94

Chapter 6
Abbie
The past five days have been nothing but pure torture. In every class, I get my ass handed to me. If it’s not by Nikolai in combat training, it’s by the bratva in kidnapping prevention. The bastards left me tied to a chair, and if it weren’t for Aurora coming to free me, I would’ve wet myself.
The only thing that seems to be working in my favor is the shooting lessons. I can now hit the target, which I picture is Nikolai Vetrov.
Do I still flirt with him? Hell yes.
Does it still piss him off? Much to my joy, yes.
All the flirting comes at a price, though. Every day the training gets more brutal to the point where my body constantly aches from all the exercise.
Instead of a filthy fantasy come true, the forbidden and way too attractive blood diamond king has turned out to be my worst nightmare incarnated in the combat class. He’s cold and ruthless, and no amount of flirting will make him give in and fuck me.
I’m pretty sure there’s no heart to be found in his chest, unlike mine that won’t stop beating overtime at the mere sight of him.
It sucks, and I’m growing bored of the stupid game I started.
Sitting in Aurora’s suite while I wait for her to come back from wherever she went, my thoughts keep hopping from the soul-sucking training to Nikolai.
It’s weird. Usually, I wouldn’t bother with a man who doesn’t show me any interest, but with Nikolai, it’s like catnip to me. The more I piss him off, the more my desire for him grows. I swear I’m horny twenty-four-seven because of the man.
Maybe it’s because I can’t have him. The heart always wants what it can’t get. Right?
The door opens, and I hear Misha bark, “Aurora, what the fuck happened?”
I dart to my feet, and as I take a step, my friend sneers, “Go laugh with your friends about how you got to fuck Aurora D’Angelo. It will always be the biggest accomplishment of your pathetic life.”
What. The. Hell?
My eyebrows fly up, and I process the information at the speed of light.
Aurora slept with Misha?
When? What the hell did I miss? Last I heard, they were still enemies, and Aurora was doing her best to get over him.
Aurora hurries into the suite and slams the door shut. When she turns around and locks eyes with me, I ask, “What did you just say?”
“Ugh,” she mutters as she kicks off her sneakers. Walking to me, she wraps her arms around me. “Just hold me. You can judge me later.”
Hugging my friend, I can’t keep myself from asking, “Did you sleep with Misha? When?”
“Yes,” she groans. “Today.”
My eyebrows fly up again. “While I was tied up?” She nods. “I’m sorry.”
Yeah, I don’t know how to feel about this. “For sleeping with Misha or leaving me tied to a chair with a full bladder?”
“Both.” Her voice is thick with tears, making me hold her tighter.
Someone bangs hard on the door, and knowing who it is, I pull away from Aurora and say, “Stay here. I’ll deal with the fucker.”
Yanking the door open, I glare at Misha. “Fuck off, Petrov.”
Just as I go to close the door, his hand slams against it, and he shoves me out of the way. I stagger back as the bastard storms into the room and demands, “I deserve to know what happened.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know,” I snap at him.
Misha gives me a look of warning. “If you want to live to see another day, you’ll shut up.”
I’m about to go to town on the asshole when Aurora darts between us.
She gives me a determined look. “I’ll deal with him. Give us a minute.”
Glaring at Misha, I mutter, “I’ll be in the bedroom. Yell if you need help kicking his ass.”
Walking to the other room, I shut the door before pressing my ear against the wood so I can hear everything they say. Of course, it’s so I can run out and help Aurora if things get out of control between her and Misha.
They argue, but it quickly changes, and when I hear how they feel about each other, I get all caught up in my feels because my friend loves a man she can’t have.
It’s freaking sad, and I can’t help but shed tears on her behalf.
When they’re saying their goodbyes, I move to the bed and slump down on the mattress.
Damn, things really suck right now.
A moment later, Aurora opens the bedroom door.
“My God,” I sniffle. “That was so romantic and sad. It makes Romeo and Juliet’s story look like a walk in the park.”
“Yeah.” Aurora slumps down beside me. “Do you think my dad–” “He’ll kill both of you.” I shake my head hard because there’s no way
her father will allow her to be with Misha. “He hates the bratva.” She lets out a hopeless sigh. “You’re right.”
“I need comfort food after today. It’s been rough.” Standing up, I look at Aurora. “Let’s order something and go to the waterfall.”
We haven’t had much time together, but whenever we could, we explored St. Monarch’s gardens. We found a beautiful waterfall at the back of the property I plan on painting once I’m no longer in a world of pain from all the exercise.
“I just want to change into something warmer.” Aurora quickly grabs a jacket, then says, “Let’s go.”
When she opens the front door, she asks, “What are you in the mood for?”
I step into the hallway and catch myself in time from bumping into Nikolai.
His eyes snap to my face, and the next second I’m grabbed by the shoulder while concern tightens his features.
Oh, this is new.
His voice cuts through the air as he demands, “Why did you cry?”
I stare at him for a couple of seconds as the realization hits that the great Nikolai Vetrov is actually worried about me. Not able to stop myself from smiling, I answer, “I watched a sad story.” There’s a moment’s pause before I add, “Nice to know you care.”
As if touching me burns him, Nikolai rips his hand away from my shoulder, and with a shake of his head, he stalks toward his suite.
Grinning from ear to ear, I look at Aurora. “Am I wrong? He cares, right?”
She shuts the door to her suite and lets out a sigh. “One sad story at a time. There’s no way your father will let you date Nikolai.”
True. But my father doesn’t have to know.
Yeah, keep dreaming. Your father will kill you himself before he allows you to be in a relationship with a Vetrov.
Besides, just because Nikolai showed a glimmer of concern doesn’t mean shit.
“Ugh,” I huff as we walk toward the stairs. “For that man’s abs, I’ll leave my family.”
Aurora gives me a shocked look. “Really?”
I chuckle at her reaction. “Not really, but let me have my fantasy.”
Yeah, that’s all it will ever be. Just a far-fetched fantasy.
Refusing to let my problems get me down, I focus on the glorious weekend of rest and zero training I get to enjoy for the next two days.