Page 87 of Hate to Love You
My thoughts are interrupted with a bang as one of them hits against the cubicle door. I guess they figured out I wasn’t using the facilities.
“Get out here, you little bitch,” Alison snaps.
With a sigh I stand, opening the door with a smile.
“I’m sorry, do you find our conversation amusing, Abigail?”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “I actually do. Imagine being that consumed with someone else’s personal life.”
“I don’t know why you’re laughing,” Jenny quips venomously. “He fucked his last assistant, and then, from what I’ve heard, no one has seen her since.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut.
What?
“Oh pssh,” Alison says, rolling her eyes and waving Jenny off. “I’m sure that’s just a rumor Jen.”
“Is it though? Tell me then, why has no one seen her since?”
“Just a thought,” I shrug, deciding not to let these bitches have the satisfaction. “Maybe she just moved on. People do that, you know.”
Alison throws her head back and laughs. She narrows her eyes at me before crossing her arms across her chest.
“Yeah, not here you don’t,” she snarls, batting her lashes at me. “But you should know, they went to her house, and found it empty. No luggage missing, and her clothes still hanging neatly in the closet.”
She glares at me one last time before clicking her tongue inside her mouth and smiling.
“So, I guess, best of luck, bestie.”
And without another word, she turns on her red-bottom pumps and her and Jenny saunter out the door.
Standing here, I can feel my body shaking and my lungs heaving as I process what they just said.
I wouldn’t usually believe bathroom gossip like this, especially from the office mean girls, but I’ve always trusted my gut. It has never steered me wrong.
And right now, it’s telling me there is at least some truth to what Jenny and Alison just said.
But…I’m not afraid. Not at all actually.
I turn to myself in the mirror, leaning forward against the sink.
Well, well, well. What do you know? Roman Antonov is dangerous too. Just like me.
I knew there was something about him that rang the bell of familiarity, a likeness my subconscious must have recognized.
Oleg, Boris, Jacques, Noah…Roman.
He’s a bad man. They all are. Maybe even killers.
But at the end of the day, there’s only one thing that causes a wicked smirk to skate across my face: A challenge.
Lurking behind his eyes are demons as dark as mine. Determined to fight their way out, and once they were free, they would be all that remained.
Roman Nikolai Antonov has demons, but so do I.
Let the darkest demon’s win.
Chapter Fifteen