X
o0o
She stared at Arkady's cool, handsome features for a couple of moments, and the way he was staring at her made it all too easy for her to feel like she was a child who'd committed a fairly serious transgression.
Arkady Suvorin was not respected and feared for nothing. One could attribute his good looks and powerful build to luck in genetics, but his intelligence and ruthlessness made these physical advantages all the more devastating. The same eyes that so easily pierced her with their heat could stare across a table with a predatory gaze that stopped his enemies cold.
She'd been with this man for half a year now and had certainly seen his dominant side, but she'd never done anything to try to piss him off, not that she had a real reason to. She wasn't about to bite the hand that fed her, after all.
As she stared back at him, processing these thoughts, she realized that he had no reason to be angry at her. She'd simply spent time with a friend, and so what if she'd chosen to not answer her phone while hanging out with Anatoly and her new friends? Cheating on Arkady had been the furthest thing from her mind as she renewed her acquaintance with an old childhood chum.
"When I ask a question, I expect an answer, Nadezhda," his voice cut into her ruminations.
"I'm sure you do," she replied casually, making her way across the foyer into the kitchen area. Her heart was pounding, but she maintained her calm as she moved around to make herself a cup of coffee. She could almost feel his stare burn a hole in her back as she placed a pod into the Keurig coffee-maker ensuring there was enough water before pressing the 'brew' button.
What was Arkady doing, spying on her anyway? How did he know she was with some guy?
"Do you have any intention of answering my question?" he asked as she pulled two mugs out from the cupboard, a black one for her and a red one for him. She put the black one in the machine, becoming aware of the faint tremble of her hand.
"When were you going to tell me you were keeping tabs on me?" she finally answered after a couple of seconds, staring at the empty mugs before turning to face him. "Are there cameras in this apartment? A tracking device in my car? What?"
"That is not what we are discussing here, Nadezhda," he countered evenly. She let out a short laugh.
"I'm not answering your question until you answer mine," she said, her mind scrambling at what the fuck she was going to do if there were indeed cameras.
"It's a ridiculous question," Arkady countered, his eyes glinting with cold heat as he squared his shoulders. Even then, he managed to look sexy, but at this moment, with his glare, it was something that would appeal only to women who liked danger, and Nadezhda did not consider herself that type of woman. Despite her fear, she felt her ire well up within her as she thought of the way he'd managed to effectively take control of her life, and her bed in the process. He was responsible for her college, her apartment, her car, and any of the nice things she had, including the fine jewelry, and the top-of-the-line smartphone he'd given her a couple of months ago to replace the prepaid one she'd been using for several years.
And what was worse, she'd become complacent. In the beginning, she reminded herself constantly that all of this was just an arrangement, one which was mutually beneficial to both parties, but she'd keep her heart guarded, take what he was giving her, and use it as a foundation for a stable and even prosperous future. That was all this was supposed to be. He would tire of her eventually, she was certain, and why shouldn't he? He was powerful and good-looking, and could have any of a number of women who were far more beautiful and elegant than she. What was she after all, but a teenage girl who'd been in a rough patch, and needed saving? She'd be twenty in a few months, and surely the whole 'damsel in distress' thing would wear off in due time.
One day, he would tell her that it was time to part ways, and she would be prepared for it, and leave his life with no fuss.
But until that time, she was loyal to him. She put out when he asked, though accommodation was made for when she was on her period or the couple of times she'd been sick or unwell.
"It's not! You're not the fucking boss of me!" she snapped, throwing up her arms. "Our agreement was that I would be your mistress, and you would pay for my college! You know how I struggled before this, how fucking stupid do you think I am that I would jeopardize that! Your question is idiotic and insulting, and I want you to leave now!"
He squared his shoulders, and for one long, horrible moment, she feared that he would actually strike her. They stared at one another, and though it seemed ridiculous, she could almost swear he was attempting to smirk but was unable to.
"If that is your wish, little tsaritsa," he finally said flatly before retreating from the table. She blinked but was unable to think of anything to say that made sense to her at this moment. He turned from her and disappeared around the corner before she heard the door open and close. He didn't even slam it. It was not until she heard the quiet click before she realized she had been holding her breath.
Bonelessly, she slid to the floor, her hands trembling, barely conscious of the thin beeping that signaled that a cup of coffee had been brewed.
o0o
After several minutes, she finally rose to her feet, pulling the mug out of the machine, staring down at it, seeing her reflection on the dark surface as she gathered her thoughts, attempting to make sense of what the ever-loving fuck had just happened.
She had felt so brave, ready to butt heads with Arkady, and then he'd left her almost fainting. God, what would even have happened if he hadn't left?
"Wow." She took a deep breath, pressing her hands to the counter, savoring the feel of the cool marble under her palms. "Okay." Closing her eyes, she pondered her next actions. In this sort of situation, some people would have been advised to apologize, just to not rock the boat.
Why should she? She had done absolutely nothing wrong. It hadn't even crossed her mind to be on anything more than friendly terms with Anatoly. If Arkady thought so low of her, well, that was his problem. Fucking alpha male, thinking he could control everything!
Well, he could make her life a living hell, if he so chose. People could technically be in the right, morally or legally, but that didn't mean their own actions or choices couldn't impact them negatively. Especially when other people chose to not play fair, because as the world - not to mention her own life experience - showed there were enough assholes walking around who didn't care about what was fair.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." She opened her eyes, adding some cream to her coffee before sitting down at the island on the stool Arkady had vacated.
First things first, how was he keeping tabs on her? Perhaps he did have a GPS on her car, but she hadn't used it today, taking the bus to campus for class before getting a ride home from Anatoly. She was certain she wasn't microchipped like a cat or dog. That'd be beyond fucked up. Perhaps there was some bug in her purse, or...
Her hand reached down to her pocket, pulling out her phone. Compared to the pre-paid one she'd gotten as soon as she was able to buy a phone for herself, the top-of-the-line device that was in her possession for a relatively short time was almost like comparing an automobile to a horse-and-buggy. Recalling the frustration she'd dealt with in regards to slow download times among other things on her old device, the phone Arkady had given her seemed almost like magic. Though it would be months before Christmas or her birthday came up, he insisted on giving it to her after witnessing her frustration with her old phone, and she hadn't been about to object to a kind gesture.
