✓ WICKED VOWS| JAKE (Book II )

29-To Reign Her Monster

Anna's pov

Why do I harbor this unsettling premonition that Inna will return pregnant after leaving her child with mine for a week? The thought that she might already be expecting comes as no surprise. I find an odd solace in the fact that Alex will be staying with me for the next seven days, a bittersweet reminder of my homeland's distant embrace.

My second source of relief arrived with Jake being summoned for an emergency surgery, leaving us to our own devices following a terse and unsatisfactory exchange with Jay. At least, for now, I am spared the feeling of his penetrating gaze slicing through my skin, an oppressive reminder of his scrutiny. With Alex here, I must tread more carefully, my every movement under an additional layer of scrutiny. 

There's a peculiar sensation—a strange, almost unsettling feeling—whenever he's near. His presence is like a forbidden taste, one that could resurrect me from the dead—my death. But I can never get used to being alive because I never truly am. It's my mystery. Always startled to find I've survived, and yet, I always survive.

And I'm terrified that if I love someone, I'll consume them entirely. I don't know how to do anything else. My entire existence is an act of violence; everything about me is violence. My childhood, my family, my life—my everything. It was a tragic tale, but it was mine, my tragedy. Mine. Darkness reigns within me, all bloody and chaotic, but it belongs to me. All of it.

Alexander spent the day sleeping in my room, exhausted from the flight. When he woke, he explored the entire mansion, every corner and every room. Now, we are both looking at the last pictures we took the last time we met at the beach. "These ones look pretty," Alex muttered as we sprawled on one of the massive couches.

We came across the picture where we had lined seashells along my back, one after the other, and captured the moment. It was a beautiful sight—for him. We kept scrolling through our photos together until Alex whined that he was hungry. "Can you make me some Stroganoff?"

"It's beef Stroganoff, Alex," I chuckled at his misspelling. The real problem was that neither the help nor the chef were here, and I had no intention of summoning the housemaids from their quarters. Sometimes, I regret ordering them to leave the house in the evenings for my privacy. The harsh reality is that I've never made Beef Stroganoff in my life.

"Of course. Want to watch something while I make it?" I asked Alex, pretending to know what I was doing. I turned on his favorite cartoons on the TV before heading to the kitchen. Quickly, I searched for the basics of Beef Stroganoff. I brought out tender beef and mushrooms, preparing to make the mushroom sauce. I began by chopping onions and cooking them with the mushrooms and garlic, then added tablespoons of butter and flour to start the sauce.

I set the sauce aside before seasoning the beef, planning to add it later. "The sauce is burning," Jake's voice startled me, but I didn't turn around. What the hell was he doing here? It was nearly ten PM. He usually stayed at work late.

"You could have asked the chef to make the Beef Stroganoff," he said, his voice closer, his presence wrapping around me like a suffocating shadow. "But no, you're a hard-headed woman with trust issues about food," he growled, his tone dripping with frustration.

I heard the water running beside me as I continued seasoning the beef. From the corner of my eye, I caught glimpses of him washing his hands, his shirt rolled up, revealing his strong, capable hands. Tempestuous and dark—Jake's aura always radiated an unsettling power.

I hadn't noticed him turning off the stove, but now I saw the sauce's color was off, scorched. I'd burned it, like everything I touch or consume. A bitter reminder that my life taints whatever it comes in contact with.