Page 87 of Sinful Promise

“Fuck yeah, I am! You accuse me of lying to you, but you lied to me, too.”

“I lied toyou?”

“Yes! You didn’t tell me about all this, even after I asked you directly multiple times if everything was okay. You chose to lie to me! And I thought we were friends. I thought you would come tome if you had a problem. I asked you if you needed any help, to talk to me if you did, and again you chose to lie.”

Danil shakes his head and runs his fingers through his dark hair. “And I fucking hate the fact that I had to find out from Dimitri.”

His eyes are full of pain as he stares at me. “I could have helped you directly instead of having to do it behind your back. But you chose to close me off.”

“You want to know why I didn’t tell you?”

He looks at me, hurt and disappointment plain in his eyes, slaying me to the core.

“I… I was embarrassed.”

Danil frowns. “Embarrassed? About the hostess job?”

I nod as my cheeks burn as I think back to the scrimpy outfit I had to wear and all the creepy guys I had to serve.

I lower my eyes to the floor. “I didn’t want you to think less of me.”

There’s a moment of silence that hangs heavily in the air between us.

Danil takes a step closer to me. “Emily… There’s nothing you could do that would ever change the way I feel about you.”

My eyes sting with tears as I stare down at the cream carpet beneath our feet.

I hate that he’s still being sweet to me despite how horrible I’ve been to him. Maybe it would be better if he just screamed and yelled.

After all, I deserve it.

“Because, surely, you must have picked up by now that I have a serious crush on you.”

My head snaps up, and I stare at Danil.

Is he being serious right now?

“What?”

His expression is serious as his beautiful eyes flick to my lips. “I have a crush on you, Emily Mullens. And I have for months.”

He’s had a crush on me formonths? So the kiss was real.

I bury my face in my hands. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“That wasn’t exactly the reaction I was hoping for.”

“No, it’s not a bad thing, it’s just…” I lower my hands and when I see the sincerity in his chocolate-brown eyes, I feel the wall that I’ve built around myself over the past few weeks start to crumble.

I am such an idiot. To think that all this time I’ve been beating myself up over the meaning of him kissing me when it was so glaringly obvious all along.

Danil Koslov has a crush onme.

“Why the hell didn’t you say anything earlier?”

Danil’s eyes crinkle as he chuckles.

“The same reason you didn’t.” He reaches out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

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