Chapter 120 Dead Petals
❦ Rosalind ❦
I gasped… more from shock than fear, but the two bled into each other and I couldn’t tell them apart.
My pulse roared in my ears. And then anger came, filling my head with hot air.
“What the hell is this?” I demanded, crossing my arms tight over my chest.
Orlov’s smile deepened into a confident and infuriating curve. It used to fool me before I learned how rotten it was underneath.
“That’s no way to welcome a guest.”
“You weren’t invited.” I snapped.
For a moment, something mean flickered behind his eyes. His grin slipped into a sneer before he caught himself.
“Can I at least come in?”
I laughed bitterly. “What the hell gives you the audacity to show up here? You know you’re not welcome here or anywhere near me.”
He moved before I even finished my sentence, shoving past me shoulder first.
I stumbled back, slapping my hand against the wall for balance. The bouquet he’d been holding crashed to the floor, the flowers spilling everywhere.
“Orlov…” I started, but he turned and locked the door with a click that made my stomach drop.
My throat tightened. “What the fuck are you doing? Get out. Now.” I sneered, my eyes narrowed.
He raised his hands and paced in front of me.
“For God’s sake, Rosa, I just want to talk!”
I didn’t move. I just watched him as he stalked the living room like a caged animal.
My eyes darted toward the sofa by the window where my phone laid. Too far to reach without passing him.
“You have no idea,” he went on, “… no idea how crazy it’s been for me. Knowing you were right here, just across the city, hating me… refusing to even give me a chance to make things right.”
Hating him? I hadn’t even remembered he existed in the midst of everything I’d been going through.
His words blurred together as he spewed more egoistical nonsense.
My heartbeat was a hammer in my chest.
The way his voice trembled wasn’t with emotion.
It was mania.
And then I noticed how his jaw twitched uncontrollably. The restlessness of his hands. The bright, dangerous glint in his eyes.
Oh God.
He was high.
Of course he was.
And I was alone in the house with him.
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I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
“You couldn’t have just called? Or texted?” My voice came out thin.
I hated that he could still do that to me, make me feel small and helpless.
I scanned the room, looking for anything I could use as a weapon if it came to that.
I was in full fight-or-flight mode, and the house suddenly registered like a trap. I was trapped in here with the unstable bastard.
Orlov laughed. A full blown guffaw that made my stomach twist.
“Text you? Call you?” he echoed, his face twisting into a red-rimmed glare. “You blocked me everywhere, remember? Like a fucking criminal.”
For a second, I forgot to breathe.
I felt a strong sense of déjà vu from the look he gave me. It was exactly like when he would come home high in Boston. His eyes would be glassy, his jaw tight, brimming with aggression and spoiling for a fight.
Back then, it was a matter of guessing whether he’d shout, smash something, or touch me just to prove it was his right.
A tremor ran through me. If he tried that now, I wouldn’t let him. I’d kill him before I let him touch a hair on my head.
But then he exhaled, and his voice softened.
“Let’s not do this,” he said. “Please. Just sit down. Let’s talk like adults instead of fighting each other.”
I didn’t trust the sudden calmness, but there was little I could do.
So, I took a careful breath, pretending to consider.
I glanced toward the sofa by the window where my phone was.
Just a few steps away.
I moved toward the sofa.
“Stop.”
The word cracked through the room.
I froze and turned.
He was smiling again.
“Not that one,” he said lightly. “Sit over there instead.” He pointed to the opposite side of the room. “That one’s more comfortable.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How would you know?”
He laughed under his breath. “Because I’ve sat there more times than you’d think.”
A chill went through me. I told myself it was the drugs talking.
I clenched my fingers into my palms as I slowly walked to the sofa he’d chosen.
He leaned forward over the back of the seat across from me.
“I used to come here all the time,” he said wistfully. “With my father. When I was a kid.”
My breath hitched. “What?”
He smiled, his eyes unfocused like he was somewhere else entirely.
“Yeah. Back then, I didn’t know who lived here. I didn’t know it was you. I used to look around and think… maybe one day I’d meet the pretty girl in the pictures. But years passed and I never did.”
He drifted to a small framed picture I hadn’t looked at in a while.
I was about ten in it with my hair in pigtails, missing a front tooth.
Aunt Carina had just taken me to Boston then.
Orlov brushed a finger over the glass frame like he had a right to touch anything in this house.
“You were in Boston,” he said quietly. “I remember hearing that somewhere. That’s why I applied to university there. Thought maybe I’d run into you one day.”
He let the quiet stretch.
“But then… I got distracted with one too many bitches, too many parties. By the time I actually met you, you were just another pretty face in a crowd, and I had no idea it was my Rosa.”
I stared at him, resisting the urge to dive for my phone. “Then it wasn’t a crush. It was an obsession.”
He turned and snorted. “No. If it was an obsession, I’d have found you sooner. Back then. Even now.”
Dread crawled up my spine. I swallowed, forcing my voice to stay steady.
“Why are you here, Orlov?”
He looked at me like it was the simplest thing in the world.
“Because I miss you,” he said. “I thought I could outgrow it, but I can’t. I can’t just find another woman like you. The women these days…” he shook his head like it was unfortunate news, “they’re not patient or gentle. They’re not loving like you were.”
My blood went hot.
“That’s not a compliment,” I said. “You can’t find another woman like me because I was stupid, Orlov. So fucking stupid. And God, I hope no one else ever makes that mistake. That’s why you can’t replace me, you’re looking for someone who’ll tolerate you.”
He didn’t blink.
I stood up, the space between us shrinking and thickening with tension all at once.
“I never should’ve stayed with you that long, waiting for you to change. That’s like waiting for the sky to touch the earth. You can never change. You’re a monster, a rabid beast, and…”
He smiled.
It wasn’t a smirk this time. It was soft and genuine. Almost tender.
It made my stomach knot up, because it didn’t belong on his face.
“That’s why I love you,” he said softly. “You don’t sugarcoat shit. Even when it exposes you too.”
He leaned forward just enough that the light hit his eyes, and they glinted darkly.
“You’re right,” he murmured. “You were stupid. And that’s exactly the problem. I can’t find anyone that stupid again.” He smiled wider, his fangy teeth catching the light.
The silence was absolute. My throat tightened.
“That’s why I’m here, Rosa. Because I still want you.”