Hidden Monsters (Volkov Bratva #4)(73)

“Exactly.”

Leaning over, he kissed her forehead, and then kissed her as though he would never see her again. By the time he let up, she was breathless and reaching for him.

“I’ll call you later.”

It wasn’t until much later that she realized Luka never actually said bye when he was leaving, only ‘later,’ like he was promising that he was coming back.

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Luka knocked twice on Natasha’s door, waiting there with his hands in his pockets. The shit that had gone down at the Christmas party…he wanted to avoid that in the future, and the only way to do that was to cut her off in person. While he might not have visited her in weeks, hadn’t even answered her calls, she hadn’t gotten the message. He couldn’t even be annoyed by this fact because he was enjoying himself too much with Alex, but if he wanted to keep this little piece of happiness that he had found for himself, then he had to do it the right way.

The door swung open, Natasha standing on the other side in a robe and little else. He didn’t realize why she was smiling at him until he thought of what day it was.

She believed he was back on schedule.

That was the furthest thing from the truth.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered, nuzzling his throat, smoothing her hands over his chest. “It feels like you haven’t touched me in weeks.”

That was because he hadn’t touched her in weeks, possibly longer. Everything had been normal between them for a while. He would see her on Tuesdays, but those visits went from being solely about sex—at least on his side—to just enjoying her company. Despite what others thought of her, she was nice to be around, but since everything that had happened with Alex, he couldn’t even bring himself to see her.

In part, it was because he knew Alex wouldn’t want him to see her—for good reason, since the pair had carried on a relationship over a couple of years now—but more than that, it was because he didn’t want any more confusion as to who he wanted.

Though, he still wasn’t sure how that was going to work either way.

The only thing he knew for sure was that Alex held precedence.

Pulling her arms from around his neck, he gestured back at her apartment with a tilt of his head. “We need to talk.”

“Sure, come on in.”

Her new place was tastefully done, not that he had expected anything less from her.

“Can I get you anything?”

Of course, she knew something was off. Never in the years that they had been seeing each other had she offered him something to eat or drink—that didn’t mean she hadn’t wanted him to take her out.

“I won’t be staying long.”

Her smile faltered, but she kept it up, resting her hand on the island to her left, as if she needed the support.

“What can I do for you, Luka?”

“Our arrangement, it’s done.” There was no point in beating around the bush.

To her credit, she looked confused, as if she hadn’t expected that from him. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not going to come see you anymore. This’ll probably be the last time.”

“But…Luka, we have something.”

He didn’t mean to be cold, but she didn’t seem to be grasping what he was saying…or maybe she just didn’t want to, but before he left, he was going to make sure he was clear.

“I told you what I wanted, and I paid for it. Even when you no longer wanted me to give it to you. We’re cool, but you showing up where you’re not wanted, that ends.”

“Lauren invited me to that party.”

“You should have declined. I don’t give a shit if the Pakhan invites you personally. Say f*cking no, and move on.”

A vase, one he hadn’t noticed until she picked it up, came flying at him and he only narrowly missed being hit in the head as he ducked, water and flowers falling to the floor as the glass broke. Not even when she came for him, trying to hit him did Luka raise a hand against her, but he did grab hold of her wrists and force her arms to her side, preventing her from doing any further damage.

“This is about her, isn’t it? Now that she gave you some *, you’re leaving me? What would Mishca think if he knew you were f*cking his little sister?”

His grip on her wrists grew tighter to the point that she winced, but he reined in his temper, releasing her.

“I told you what I was offering, nothing more. You agreed. If your feelings are hurt, then I’m sorry. And maybe I should have ended it long before we got here because I wanted to avoid this very f*cking thing. But I would be very careful how you speak. I’ve slit somebody’s throat for less.” She paled, backing away, but he didn’t let her get far. “Don’t ever f*cking threaten me. You won’t like how I answer.”

“So what? I was just your whore?” The hurt was apparent in her eyes, but he was out of sympathy at the moment.

“When I was with you, I never treated you like one.”

And that was the only answer he would give to that question as he headed out the door without looking back.





30

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Tell Me of You





Another day of hanging out, doing absolutely nothing though they did, at the very least, drop by her place to pick up more clothes since she was practically living at his place.