02- Katya thinks the devil handsome

KATYA

“Such a dirty word coming out of so sexy a mouth,” he drawled.

Aside from the slight smirk that curved his lips, he did not react to my insult.

Which, for some reason, irritated me more.

Most men would have gotten offended or at least taken the hint and backed off but not him.

He just stood there, calm and composed, like I had said something mildly amusing instead of telling him to fuck off.

Heat crept up my neck and I took a step back… I needed distance between me and whoever the devil this man was.

“What is your name?” he asked, like we were in the middle of a pleasant conversation. “It is only fair to tell me yours since I have told you mine.”

“I hardly asked you for your name”

His smirk deepened.

Before he could respond, we were interrupted.

“Is he bothering you, baby?”

Relief hit me so fast it almost made my knees weak.

Daniel.

I turned toward him instantly. He was already at my side, his arm sliding around my waist in a possessive grip that felt… tighter than usual.

His eyes were locked on Nikolai.

Nikolai, on the other hand, looked entertained. His smile widened slowly as he folded his arms across his chest.

“Say I was bothering her,” he said lazily. “What exactly do you presume you can do about that?”

Oh God.

My stomach dropped.

This was exactly what I did not want.

Daniel was not a fighter and the last thing I wanted was for my boyfriend to get knocked out in the middle of our anniversary night.

It had happened before when he got into a fight because he thought the man seated behind us at a car race event was winking at me.

Apparently, the man just had something in his eye and had been trying to remove it before Daniel punched him in the face.

I grabbed Daniel’s arm quickly, my fingers tightening around him.

“It is nothing, baby,” I said, forcing a smile. “He was just leaving.”

I shot Nikolai a glare, hoping and praying he would take the hint and walk away.

He didn’t.

Of course he didn’t.

He winked.

Actually winked at me.

“No,” he said simply. “I wasn’t.”

The audacity.

For a split second, I genuinely considered slapping the smug look right off his face.

Instead, I exhaled sharply and tugged on Daniel’s arm.

“Let’s go, Daniel,” I muttered. “He is not worth it.”

Daniel did not move immediately. I could feel the tension in him with how hard his jaw was clenched.

“Fucking Bastard.” he spat at Nikolai.

I watched the smile leave Nikolai’s face.

“What the hell did you just call me?” He stepped closer so he was towering over Daniel.

“Stop,” I said quickly, stepping between them.

I placed a hand against Nikolai’s chest without thinking, feeling the solid muscle beneath his shirt. My other hand pushed lightly against Daniel, trying to keep them apart.

“Just…cut it out, okay?” I said, my voice higher than I intended.

Nikolai’s gaze dropped to me, searching my face. Then, slowly, the corner of his mouth lifted again as he smiled at me but this time, the smile did not reach his eyes.

“You should tell your boyfriend to zip up his pants,” he said calmly. “He does not need to make it so obvious.”

I blinked.

“What?”

I spurn around to Daniel struggling with his zipper.

A flush crept up his face and he gave me a sheepish smile.

“You know how I forget these things,” he said lightly.

I stared at him.

No, I did not know.

But I nodded anyway.

Because what else was I supposed to do?

Daniel cleared his throat, straightening himself.

“Let’s just go,” he muttered. “This party is wack anyway.”

I cast one last glance at Nikolai as Daniel pulled me away.

He was watching me with that same intense, unsettling gaze.

…

The cool night air hit my skin the moment we stepped outside.

I inhaled deeply, trying to steady myself, but Daniel was already talking.

No, he was ranting.

“I mean, seriously, what the hell was that?” he snapped, pulling out his phone. “Who does that guy think he is?”

I stayed quiet, watching him as he ordered an Uber with aggressive taps against his screen.

“And you,” he continued, glancing at me. “Just standing there letting him talk to you like that.”

I blinked.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” he said, shaking his head. “You just let anyone walk up to you and start a conversation?”

I stared at him, disbelief creeping in.

“I didn’t let anything happen,” I said slowly. “You wanted to come here, Daniel.”

“And that makes it okay for you to flirt with other men?” he shot back.

Flirt? Did he just say flirt?

For a second, I genuinely thought I had misheard him.

“I’m sorry… what?”

“It is your fault, Katya,” he said bluntly. “Look at what you are wearing. You are practically exposing yourself.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

This had to be a joke.

“You asked me to wear this,” I reminded him.

“I know what I asked you to wear,” he snapped.

“Then what are you even saying right now?”

He held up a hand, cutting me off.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I am not doing this here.”

“Oh, but it is okay to call me a flirt?” I shot back.

“I said it doesn’t matter,” he repeated, more forcefully this time. “I will drop you off at the hotel, and I am going out.”

I stared at him.

“Are you serious?”

“I’m serious.”

The finality in his tone shut me up.

…

The Uber ride was painfully silent.

I sat by the window, watching the city lights blur past, my reflection faint against the glass. Daniel sat beside me, scrolling through his phone like nothing had happened.

Five years.

Five years and this is what it had come to.

The car pulled up to the hotel, and neither of us spoke as we got out.

We rode the elevator in silence and walked into the room in silence.

Daniel started changing his clothes immediately we got in.

“You cannot be serious, Daniel,” I said.

“I told you,” he replied, not even looking at me. “I cannot be around you right now.”

“Because of something that wasn’t even my fault?”

“We will talk about it in the morning,” he said, pulling on a fresh shirt. “I just need space.”

I let out a sharp breath.

“Unbelievable.”

He ignored me.

And then, just like that, he left.

The door clicked shut behind him, and the silence that followed felt deafening.

I stood there for a long moment before I turned slowly to the bottle of whiskey on the table in front of me. I poured myself a full glass and downed it in one go.

My eyes blurred as the burn of the drink went down my throat and settled in my belly.

My phone pinged then. I grabbed it seeing I had a message from an unknown number. It was a video attachment…no doubt a scam.

I was just about to toss the phone to the bed when another ping came through and this time, a message.

He does not deserve you, kotyonok.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

“What the hell…” I whispered.

How did the club psycho even get my number.

Of course, I thought, finally realizing.

I should have known there was no such thing as registration in a club. He had no doubt connived and paid the guards to get my number somehow.

My mind raced as I stared at the video.

A part of me didn’t want to open it or know what is in there and there was another part screaming for me to take a peek.

The other part won.

I clicked on the video.

There was Daniel with his cock sticking out of his zipper groaning loudly as a naked girl sucked his dick.