Chapter 148

Elena:

“What are you doing back here?” I asked, hissing at Vladimir as he entered my room. 

It was late at night, and I was about to go to sleep, and after he kissed me a few hours ago, I couldn’t find myself getting any shut eye. 

“I came to see you,” he said, and I raised an eyebrow.

“I thought that you were coming to my room to play cards.” I said, choosing to be sarcastic. Though it wasn’t my smartest comeback, I knew that it served the point of what I wanted it to. “It is late and you were here earlier…”

“For a woman who was waiting for me…”

“You are foolish to think that I am going to expect you to come barging here when you can risk your life by anyone seeing you.” I said, stopping the man. His eyes widened in surprise at my words and I forced myself to take a deep breath, reminding myself of who the man was and what he was capable of doing if he wanted to. “Please take your leave if you don’t have anything that is important to tell me. The last thing that I would want is for you to get hurt…”

“The fact that you are concerned about me, despite being the one that is locked here, is amazing.” He said, stopping me. I took a deep breath and shook my head at the man, not believing what he actually caught onto instead of the real deal. “I know that you are worried, but I annoyed Batrov enough to have him leave the house for a while. And Yigrette is on a deep fucking spree with one of the men before she leaves tomorrow. You don’t need to worry.”

“Too much information that I did not need, especially about Yigrette.” I said, shaking my head. “How did you get Batrov to leave?”

“I showed him his place. It is something that he did not like, and believe me, the man is a little too childish for my liking.” He said, and I shook my head as a small smile played on my lips. “I’m sorry if I violated anything today.”

“If you are referring to kissing me, then I still owe you a slap for it.” I said, and he frowned in confusion. “I am a slave to your uncle. The man would have both of our heads if he finds out about this, and believe me, he might be merciful to you by killing you, but he would take his anger out on me…”

“As if I am stupid enough to let anyone know of what we do.” He said, stopping me. 

“The walls have ears in this place. If not the walls, the floor, the ceiling. You name it, he would hear of this.” I said, shaking my head at the man.

“He hasn’t heard of us meeting until now. Do you really believe that I am going to allow him to hear of something that I find as intimate between the two of us?” He asked, his eyes softening. He looked down at my lips before looking me in the eye again, and I couldn’t help but find myself blushing before looking away from him, shying back. “I don’t want you to look away from me, malyshka.”

“I’m not a malyshka. That name goes to a lover, someone that you can call your own. A woman who is innocent and only has a dark side for her lover’s eyes.” I said, avoiding his gaze. His eyes studied my expression for a second and it took everything in me not to collapse at that moment. I wished that I was what I described, but I knew that Konstantin took that away from me a long time ago.

“You are one, an angel too. You being locked here just makes you a princess that needs saving.” He said, and I shook my head.

“And what are you? A knight in shining armor?” I asked, and he winked, smirking as he did.

“More like your devil’s spawn. He is even darker than a knight in shining armor, and believe me, he can do a lot more bad things to those that he doesn’t like. As for those that he is willing to protect, then he would be going to the end of the world for that.” He said, and I avoided his eyes as I shook my head at him. “What do you have to lose to try giving it a shot?”

“The light that I found amidst all the darkness that I am living through, Vladimir.” I said, and his eyes widened in surprise. “I lost everything that I ever valued in the hands of the man that I call a devil. In HIS hands, Vladimir, and I have to admit that I do not intend to lose you too.” 

“The fact that you considered me valuable enough to not want to lose me is something that I am speechless to. But I am going to tell you that I do not intend to lose you or have you losing me. I am needed here alive, and I don’t plan on failing what I came here to do.” He said, and I frowned in confusion.

“I take it that you will choose not to answer if I asked,” I said, and he smiled.

“Some things are best kept as secrets. We can merely scratch their surface but the deeper we go, the more dangerous they become, and I doubt that you would be willing to accept dealing with the danger that they hold.” He said, and I nodded. “I am guessing that you want me to call it a night and leave?”

“I would like you to stay, but I believe that you need to rest too. You staying up late might end up being harmful for you.” I said, and he smiled. His eyes met mine once again, and he slowly took a step forward, holding eye contact as he did before he leaned in to kiss my cheek. My heart stopped for a second, and though the man didn’t pull away instantly, letting his lips linger there for a while longer, I couldn’t help but find myself wanting it to last a little longer than it did. 

“I like your concern over me.” He whispered, resting his forehead against mine, allowing our breaths to mix as he did. “I am going to leave and let you rest. I am guessing that you could use the few hours of sleep before dawn…”