Page 49 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

The anger came quickly, filling my chest with fire.

NO FUCKING MORE.

Giving myself another few seconds, I finally climbed out of the bed and yanked on my gown. Tying the thing angrily around my waist before I walked out of the room with the wad of notes clutched in my fist.

"Ilya Popovitch, if you think—" I froze.

"Good morning, Daisy." He lifted his head to me slowly, his eyes darting from mine to the money clutched in my fist. "I see you have found the bonus I left for you."

There was a look in his eyes that I didn’t want to understand. "That’s for yesterday." He carried on sipping his espresso and watching me over the rim of the tiny cup. "For a job well done."

It might have been my imagination, but I was sure I saw his lips curl up into a cruel smile.

"I don’t want your money." Again, I let my eyes dart to the woman sitting opposite him. The same beautiful girl as last night. She stared back at me equally coolly.

"Ah." Leaning back, Ilya's grin grew. Cold and so cruel that it felt like he was tearing out my heart. "Forgive my lack of manners. Daisy, this is Marguerite. Marguerite, this is Alexander’s nanny, Daisy. She missed out on her night off yesterday because—" He grinned down at the money beforemeeting my eyes again. And the look seemed to scream that he had won.

"Well, I needed a hand with something. She really went above and beyond. Just like she always has. I tell you what, Daisy, why don’t you take today off instead? Spend the money on something nice for yourself." The tip of his tongue came out to wet his bottom lip. "You really did earn it."

I couldn’t speak. All I could do was stare at him and marvel at the fact that his cruelness could still shock me. Each one of his words was polite, kind almost. And the woman clearly thought so because she was staring at him like he hung the moon, but each one had a different meaning to me.

He was being cruel just to be cruel because he liked to see me suffer.

Last night shouldn’t have happened. I knew that.

Just like I knew it could never happen again.

I nodded my head once. "Thank you. Have a nice morning." Turning on my bare feet, I padded back towards my room.

"It was nice to meet you, Daisy," Marguerite called after me, forcing me to pause.

Slowly I turned. "You as well. Enjoy your breakfast."

He had invited her to breakfast. Where Alec could see her. Marguerite wasn’t like the other women.

Had Ilya chosen my replacement already?

I didn’t spend the money. I left it on the nightstand where he had put it. I wasn’t a whore, and as soon as I got him alone, I was going to tell him that and stuff the notes into his smug face.

I did go for a walk, though, and the fresh air and green space of Central Park helped me clear my head. By the time I got home, the apartment was empty.

It remained empty for hours, giving me enough time to take a long, hot bubble bath and cook myself a meal.

Somewhere around six, I heard them come back and listened for any hint of a female voice. There was none. Wherever Ilya and Alec had gone today, Marguerite hadn’t come home with them.

I wanted to ask him about her, but part of me already knew the answer, and to hear it put into words would have gutted me afresh. So I stayed in my room, chatting on Messenger to my friends back in the UK.

I missed them. Just like I missed my life and job and the feeling of doing something worthwhile, but I would never leave Alec. I wouldn’t break my promise to the little boy who owned my entire heart.

His father, though? His father could choke on any promises I had made to him.

"Ah, there you are."

My head snapped up; I hadn’t heard my door open, but there he was. Leaning against the doorjamb with a wide, knowing smile on his face and his arms crossed so the material of his tee was stretched across his muscles.

"What do you want?" I dropped the phone to my lap, face down, and scowled at him.

"You didn’t come out for dinner." His eyes kept glancing down at the phone. "Am I interrupting something important?"