Page 56 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride
The fact that I lied. That I snuck out that night. That Diomid and I had some weird thing between us. Ultimately, some good has come of it.
Half an hour goes by, and I realize that Diomid has literally said hello to every single person here, except me.
Only once or twice has he stolen a very brief glance in my direction, so he knows I’m here, right out in the open, but he’s made no attempt to even greet me, even from a distance. What the hell?
I’m probably reading into it. He’s just caught in conversation.
Deciding to be the better person and not make assumptions, I move closer to him, making it even easier for him to say hi. But to my absolute shock, as soon as I walk toward him, he beelines in the opposite direction, heading toward Zakhar.
Testing my theory again ten minutes later, I move closer to him, and he does the same damn thing. Each time I get closer, he moves away, actively avoiding me.
What the actual fuck?
He’s clearly doing it on purpose, and I’m not impressed.
At first, I’m angry with him, but quite quickly, I realize the anger is a cover for how much it hurts me. Diomid and I have been through quite a lot together, and just the other night we went on a covert operation together, and an intimate dinner afterward. Everything seemed fine between us. Why would he not want to even say hello?
Saying hello isn’t going to give away our secret. It’s not going to alert everyone to the fact that we visited that auction site. Or… anything else that’s happened between us. Surely, ignoring me is more of an alarm considering how he was my personal bodyguard for so long. A greeting would be the polite thing to do.
I huff, folding my arms across my chest and glaring at him from across the room.
Diomid must feel the heat of my stare because he glances at me, his brows furrowed.
With my eyes locked into his, I tilt my head to the side and shrug my shoulders. He shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
That’s it.
I’m not going to put up with this.
Marching over to him, I take his arm, a tight smile on my face, and in front of his brother, Oleg, I ask, “Can I talk to you for a second?” as politely as I can muster.
“Oh, sure,” he mutters, nodding to his brother to excuse himself.
“What are you doing, Angelika?” he asks, a whispered breath as I drag him away from everyone else and out of sight.
“What areyoudoing, Diomid?” I snap, hissing to keep my voice low.
He closes his eyes and pushes his hands through his hair. His cologne washes over me, and my body hums with need.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he replies, clearly fully understanding what I’m saying.
I tilt my head to the side and glare at him with my lips pursed. “Don’t treat me like an idiot. You’veliterallyrun away from me every time I got close to you today. You don’t even say hi,” I complain.
“You didn’t say hi either,” he says sheepishly.
“Really, because when I got close to you, you kind of made it clear that wasn’t an option.”
Diomid clenches his jaw and folds his arms across his chest. I get the feeling he’s trying to shield himself from me. Sighing, I shake my head. “What’s going on? You can’t ignore me. It’s weird.”
“I’m sorry, ok, Princess. But you don’t understand,” he sighs.
“Help me understand, because honestly, I’m really offended.”
He smiles, but it’s tight, restrained.
There’s a heavy pause that hangs between us. Silence, the kind you can feel in the air.
Then he scoffs, giving in. “I’m scared I can’t control myself around you. You have no idea how badly I want to touch you, and I feel like it’s a risk to be around you in front of everyone.”
