Lyosha sits like an angel—nice, sweet, his posture perfect. He reminds me vaguely of the Dobermans: alert and seemingly innocent, but ready to beg and cajole whatever he can out of Tolyan.
“Breakfast first,” he states flatly. “Then we discuss your accident.”
Lyosha scrunches his face like he just realized he’s swallowed a fly.
I inhale sharply, my gut twisting painfully. Roy. He always sends somebody to do a hit-and-run. My heart thuds hard like a thousand drums. My head throbs.
Suddenly, the pain in my chest sears through me. I realize I’ve been holding my breath. I expel the air forcibly, then suck it back in.
But a sliver of cold logic slices through my panic. It couldn’t have been Roy. He doesn’t attack people you don’t know. You didn’t meet Lyosha until today, and he wasn’t even in the same city as you.
If Roy was going to come after someone, it would’ve been Tolyan. He’s the most obviously close to me. We go to the foundation together; we come home together. We walk the dogs together.
Besides… I look at Lyosha. He doesn’t look like someone who’s just been the object of some maniac in a car trying to kill him. And Roy would’ve made sure to damage him. Every single one of those hit-and-runs ended with, at a minimum, the victim’s legs getting broken.
“You okay?” Lyosha peers at me, mild, reluctant concern on his youthful face.
I blink. “What?”
“You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“I was just…” I pause, searching for the right words. I can’t tell him about Roy. “I was just worried.”
“Uh-huh.” His eyes are sharp.
I need a moment to collect myself. “Excuse me.” I walk to my room, leaving the two behind. And if Lyosha got into a car accident, he probably doesn’t want to discuss it in front of me.
I shut the door behind me, then pull my panties out and toss them into the laundry basket. I change into a dress, but my hair’s still damp, so I squeeze the excess water out and put it up in a messy knot, holding it together with a pair of chopsticks.
Then I brace myself against the vanity and breathe, willing myself to calm the hell down. What am I trying to do here? Advertise to Tolyan’s son that something’s up? Tolyan wouldn’t want his son involved in my problem with Roy. It’s too dangerous.
Calm, Angelika, calm. Just put on a friendly face until Lyosha goes back to Berkeley. He’s not a target for Roy. Don’t do anything to turn him into one.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Tolyan
“I don’t like her,” Lyosha says in a low voice the second the little fawn’s disappeared into her room. His green gaze holds mine.
“I would’ve asked if I wanted your opinion.”
“You slept with her!”
“And?” My lip curls with amusement. “Do you think I’ve been living like a monk all these years?”
He gives me an ugly glare, full of teenage bravado and angst.
“Lyosha, I am a man of discipline, but I’m not dead.”
“I don’t need to know about your sex life! It’s disgusting.”
“Then don’t barge into my bedroom. You weren’t dropped off by a stork.”
He looks like he wants to throw up.
“We could’ve given you a brother, although I would prefer a girl,” I add. I’m feeling sadistic enough to torment my son for ruining what would’ve been a lovely, intimate morning. “Girls are softer, prettier… More fun to protect.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Agreed. Now shut up and be nice to her.”
“Make me.” He bares his teeth.
Being away on campus probably made him forget what I’m capable of. Not that I’d use violence against him. But there are other ways to make him obey.
His posture shifts as though he’s just remembered all those ways. He sniffs. “I just don’t like it that you’re forgetting things.” His tone is mulish. Resentful.
I really need to teach this child not to be so easily read. He’s a walking neon sign. “You’re upset because you think I’m getting myself a serious girlfriend, which means the promise I made when you turned ten is no longer important for me to keep.” Ridiculous. He should know better than to think that. “But I haven’t forgotten anything. The Dealer will pay before the year’s over.”
His head snaps up. “Really?”
“Really. But if I’m too busy having to console her because you can’t be a polite, decent human being, I might not have the time.”
He clears his throat, shifting on the stool. “Okay.”
His objection to Angelika isn’t personal, so this should smooth things out. I take out bacon and eggs. Lyosha leans forward.
“But… Dad. Don’t you think she’s too young?”
I stop, then slowly turn to face him. Is this little brat judging me?
“I mean… She barely looks old enough to be a TA,” he says.
“Your point?”
“I’m just saying—”
“Your point?”
He opens his mouth, then thinks better of it.
It isn’t like the matter has never crossed my mind. Every time I look at her, I note her youthful smile and open personality. But I don’t understand why my son thinks I shouldn’t have a girl who’s young and nice. It’s like he wants me to go get an unpleasant hag.
Even having brushed my teeth and taken a hot shower, I can still taste her, still feel her tight and hot around my cock. She smells of my shampoo and body wash, and if it weren’t for Lyosha, we would still be in bed together.
She’s bait. I shouldn’t have any feelings for her. But now, I’m thinking about what’s going to happen after the situation with Roy is resolved. Letting her go no longer seems like an appealing option. But keeping her in the dark about her role in my plans and keeping her by my side?
Oh, yes.
Chapter Thirty
Angelika
By the time I calm myself and walk back out, Tolyan has breakfast ready. He serves eggs and bacon to everyone.
Lyosha’s no longer looking annoyed with me. Instead, his manner is polite. So Tolyan must’ve had a word with his son. Still, Lyosha doesn’t strike me as the type to do something just because his dad told him to.
“Sorry I barged in on you guys like that,” Lyosha says, while surreptitiously handing a strip of bacon to one of the Dobermans. He’s been doing it throughout the meal. No wonder the canines have been whining and wagging their extra-short tails around him.
“It’s okay,” I say graciously.
“I could’ve shot you.” Tolyan’s tone’s anything but gracious as he points his knife at his son.
“It’s just that I need a new car,” Lyosha says. “The Jeep’s kinda, you know. Totaled.”
“Is everyone okay?” I ask. It sounds like it was a serious accident.
“I was, uh, basically the only one involved.”
Tolyan grunts. “He drove the Jeep into a ditch.”
“It was dark!”
“Which is why cars come with headlights.”