eyes go wide. “Nothing?”
“That’s right.”
“But… why?”
“Because there’s more at play here, and I need to know what before I decide how to respond.”
Jennifer frowns, looking skeptical. But she’s smart enough not to push. She leans back on the sofa and curls her bare feet underneath her.
She’s wearing cashmere sweats and a matching crop top that reveals her flat, toned belly. Her hair hangs loose around her shoulders. And even though it’s midday and she’s not planning on going anywhere, she’s wearing a little bit of make-up. It’s subtle, but I notice.
Probably more so because Olivia doesn’t wear anything at all.
“You don’t mind me spending a few days here?” she asks.
“This is your home as much as mine.”
“Do you say the same to all your other assets?”
“Just you.”
“Well, then consider me flattered.”
She fidgets with the hem of her sweats. I can tell she wants to bring up the topic, but she’s nervous about where it’ll lead. She’s been careful to avoid it whenever we speak. So far, I’ve respected her boundaries.
I’ve never been a spy. I’ve got too high a profile to be effective at it. Spies have to come from nowhere. They have to disappear once they’ve gotten what they set out to achieve, bide their time, and resurface as another person entirely. You kill yourself again and again and are then reborn.
It’s a brutal line of work.
Jennifer has been in the game for years now. She’s successful because she commits. She changes her personality as easily as she changes her hair color.
But she’s never forgotten who she is or where she came from.
“How is she?” she asks, losing the battle.
“She’s been sick the last few days.”
Jennifer raises her eyebrows. “Is she okay?”
“She refused to get out of her wet clothes and caught a cold. Just like I told her she would. She’s confined to her room now.”
“So you haven’t actually seen her?”
“Not for almost a week. It’s been peaceful.”
She gives me a pointed smile. “I’ve heard that you two fight like an old married couple.”