“You can do this, Jade,” I promise myself.
Chapter 6 - Radmir
Walking away from her is one of the hardest moments of my life.
I’ve already told myself I can’t let this type of thing happen. So, why did I kiss her? But now that I have it’s like a switch has flipped inside me and I have no idea how to turn it off.
Pausing outside her bedroom door, I lean against the wall and clench my jaw tightly together.
My brothers are still here, my family is downstairs enjoying the last of the dinner. I have to go back down there and pretend like nothing happened up here.
I take a deep breath and push myself off the wall.
By the time I’m down in the dining room again I’ve managed to externally pull myself together.
“What happened?” Renat asks.
“She got overwhelmed by the family vibes. She, uh, she lost a brother earlier this year—“
“Oh shit. That’s terrible,” Ruvim says, scrunching his face.
“I’m sorry to hear that. That must be tough to go through.” Rodion nods.
“I think she’s going to stay upstairs for the rest of the night, just relax and gather herself,” I say, sitting down in my seat again.
“Well, we are almost done here anyway so it’s almost time to head out,” Ruvim says, dishing up the last of the chicken wings.
“Are we still on for tomorrow?” Roman asks, looking expectantly at me. My mind draws a complete blank.
“Tomorrow?” I mumble, still thinking about her and her lips pressed against mine.
“The whole fiasco with the Enzo brothers interfering with the warehouse again—“ Renat says, shaking his head as though I’ve lost my mind.
“Oh, fuck, yeah, we’re on for tomorrow. Who's meeting me there?”
“Roman, Ruvim and I,” Renat says.
Rodion stands up. “Yeah, sorry I can’t join you, I have to attend to that shipment.”
“We’ll be fine without you.”
“You guys please be careful,” Ruslana says, also standing up. “Come on Raisa, I’ll drop you at home.”
Raisa yawns loudly and stands up too. “Thanks for an amazing evening, Radmir. I really like Jade. She’s sweet.
“She is,” I nod, absentmindedly.
I follow everyone as they filter out of the house and towards their cars. When I close the door behind them all, I breathe a sigh of relief.
Fuck.
I really fucked up tonight.
I can’t believe I crossed that line after promising myself I wouldn’t.
A part of me wants to go and talk to Jade again, to apologize, to make sure she’s ok. But I can’t do that because I don’t trust myself. Not right now.
So instead, I head up to my bedroom, leaving the mess in the dining room for the housekeeper to deal with in the morning.