05| You Insult Me.

As I put my hands on my hips and raise my chin, I can feel a curl in the corner of my mouth.

If he thinks he is going to have one over me because he dangles my towel in front of me, he has another thing coming.

 Only because I am the shy girl you would find in the corner of the room, doesn't mean I am ashamed of my body.

I work hard to maintain my figure and as far as I am concerned...

HE can eat his bloody heart out.  

"How did you find me?" 

He thrusts the towel in front of me again, motioning for me to accept it, and use it. 

But I don't.

 I just continue to glare at him as my patience is wearing thin. As he lowers his arm, his features sober and he meets my gaze.

"It's quite insulting that you have underestimated my tracking skills." He mumbles with an exaggerated sigh departing his full lips that would feel amazing pressed against my bare sex. 

I snort, wiping the tip of my nose with the pad of my thumb. "I know for a fact that you didn't track me D. It is you, that continues to insult me, by treating me like I'm some airhead, that will feed off whatever little information you so delicately serve me on a silver platter," I reply through gritted teeth, sucking on my upper lip.

Rubbing the side of his jaw, he drops the towel. "I see you have grown some pretty feisty claws over the past couple of years. I always knew you were a sassy little printsessa under all of that class you displayed."

"Just answer the question, D." I snap. 

He always knew how to insult me by saying I was too upper-class for him.

"Your father and I chose this studio together. We both knew a time would come when one of us would need to use it. I guess none of us predicted that you and I would need to use it together at the same time."

I snort again, shaking my head as I look at him through eyes that are full of bitterness. "You knew all along that I would come here instead of the lake, didn't you?"

"Da."

As I brush past him, I walk to the other side of the room and take out a pair of clothes that I saw sitting on the shelf inside the closet. Pulling the tights over my hips, I avoid meeting his gaze as he walks toward me and sits at the foot of the bed with his back facing me. 

"Aren't you even a little bit happy that I survived and made it here in one piece?" I can sense him smiling with a hint of amusement lining his words.

"Nope, I couldn't care less. I told you that I didn't want to see you again, and I meant every word I spat out that day." I hiss as I thread my arms into the grey hoodie, which I'm grateful is a touch oversized.

"I said I was sorry, how many times do I need to apologize until you forgive me?" 

I walk back to the closet, looking for a pair of ankle socks and shoes, "Stop breathing and I will call it even. Shit... I might even show up to your funeral." 

"So that's how it is going to be between us?" He barks as he stands back up, and turns to face me. 

I pull the chucks over my feet while gritting my teeth since the bottoms of my feet feel a little sore.

"Pretty much. But you have to remember that this is your doing, D. Not mine." I pick up the backpack and I swing it over my shoulder. "I'm sorry about Aunt Ana and Uncle Viktor," I feel compelled to offer my condolences, as I make my way to the front door. 

Out of all days, why did he have to come back into my life, today?

I don't need him.

I don't need anyone now that my parents are gone. 

Nevertheless, it does not feel real that they are deceased. Until I see their bodies, I'll have to have faith that my father will come searching for me at the appropriate time.

"What the fuck!" I shriek when I find myself being yanked backwards by the backpack. 

I stumble back, losing my footing as he catches me off guard, and I crash into him. His large hands snake around my waist and he pins me against his front

"You and I are in this together. You can hate me all you want, but you are going nowhere without me. Do I make myself clear, printsessa?" He snarls against the outer shell of my ear.

I struggle in his hands, hating how his touch stokes the flame of desire within me.

"I don't need you to look out for me," I growl, hitting his hands. "You had no problem leaving me behind all those years ago to flee to Russia. It was pretty clear that inheriting one of my father's companies meant more to you than I did." 

I curse myself as the words leave my lips on their own accord, mirroring the tremble in my body. 

This time, I feel myself staggering forward as he releases me and shoves me away from him.

"Is that what you think happened? After all these years, you still don't know the truth about your father?" He asks me incredulously. 

I turn around to face him as my eyes narrow into thin slits when I realise he has the backpack in his grasp.

"Don't try to lie your way out of this!" 

He tosses the backpack on the bed as he widens his stance and folds his arms across his wide chest. His biceps peek out from under the short sleeves of his black t-shirt that moulds to his body like cling film. 

I lick my lips, and the temperature in the studio heats up, licking my skin as it sets me ablaze. 

I slam my eyes shut, I need to get my shit together, and not lose myself in a world that only revolves around me and him. 

This isn't some fairytale story where I am the damsel in distress, and he is my knight and shining armour.

 He is my worse fantasy come to life, the one male that has the power to make me weak, and pathetic; He's my human kryptonite. 

"Your father-"

My eyelashes spring open, and I scowl at him while pointing one of my manicured fingers in his direction.

"DON'T! Don't you dare try to weasel your way out of this by throwing my father's name into the mix!" I scream at him.

Suddenly, my heart feels like someone has clawed away at the layers of skin on my chest, and they have seized my heart, squeezing it in the palm of their hand. 

"Zee?!" I vividly hear him call my name as the room starts to spin. "Zee, are you okay?" 

Tears start to cloud my vision as the battle to keep my eyelids open becomes increasingly difficult. "D... I... I..." 

"Blyad! [Fuck!]" 

I hear him shout as I lose the battle to keep my eyes open, and rapidly find myself sinking between the sheets of misery that swallow me whole.