Ivan’s POV:
*Ivan, we need to talk.*
She knows, she definitely knows. This was why I thought it was a bad idea for her to go alone with Daisy to see her therapist. Now I am not saying Daisy is unreliable, but they are friends, the closest of friends, I was sure she wouldn’t have kept her in the dark long enough for me to sort out this mess but a little more time would have been great.
Sasha’s eyes met mine, her expression said she knew just what I was thinking about and she suspected the same thing as well.
Ignoring her demand, I flash her a warm smile. “Hello to you too, solnyshko.”
A pink blush crept to her cheeks at the nickname. “We need to talk,” She repeated sternly. “In private, Ivan.”
A moment passed before I nodded in defeat and she immediately turned to her room in the penthouse while I followed. When we got to the room, I shut the door behind me.
She crossed her arms as she glared at me. “I’m old enough to protect myself, Ivan,” She snapped.
“I know-”
“Do you?” She scoffed. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t hide this whole ‘Harry’ issue. Yet I found out in the most humiliating way possible!”
I let out a deep exhale, to an extent, she had every right to be angry but then again, I was trying to protect her to keep her away from the ugly things going on. She was the one who got hurt, yet that bastard is out there victimising himself.
“I don’t know how you found out, but I did what we had to do to protect you, Sophia,” I explained calmly.
She huffs angrily. “I’m not made of glass, Ivan. You didn’t think I could handle that? Hell, I survived living with my father for years and then getting kidnapped by you.”
I winced at her last sentence. “I understand why you must be upset finding out the truth the way you did, but I was eventually going to tell you after we’ve sorted things out. But I won’t apologise for trying to keep you safe, milaya.”
She let out an annoyed gasp as her eyes widened. “You! You’re annoying, you know that?” She hissed, visibly red from anger.
The urge to pull her into my arms and calm her down was so strong, but I shoved both my hands into the pockets of my slacks instead. “If wanting you safe makes me annoying, then so be it. I don’t care.”
Hurt flashed across her face and it made the organ in my chest squeeze painfully.
I don’t like seeing her upset but at the same time, I never want to see her get hurt. Not even by me, so I tried to reason with her once more. “I don’t think you’re weak, Solnyshko. I just didn’t want you to get hurt, I just needed time to sort things out, I hope you understand me?” I said softly, hoping she’d understand.
Her features softened a bit but she narrowed her gaze. “And how exactly do you plan to ‘sort’ things out?”
There was no point hiding the truth. “Harry reached out to me, he’s willing to negotiate with us, I guess.”
“What? No! He’s in the wrong here, we could just tell everyone what really happened!” She protested.
I shook my head lightly. “I’m afraid that won’t work, Milaya. It’s been days since he gained the public’s sympathy, you don’t know what it has been like, the company too has been suffering from the scandal, you can’t talk your way into their hearts.” Plus, he has something against me, he knows I killed your father. I don’t say that to her though, I wouldn’t dare.
The distraught look on her face as emotions warred inside her made me want to march down to wherever Harry was and blow his brains out, but that would be unwise.
I cleared my throat, distracting her from her thoughts. “That is why you need to let me handle him, I need to go to him and see what he wants and then we could come to an agreement. He said in his text that we would meet today at 10 pm,” I explained carefully.
She seemed to think about it a little before squaring her shoulders. “Then I’ll come with you, I need to be there-”
“No!” I said sternly. “You don’t have to be there, I will handle this.”
Her face fell. “What? I thought you said you knew I wasn’t weak. Or you don’t trust me to handle myself?” She looked hurt.
I pulled out my right hand from my pocket and cupped her cheek gently. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, detka. I do not trust Harry, especially when it comes to you. Let me handle him, please,” I begged. Because I knew she was far from weak, if anything, she was stubborn, that was why I grew attached to her in the first place and right now, I needed her to not fight me on this.
With a resigned sigh, “Fine,” she muttered. “But no more lies. No more keeping me in the dark, I need to know everything. I need to know what Harry wants.”
“You have my word,” I said firmly.
“This way, please.” The burly man says as he leads us to a door behind the bar. He pushed it open and it revealed a dimly lit stairway that seemed to lead to a basement.
We followed him down the stairs quietly, until he stopped at a door and pressed the red button next to it. A moment later, the door opened and we stepped inside.
An underground gambling den slash strip club? Is that… a teenage girl? Sid side-eyes me as he takes in the view of our environment.
Most of the strippers looked quite young to be here, well I hope I’m wrong and they just look too young for their age-
“Come this way,” the burly guy said, pinging toward a spot that looked like a Vip lounge. “Mr. Harry is over there.”
Well, it was time to know what he wanted. The slimy bastard was already a step or two ahead of me, I needed to play my cards right.