The Monster (18+)

Chapter 18: Protect You

Chapter Eighteen
"Protect You"

My heels clicked on the concrete floor while my mouth simultaneously parted open in a wide yawn. I was exhausted, to say the least. But I had to take most of the blame on that.

After coming home at one in the morning last night, I spent a solid two minutes staring at the sewing machine Dimitri gifted me. It sat next to the old one on the thick wooden table he offered to give us.

It was just so pretty. And clean and shiny and white. And it had so many new features.

So, I sewed. For three hours, even though I had to wait up at seven-thirty to start getting ready for work. Luckily, us moving to the new apartment cut my commute in half, but alas, I still only ended up having less than four hours of sleep.

And again, the only reason why I'm not taking all the responsibility is because of Dimitri. This was all his fault. Messing up my sleep schedule and making me actually excited to make more new things.

Yet, the image of him burned into my mind, and I found myself smiling without realizing it.

I unthinkingly pulled my phone out of my purse, my eyes trained on the screen as my thumb fiddled with the home button. Something in my chest deflated when I saw I didn't have any missed messages, but then I hastily scolded myself.

It's only been a few days since I last saw him, but he surprised me over the course of the week when he started messaging me. Good mornings. Good nights. Asking if I ate.

I couldn't ignore how my heart started fluttering when I remembered him sending spring rolls alongside with sushi rolls on Monday at my receptionist job, after I admitted that I still hadn't eaten. He had his driver drop it off, along with a hot thermos holding green tea. The fact that he remembered my favourite type of tea had me feeling all types of ways.

A soft smile pulled on my lip from the memory, just as my thoughts started to dwindle to Rafael. The smile disappeared as fast as it came.

Remembering how our last interaction ended left me with a sour taste in my mouth. And because I hated feeling hated, I tried messaging him yesterday to ask how he was doing. He didn't respond—which I figured would happen, but it still hurt.

Still, I refused to believe that I was the only one feeling out of place in our relationship. Did our conversations go smoothly? Yes. But for most of our relationship, it consisted of our conflicting schedules, his vagueness on his work trips and me, wanting to have an escape from reality. And Raf... he wasn't my escape from my stressed, gloomy reality.

Dimitri was.

And that realization was both surprising and terrifying.

My thoughts screeched to a dramatic halt, however, when I heard a car harshly pull to a stop close to me.

Eyes bulging, I shoved my hand into my purse and gripped the small handgun Dimitri gifted me, the same moment I spun and faced the black vehicle, mere feet away from hitting me.

I recognized it as Dimitri's car, just as the back door was thrown open. A smile started widening my mouth, but it quickly fell in disappointment when I saw Boris.

He stood with his shoulders pushed back. I felt my brows furrowing when I noted his serious expression—something I'm not used to seeing, especially because between him and Dimitri, he was definitely the more approachable of the two.

Hesitantly, I stepped closer, but didn't release the gun right away. "Is everything okay?"

His ebony eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was thinking on how to answer my question. "I have orders to take you home," he stated tersely, and my frown only worsened.