“Let me help you,” I murmured.
I held back a smile when she put her hand in mine. Carefully, I eased her onto her feet, our chests nearly touching as she stood before me. Emma leaned her head back, looking at me innocently. She had no idea the dirty things we used to do. My cock twitched, and my inner demon’s pulled-back lips stretched into a devilish smile. There was nothing more I wanted at that moment than to kiss her.
Instead of doing what I wanted, I stepped back and dropped my hand. “Come, Emma.”
I guided her to the stone path leading to my front porch, and we passed a few patches of snow. Once I’d checked the stairs to ensure they weren’t iced over, I helped her up them and stopped at the front door. After unlocking it, I pushed it open and let her go in before I followed her.
“Wow,” she breathed as she stepped through the door and craned her neck, looking at everything. “You have a nice place, Mister...”
I still hadn’t told her my name because I had hoped she’d remember by now.
Facing her with a scowl, I said, “Dimitri Volkov. But to you, it’s either sir or Mr. Volkov.”
I’d made my decision. If she fell in love with me the first time when I was an asshole to her, then surely she would again.
My demon narrowed his eyes.”Hurt her, and I’ll—”
“I’m not going to hurt her,”I said in my mind.
He bared his sharp teeth. I ignored him as Emma gazed at me with her eyebrows pulled together.
“Who are you to me, sir?” she asked with a tremor in her voice.
Fuck. My dick twitched, and I turned away from her to stride through the living area and up the stairs. Emma followed like a baby duckling chasing its mother. I stopped outside the guest bedroom and gestured for her to enter.
Emma hesitantly walked past me and into the room. “You’re giving your bedroom to me?” She turned to me, kindness shining in her eyes. The same look she’d shown me before I knew she was my mate.
I frowned. “It’s not my room.”
Emma’s cheeks brightened to pink.
I hadn’t forgotten all those times she needed me to point out the obvious. I’d learned that people with schizophrenia had a hard time understanding things. She already had enough going on in her mind, so anything new was like a jigsaw puzzle she didn’t know how to piece together.
“O-oh,” she mumbled.
I had moved her things inside the room, giving her the impression that she’d been in there for a while. Even her meds were on the nightstand, ready for her to take before she went to bed.
“We’re going to work on Monday. You’ll have these next few days off to recover and relax,” I said.
Emma faced me and frowned. “We’re?”
I stared at her with a blank expression. “Get up at five in the morning on Monday, or I’m leaving you here. Your new phone is on the bed. You’ll need it for work.”
Turning around, I left the bedroom, a piece of me cracking off and remaining with Emma.
Ispent the next few days hiding in my room, too flustered and confused to be around Dimitri. He never entered the bedroom, and at times I wondered if he left the house to go to work because of the silence. When the coast was clear, I snuck into the kitchen and stuffed my face with cheese slices and strawberries. Not the best combination, but it stopped my stomach from wanting to eat itself.
While hiding in my bedroom, I either napped or watched movies on the Netflix app on my new cell phone. Most of the time I slept because of how drained I was.
Monday morning, I woke up two hours earlier than I needed to so I could get ready and not miss my ride with Mr. Volkov. I took a shower, and when I got out, I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes were bruised, there were stitches on my face, and more dark bruises littered my chest and stomach.
Goodness. I looked like I’d been roughed up pretty badly.
“Of course you do, Emma. You were in a car accident,” I mumbled, and went into the bedroom for clean clothes.
I didn’t know what to wear. There were so many options that it became daunting. I dressed in a gray wool dress, thick black hosiery that could pass for leggings, and a thin black belt around my waist to accentuate my body shape. I found a pair of black boots with chunk heels, with a buckle that circled my ankles.
While I did my makeup, I got lost in my thoughts. I couldn’t remember anything about the car accident. Everything was so confusing, and so much time had passed since what I last remembered. From what I recalled, it was summer, but obviously, it wasn’t anymore.
