[IVAN]If I were a good man, I would have used this alone time with Ana as a way to win over her heart. But that’s one thing I’m not. And I don’t need any reminder of all the horrible things I have done to reach where I am.My great-grandfather was probably the last man in the entire Volkov empire who remained a good man till the end. My grandfather, well, not so much. He was ambitious and power-hungry and happened to be the man who sowed the seed of Volkov’s future, a generation in which kindness and weakness had no place in their lives. Of course, my father walked the same path and raised his sons to follow in his footsteps. With my temperament and stubbornness, I wasn’t an easy lad to train, but after my brother passed away, I was the only one left to continue what I did not believe in.Soon, my father turned me into his next big project. And when my mother tried to intervene and protect me from his ruthlessness, he easily discarded her like a piece of trash and brought a new woman

[IVAN]It’s all hazy at first. All I can think about is some woman’s attempt to stab me to death. But the second my vision clears and reality sets in, pushing aside the same damn dream, I realize what I have done.With the muzzle of my gun shoved hard against Ana’s stomach, I lift my gaze and find her frozen in fear. Her face has turned ashen, and her chest barely moves. Her eyes grow wider than saucers, and her mouth falls open without a noise. It’s as if words got stuck in her throat, and no matter how much she tries, they refuse to come out.I blink a few more times to wipe the sleep from my eyes and slowly, yet carefully, release my finger from the trigger. When Ana doesn’t move still, I bring the gun down, tuck it at the back of my waist, and give her a little shake.“Ana?” I call out gently, holding her waist and bringing her down to sit on my lap. Her eyes flicker, but she remains in shock.Fuck! She should have known better than to hover over me like that. I agree that I never

[IVAN]I’m hard.Fuck, I’m so hard I could probably drill a hole in a wall if I were to try. But I can’t be that desperate. There’s no other way but to wait while taking care of my needs myself.It’s been years since I made love to Ana. And of course, if it’s not Ana, it can’t be any other woman. I have practically lived the life of a saint since the very night Ana disappeared with our kids. Five long fucking years. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t on the brink of losing my ever-thinning patience.Dammit! It’s so frustrating not to just knock on Ana’s door across the hallway, wrap my large fingers around her throat and slam her against the wall. I want to fuck that woman into oblivion. I want the taste of her mouth and run my tongue along her silky skin. I want to suck on those bastard nipples and make her fucking moan. I want her nimble fingers to drive through my hair and yank at them when she needs more but I’m stubborn to make her beg for it. I want to chuck her on the bed and

[IVAN]I knock on Ana’s hotel room door for the third time in the last five hours and yet get no response.Since the moment we returned from school, Ana has been oddly quiet.And distant.She refuses to even look at me. When I tried to coax her into joining me for lunch before heading to our rooms, she blatantly declined and walked away.It’s been five hours now, and she has neither ordered anything for lunch nor picked up any of my calls, or answered any of my knocks. I want to know what the matter is with her, if there’s anything she didn’t like about school. But I can’t do that if she won’t even open her door—if she won’t let me in.So far, I gave her the space she needed and occupied myself with work, dropping by every once in a while. Igor stayed in my room for as long as he was required. We discussed a few new technologies he wanted to try to make our security system more airtight. I gave him the go for most of the things, but there were some I wasn’t so sure about. Igor assured

[IVAN]“Come on, Ana,” I can’t give up. I can’t. She’s so close. I want her so bad. “Don’t be so cruel.”Tears wobble in her eyes but before they roll down her face, she wipes them clean with the back of her hand. She turns to the other side and gets up from the bed. But I reach over and grab her hand instead.“And where do you think you’re going?”She yanks her arm off my grasp and skims a hand through her wet hair. She grits her teeth. “Well, it doesn’t look like you’re inclined to leave anytime soon so I might as well do the honors and leave first.”“Ana…”“Please, Ivan. Nothing more from you. I just can’t…” Her voice quivers. “I just can’t deal with this right now.”“Can’t or won’t?”“What difference does it make?”“It makes all the fucking difference in the world, Ana.”Fist clenched, she whips around and glares hard and before I see it coming, she throws everything out in the open.“I don’t know what you want from me, Ivan?” She cries, not holding back the hurt, or the anger or