Time Stood Still (Volkov Bratva #3.5)(22)

By the time they were out and dried off, she really was exhausted and couldn’t bring herself to move again for the rest of the night after she fell asleep.





CHAPTER EIGHT





It was amazing how time flied while they were in Sardinia, not that any of that time had gone to waste. They explored the city, shopped, checked out the beaches, and went hiking, taking pictures of everything, at least that part was left up to Lauren.

Tonight was their last night in Sardinia, and they had spent it eating dinner, drinking plenty of the local wine. Instead of driving back to the house immediately, they took a walk, laughing, talking, reminiscing on the time they spent together. This was going particularly well, until Lauren caught sight of someone walking towards them.

She knew the moment Mishca’s hand flexed at her back that this man, whoever he was, wasn’t just a random tourist. No, he was far too impeccably dressed for that. Not to mention the two men trailing him. For a moment, panic was building inside of her, not knowing what they might do, until three men came out of nowhere, intercepting their path.

The relief she felt flooded her, but so did the anger.

To keep from striking out at him, she gripped her clutch tighter, forcing the smile to stay in place as she extracted her hand from his.

Mishca looked down at her, his expression not giving anything away. “A moment.”

With the slightest of nods, Lauren stepped to the side, going over to stand closer to the water, not far enough that she couldn’t see them, but far enough that she wouldn’t be able to hear their conversation. Whatever this was about, she didn’t think she wanted to know. She didn’t think Mishca could have possibly known about this impromptu meeting, though he’d had to have had some inclination since he obviously hired security.

The last couple of days had been amazing, had been everything she had wanted. Anonymity. Normality. Lauren couldn’t think of the last time they had spent time together and it had been as innocent as this. No constant phone calls, no secret meetings in the dead of night, and most importantly, none of the constant fear that she would wake up and something would be wrong or someone was dead.

But this was what she had signed up for, not that regretted that choice.

Foolishly, she had thought he would be able to keep his promise of not bringing his work with them, but instead of focusing on that, she looked down at her left hand, twisting her ring, staring down at the large sapphire in the cent, smaller diamonds surrounding it. She knew it had once belonged to his mother, a woman she hadn’t gotten a chance to meet, and she knew the significance of what it stood for to him, but tonight, unlike many other nights, it felt heavy on her finger.

“Ready?”

Lauren spun around, looking up into Mishca’s eyes as he rejoined her by the railing. The apology was clear in his eyes, and it was obvious he was waiting for her to call him on it, but she just wasn’t in the mood.

At least, not yet.

By the time they reached the car, the security already having gone back to their invisible perches, and took the long journey back to the villa, her anger had only festered.

***

Mishca had barely killed the engine before Lauren was snapping off her seatbelt, forcing the door open as she climbed out and slammed it behind her. He was right behind her, calling her name, and the only thing that made her anger worse was the fact that he had the keys so instead of just being able to let herself in, she had to wait for him.

“Lauren, I know—”

“Open the door.”

He moved to do what she asked, but he took his time about it

Lauren snatched her hand away. “I’m not mad because they’re here, whoever the hell they are, I’m upset because you should have told me. If I did go somewhere without you and I think I’m alone, here they are…just, stop trying to protect me all the time, Mish. I’m not your child.”

To keep from doing something—or saying something—she’d regret, Lauren turned her back and headed towards the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. Pulling the rubber band free from her hair, running her fingers through it before reaching for a face cloth to wash the makeup off. She could hear Mishca in the bedroom, but she didn’t bother calling out to him, not that there was anything left to say now.

Because she was upset with him, she sat on the sink counter, taking her time, painstakingly getting every bit of mascara off her lashes and the liner along her eyes. Her shoes came off next, then—instead of calling to Mishca as she normally would—she unzipped her dress, letting it fall around her feet on the floor. Taking a moment to herself, she sat in there for as long as she could, until she could no longer stall.

Hitting the light, she walked out, immediately catching sight of Mishca in bed, an arm thrown over his eyes.The only light in the bedroom that was on was the lamp on his bedside table, and though his body tensed when she came out, he didn’t say anything to her. Unlike their first night, the doors to the balcony were closed, the curtains drawn. Pretending not to notice, she walked around the bed, sliding in until she could just feel his presence beside her.

Getting comfortable on her side of the bed, she yanked the covers over her body, facing the opposite wall. Seconds ticked by and Mishca didn’t try to break the silence between them. There was enough moonlight spilling into the room to break through the darkness after Mishca turned out the light.