Page 44 of Auctioned to My Bratva Boss

I looked down at my hand. Red and swollen with blisters. But I barely felt the pain.

Baby. Remarriage. Devotion. Each word slammed into my chest. My brain couldn't process it. My stomach felt full of water, heavy and sick. Matvey never told me he had an ex-wife he loved.

But why would he? Would you tell a bed partner you can summon anytime about that stuff? I laughed bitterly to myself.

He said I was special. But really I was just a product he'd bought.

I stared at the coffee machine I'd already loaded with beans and hot water, watching that dark liquid drip into the pot. It seemed deliberately slow, torturing me. I braced my uninjured hand on the counter, forcing the damn liquid in my eyes to stay put.

Riley, don't be stupid. This was always just a transaction. I repeated that to myself over and over until my heart went almost numb.

Finally, the coffee was ready. I carried it back to the office door, took a deep breath, forced an assistant's proper smile onto my face. But the moment I reached for the door, I froze—it was locked from the inside.

"Matvey, I really missed you." Veronica's sultry voice drifted out.

What I was holding suddenly felt impossibly heavy.

Matvey didn't respond, but I could imagine his mood being alone with the ex-wife he'd longed for.

"Don't... darling!" Veronica's startled cry pierced my ears.

After that, I couldn't hear anything. They must have turned on the office soundproofing. I didn't dare imagine what they were doing. Everything Matvey had done to me in that office flashed through my mind.

Was he doing that to her too? My heart split in half.

Chapter Twelve

Riley

I should've taken the hint and left with the coffee.

But those thoughts locked me in place like chains around my ankles.

Nobody could resist Veronica's curves and that voice dripping with sex. Matvey wouldn't be any different.

Finally, after what felt like a century, the door opened.

Veronica came out clinging to Matvey's arm. They looked like a magazine cover—fashion week perfect. Something crushed my chest. I could barely breathe.

"You're Matvey's assistant?" Her eyes swept over me, pride mixed with contempt. "What's your name?"

"Riley."

"Riley..." She rolled my name around her mouth like she was tasting something bitter. "Let me give you some advice. Keep your mind on your work."

"Don't get any ideas."

Those fox-sharp eyes slid toward Matvey, and she pressed her chest against his arm. He didn't even flinch. Just let her hang on him like it was nothing.

"I..." The words caught in my throat.

Whatever this thing was between me and Matvey—it was ridiculous, wasn't it? He never said he loved me. If he told me right now that I'd imagined it all, I'd have no choice but to accept it.

His eyes finally found me, and what I saw there felt like being flayed alive. All that heat, that tenderness I'd seen before—gone. Nothing left but ash-cold indifference.

"Go do your job." His voice was flat. Then he turned to Veronica, tone softening. "Let's go."

I watched them step into the elevator and disappear.