Page 98 of Scarlet Thorns
The security team is getting their asses fired. Anett shouldn’t be anywhere near this property, let alone walking into my private office like she owns the place.
“Don’t think I don’t know about your little girlfriend!” She advances on my desk, manicured nails digging into expensive mahogany as she leans forward with predatory intensity.
I furrow my brow, genuinely confused by her accusation. “My who?”
“That mousey bitch sitting in your garden like she belongs there! Are you fucking her? Huh? Is that what you’ve been doing?” Her voice climbs toward hysteria, each word dripping with the kind of acid that could strip paint.
“That’s none of your business.” I stand slowly, letting my full height and the violence in my posture speak for themselves. “In case you forgot, we’re done. You shouldn’t even be here.”
But her words trigger something unexpected— a memory of the dream that felt more real than waking. Ilona’s hands on my skin, her voice whispering comfort in the darkness. The way peace settled into my bones for the first time in far too long.
“Earth to Osip!” Anett’s shriek snaps me back to the present. “Are you daydreaming about that little bitch of yours?”
Pizda!
The rage that floods my system is immediate and violent. Nobody—nobody— talks about Ilona that way. The urge to wrap my hands around Anett’s throat and squeeze until she understands respect is overwhelming.
“I won’t say it again, Anett.” My voice drops to a deadly tone. “We’re done.”
“No!” The word comes out as a wail, her carefully constructed mask finally cracking to reveal the frantic woman underneath. “You can’t just throw me away like garbage! After everything I’ve given you, everything we’ve shared—”
“What exactly have you given me?” I move around the desk, towering over her. “Sex? Company when I was drunk enough to tolerate your presence? You think that constitutes a relationship?”
Her face crumples, tears streaming down cheeks that probably see more maintenance than most people’s cars. “I love you, Osip. I’ve loved you since the beginning, and you’re throwing it all away for some nobody!”
“You love what I can give you. The house, the money, the status, the clothes.” I’m close enough now to see the calculation behind her tears, the way she performs grief instead of feeling it. “You’ve never loved me,suka. You don’t even know me.”
“That’s not true!” She lunges forward, pressing her body against mine with desperate hunger. Her hands fist in my shirt, trying to pull me down for a kiss that would taste like lies and manipulation. “Let me show you how much I love you. Let me remind you what we have together.”
I catch her wrists before she can make contact, holding her at arm’s length while disgust rolls through me in waves. Thewoman I once found tolerable— barely— now repulses me on a molecular level.
“Nyet.” The refusal comes out flat, final. “Whatever we had is over. Has been over since the moment you started making demands instead of accepting what I was willing to give.”
“This is about her, isn’t it?” Anett’s voice turns venomous, all pretense of love evaporating. “Your precious little housekeeper who’s got you wrapped around her finger already. Do you think she actually cares about you, or is she just grateful for the paycheck?”
The accusation hits too close to home, echoing doubts I don’t want to acknowledge. But the memory of Ilona’s surrender burns away Anett’s poison.
“Get out.” I release her wrists with enough force to send her stumbling backward. “Security will take you to your car. If you ever set foot on my property again, you’ll leave in a body bag.”
“You’re going to regret this!” Her beautiful face twists into something ugly, all that expensive surgery unable to hide the rottenness underneath. “When that little whore shows her true colors, when she takes your money and disappears, you’ll come crawling back to me!”
“The only thing I regret is wasting months pretending you were anything more than a convenient fuck.”
For a moment, she just stands there, mascara running in dark rivers down her cheeks. Then her expression hardens into something I recognize— the look of someone planning revenge.
“This isn’t over, Osip.” Her voice is deadly quiet now, more dangerous than her screaming. “You think you can just discard me like trash? You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“You have no idea what I’ve done to people who threaten me.” I move to my desk, pressing the security button that willflood this room with armed men. “Touch her, and I’ll make sure they never find your body.”
Anett stares at me for one more moment, probably weighing whether her wounded pride is worth dying for. Whatever she sees in my expression convinces her to back down.
“Stinking Russian pig! You were a lousy fuck, anyway,” she hisses, then spins and storms toward the door.
She slams it with enough force to rattle the windows, the sound echoing through my office. Her footsteps disappear down the hallway, followed by the murmur of security voices as they escort her from the premises.
I pour vodka with hands that are steadier than they have any right to be, downing it in one burning gulp that does nothing to wash away the bitter taste of confrontation. But underneath the frustration runs something else— relief so profound it leaves me feeling lighter.
She’s out. Anett is finally out of my life, hopefully for good this time, which means nothing stands between me and the future I’m building. No complications, no jealous ex-girlfriends causing drama, no ghosts from failed relationships.
