Ivan’s POV: I don’t have feelings for her.
MONDAY.
Once it was lunch break I’d asked Sophia to come over to my office. I wanted to text her last night, to ask about what she and Harry had discussed but I felt it was unnecessary.
“What solution do you think she and Harry came up with?” Sasha asked.
With a sigh, I leaned back in my chair. “I just hope it’s something sensible, and I really don’t trust or like that Harry. But I guess I’m just paranoid.”
“Hmm, well it is always good to trust your instincts.” She got up from the couch and walked over to my desk. “But what do you want to do about Sophia?”
I narrowed my eyes at her as confusion clouded my mind. “What do you mean?”
She rolled her eyes. “I am talking about your relationship with her, I know for a fact that this scandal won’t stop you from fucking her, plus you seem protective of her these days.” She paused and studied me for a bit. “Do you have feelings for her?”
“I don’t have feelings for her,” I snapped. “Attached, maybe. But it’s only temporary, soon I’ll tire of her, but for now, she is mine,” I added quickly.
And that was nothing but the truth. I knew I had some kind of attachment to Sasha, but that didn’t suddenly mean I had feelings for her or wanted a relationship.
Sasha’s brows furrowed, and then she frowned. “Yea… ’cause that’s not at all messed up. I don’t know what you keep telling yourself, but I know what I see in your eyes when you look at her.”
Why is she hell-bent on proving that I have feelings for Sophia?
“Let it go, Sasha,” I said firmly.
“Ivan-”
Thump!
A soft knock on my door and then it opened.
Sophia walked in and it felt like my heart rate increased. Today her hair wasn’t up in a ponytail as usual, she’d let it fall, framing her beautiful face. Her suit pants hugged her hips, leaving nothing for my imagination. I let my eyes go up to her face again and they landed her her seductive lips. Fuck, I wanted them wrapped around my-
Sasha cleared her throat, disrupting my thoughts. I turned to her and found her smiling. Could she read my mind?
“Hi,” Sophia says to Sasha.
“Hey, love, how are you?” Sasha asks.
Sophia offered her a warm smile that brightened her whole face and my heart squeezed in my chest. What is wrong with me?
Sophia turned to me and nodded slightly.
A nod? That’s all I get? Not even a smile?
I thought we were on friendly terms now. Did that night mean nothing to her? It has been ingrained in my head ever since and I wanted nothing more than to create a new memory of us together again.
“I’ll go straight to the point,” she said in a business-like tone that had me wondering if she was the same person who I had under me in several positions as we fucked all night long.
“I spoke with Harry as planned. He has agreed to help.”
“How?” Sasha asks.
“I told him the truth about Ivan and me. And also about breaking up our engagement, but then he offered to help me get through this whole scandal situation. He agreed to go separate ways but after a month-”
“That’s ridiculous,” I snapped.
She glared at me. “How? At least let me finish. All we have to do is act like we are in love for a month and then we split up peacefully. If I break up with him now, the media will go wild and you know that,” She pointed out.
“No, I won’t agree to that,” I growled.
Sophia crossed her arms in defiance, glaring at me. “Who says you get to decide? I’ll go with Harry’s plan and that is final.”
Why is she so stubborn?
“How does that solve anything? It doesn’t make any sense, he understood too easily and then offered to help, what is he, a monk?”
Sasha held her hands up. “Calm down!” She barked.
We stopped arguing.
“Sophia,” Sasha started. “I get that you want things to go the right way and you feel guilty about this whole thing, thereby letting Harry get involved in this case. But your plan has faults, how can we be sure the media won’t come after you when the one-month span is up? If you and Harry push through with this, the media will be focused on your relationship even more than before. This is a risk,” She pointed out.
Sophia chewed on her bottom lip as she seemed to think about Sasha’s statement. “But we could maybe stage a bigger scandal and they would not even care if I and Harry break up eventually, because they would be more interested in that scandal.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Why are you being so adamant?”
“And why are you being so cranky,” Sophia shot back.
Sasha groaned loudly. “Now is not the time to argue.”
“Agreed, but I don’t think your brother here agrees,” Sophia said.
I got up from my chair and paced around. “You heard Sasha, your plan is faulty but you are hell-bent on pushing through with it,” I gritted out.
Sasha walked up to Sophia. “I still think my plan was better, all you need to do is have an interview and you deny everything that the media says. We could bring up an explanation for the pictures. You won’t have to do anything other than that, everyone wins.”
Sophia shook her head, her resolve firm. “What happens next? After doing the interview. What would I say about my relationship with Harry? Who would believe us if I broke up with him right after the interview?” Sophia asks.
We both stared at her in silence.
And I hated the fact that she had a point.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” She said finally. “I will take your silence as an agreement, and I assume we are done for today?”
“But why do we have to do this? I don’t care about the scandal. So what if we had sex and you’re engaged, it’s not like it’s a love match,” I grunted.
Sophia’s face turned bright red. “I care about it! Have you seen the comments? The company’s ratings? The company keep being under the spotlight and not even in a good way, I don’t want this to continue. I will do what I can to stop this!”
Sasha sighed, her tone gentle yet firm. “Fine, we will do it your way-
“No!” I snapped.
“Ivan, please. I understand your reluctance but there is much at stake here, let’s do it her way and hope that everything goes as planned.”
“Thank you,” Sophia said. “I have to go now, we can talk about this later.”
I opened my mouth to stop her but Sasha shook her head.
Sophia opened the door and left.
I glared at Sasha. “You shouldn’t have agreed with her!”
“Did you really think she was going to change her mind?” She retorted. “Both our plans had risks anyway.”
“But yours was better,” I spat out.
She shrugged. “Maybe, but that isn’t why you are acting this way. We both know you hate interviews and if there was an opportunity to miss out on one, you’d grab it. But not this time, you hate the fact that she would be close to Harry for a month and you feel threatened.”
Me? Threatened? I’ve never felt threatened by anything or anyone.
“That isn’t true,” I said firmly.
She shook her head as she crossed her arms. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, big brother.”
I scowled at her. “I don’t feel threatened,” I gritted out.
She sighed exasperatedly. “You do, because you have feelings for her and that’s why you’re so protective and possessive of her but you’re too damn stubborn and arrogant to see that.”
I moved back to my desk and plopped down on my chair. “I do not want to have this conversation.”
She huffed. “Fine, I have something else to do anyway.”
I pretended to be busy on my laptop. “Ok.”
Without another word, she left my office. As soon as I heard the door click, I blew out a breath and leaned back in my chair.
It’s a good thing Sasha leaves for Norway this weekend, she was a pain in my ass.
Yes, I want Sophia for myself. She is mine for now even if she doesn’t want to admit that. And I don’t share what’s mine.
I wanted her smile, laughter, body, soul, and everything about her to be for me alone. I don’t care how it sounds to anyone or how that makes anyone feel.
I’ll have to find a way to stop her plans. Reasoning with her won’t work, so I will take laws into my own hands.