The Sinner's Club [18+] Complete

chapter twenty-four.

SUNLIGHT TOUCHES MY face, leaking in from between the slats of the blinds. My body feels exhausted but somehow well rested at the same time. I stretch, reaching out for Viktor.

The bed is empty. Cold.

Eyebrows furrowing, I push back the covers and roll to my feet, snatching up my silk robe and slipping it on.

When I find him in the kitchen, cooking breakfast, the tension in my shoulders dissipates.

He's dressed, and somehow his clothes even look ironed.

"Good morning," I murmur with a small smile. We don't have any kind of routine to follow; I haven't experienced this kind of comfortable domesticity with a man before.

"How did you sleep?" His voice is gruff. He does not look at me, plating up some bacon, hashbrowns, strawberries and toast carefully. My eyes dart over to the grocery bag—there's a label on it with my address. Which means he had them delivered. I'm secretly glad he didn't leave the apartment while I was asleep.

It's comforting to know he was nearby.

"Good. Did you sleep?" It doesn't look like it. There's dark circles under his eyes.

"I'm fine," comes his muttered reply.

But worry ties a knot in my stomach, and I grip the edge of the counter hard. "Are you?"

He pauses, finally placing down the spatula and instead planting his hands on the counter, his head hanging for a moment.

Something is wrong. I can feel it.

But then he straightens up, shoulders set, chin tipped up. The morning sun brandishes him golden and immoveable.

"Eat. You will stay here today. Don't leave." He snatches up his suit jacket and starts toward the door.

"Wait, you're going?" I rush toward him, circling my hands around his forearm and stopping him. My heart pounds in panic at the thought of being alone, without him.

He doesn't look at me, his eyes set straight ahead. Though his expression is detached and closed off, his voice is gentle when he tells me, "I will return tonight, malyshka."

My hands tighten on him momentarily—I don't want to let go—but finally I release him. "Alright." I sound uncertain, and I feel even worse. Did something go wrong last night? Or worse...has he gotten what he wanted all along and is now finished with me?

God, the thought makes me ill.

"Call Nathaniel if you need anything," are the last words he says to me before disappearing out the door, leaving me alone.

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