reason that you’re blackmailing her.” Those sharp green eyes narrowed. “Then again, you aren’t interested in dating, which means you either want to use her for something or the two of you have struck a mutually beneficial deal.” This was why I enjoyed Alex’s company. He kept me on my toes. “Don’t let the conspiracy theories cloud your brain,” I drawled. “You’re losing.” Blatant lie. We were on equal footing so far in the game. “Your diversion tactics leave something to be desired, so it’s not my brain that’s clouded,” Alex said. “Maybe Stella will be the one who’ll crack your I don’t believe in love shell. It’s always the unexpected ones.” I’d never heard him say so many words in such a short period of time. My amusement deepened. “Maybe, but doubtful.” My feelings toward Stella were…unusual, but they weren’t love. It was hard to feel something I actively despised. Love made the world go round, all right. In endless, tedious cycles that produced horrid songs, even more horrid movies, and annual abominations like Valentine’s Day.
I rarely found it anything other than poisonous. “Since when did you become so chatty?” I pushed my knight into a defensive position. “Don’t tell me you’ve evolved into an actual human being. We should put out a bulletin in the Valhalla newsletter. The other members will be thrilled.” Valhalla Club didn’t have a newsletter, but its members had their own methods for tracking their friends’ and foes’ lives alike. “As thrilled as they are to learn of your new relationship status, I’m sure.” Dark humor glinted in his eyes. Yet another change from the stoic Volkov I’d met years ago. We continued the game, but now that Stella had been brought up again, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from straying down paths they had no business traversing.
She hadn’t posted on social media since the night of the fundraiser. She usually posted every day. She hadn’t reached out to me for more photos despite the success of her first post. Was she second-guessing our arrangement? A trickle of something cold and foreign washed down my spine. It took me several beats to identify it. Uncertainty. Something as unfamiliar to me as rainstorms were to deserts. We have a contract. She won’t go back on her word. Yet the urge to check in with her gripped my attention and pulled it away from the carved ebony and ivory pieces scattered strategically across the board. “Checkmate.” Alex’s cool voice dragged me back to the library. I blinked away images of green eyes and lush lips and examined the final layout. Alex had executed a checkmate pattern I should’ve seen from a mile away. “That was quick.” Disappointment shadowed his face. “You’re off your game today.” “We’re just getting started, Volkov.” I cleared the board. “Get back to me after the second round.” But he was right.
I was off my game, all because I’d been busy thinking about someone who had no business occupying my thoughts the way she did. She thought her rent at the Mirage was low? That was nothing compared to how she lived rent-free in my fucking head. Stella may appear sweet and gentle, but she was more dangerous to me than any weapon or rival.
*
After a second chess game with Alex, where I redeemed myself with a beautifully executed checkmate after two hours of play, I returned home at precisely a quarter to nine. It took me less than one minute to determine that something was amiss. The door to my office was open, and I always closed it before leaving. I granted very few people access to my apartment when I wasn’t here. None of them would come this late at night. Adrenaline burned through the scotch-fueled murkiness in my blood. I’d taken advantage of Valhalla’s private car service to shepherd
me home given how much I drank, but I had enough presence of mind to soften my footsteps as I inched toward my office. I glimpsed dark hair through the opening before I pushed open the door, crossed the room in two long strides, and pinned the intruder to the wall with my hand wrapped around their throat. Icy rage misted my vision with red-tinged white. I did not appreciate people invading my personal space. Touching my things without permission.
Breaking into my house and challenging my authority. My fingers flexed around the soft column of their throat. The vibrations of a fear-laced gasp trembled against my hold before it spilled into the air. “Christian.” The familiarity of the soft plea tugged the haze away from my eyes until all I could see was green. Huge, lush green eyes, framed by inky lashes and acrid with panic. Fuck.
An arctic splash of recognition wrenched my hand from her throat. We stared at each other, our breaths ragged in the quiet space between us—hers from fear, mine from adrenaline and regret.
A tendril of anger worked its way into the mix and stretched my words taut. “Ms. Alonso. Care to explain what you’re doing here?” She was one of the few people on earth who had a key to my apartment, but I’d instructed her to visit during specific time windows.
Friday night wasn’t one of them. She was lucky I wasn’t the shoot first, ask questions later type like some of my men. An image of Stella shot passed through my mind, and coldness gathered in the pit of my stomach. She lifted her chin, clearly unimpressed with my greeting and sharp tone. “I was watering your plants like you’d asked me to.” Despite her pointed tone, her breaths remained shallow, and tiny shivers worked their way through her body until my tendril of anger dissipated. It was only then that I noticed the shattered watering can on the floor. The escaped water formed a small, glistening puddle against the customized wood, and the can’s shiny black ceramic pieces reflected my face back at me. A hundred different faces, broken up with jagged edges and distorted features. I dragged my eyes back up to Stella’s. “You’re watering my plants at nine o’clock at night?” “I forgot earlier because I was busy. You said only to come in on weekdays, and I didn’t want to leave them all weekend. They’re very sensitive to—” “Busy doing what?” I no longer cared about the plants. “Personal things.” Instead of collapsing beneath the weight of my heavy stare, she straightened and tilted her chin another inch higher. “We’re not actually together. You’re not entitled to know my every move.” Annoyance wisped through me at the reminder. “I am when your busyness leads you to break into my apartment at nine o’clock at night.” “I didn’t break in. I had a key!” “Used outside the allotted time frames. A good lawyer could argue the case in my favor.” Stella’s eyes narrowed. Her breaths had finally evened, and I suspected her flushed cheeks weren’t due to embarrassment. “You’re the security expert. If you’re that worried, perhaps you should create a key that can only be used during your specified time windows. That wouldn’t be difficult for a genius like you, would it, Mr. Harper?” I allowed a soft laugh to slip free. Stella’s sass came and went like flashes of lightning.
Every time it appeared, it electrified me, because that was when I glimpsed the real her. The one lying semi-dormant beneath her carefully cultivated calm and desperate desire to please.
Somewhere within that cocoon of mild manners was a brilliant butterfly yearning to break free.