40
Olivia
The aroma of food makes go head downstairs even though I’m not hungry.
I’m having that spell of shit again where there’s no way I can eat anything feeling the way I do. I’m just going downstairs because I figured whoever is cooking must be cooking for me and there’s only one person that could be.
Aiden said Ilya would take care of me. I’m guessing that means he’ll make sure I eat.
When I get to the kitchen I see I’m right.
Ilya is standing behind the stove scrambling eggs. On the table is an assortment of delicious food. Rashers of bacon, eggs, French toast and sausages.
Dressed in a pair of jeans and a plaid shirt Ilya looks like a normal person. This is the most casual I’ve ever seen him, and he looks so unlike his usual suited and booted self.
The appearance take the edge of his hardness. Only to some extent though.
When he looks at me, his face is still hard and that flat emotionless look is still in his eyes.
“Good, you’re here. Sit,” he orders in the same tone Aiden speaks and it’s like I could be talking to the same person.
I swallow hard when he tosses the scrambled eggs into a bowl and sets it on the table. There’s a hardness in him that’s different from Aiden and Maksim. And that’s saying something considering Aiden is ruthless and Maksim heartless.
I’m not sure what Ilya will be like with me when I tell him I find it hard to eat when I’m nervous. I also don’t think he’s going to be willing to part with information freely, so I’ll have to tread carefully when I ask him about Aiden.
“I’m not hungry,” I reply cautiously and his eyes fix on me there’s still no emotion though, like he’s practiced to not have any.
The only sign of annoyance is the twitch of his lip and slight quirk of his brow.
“Miss Markov, I’ve had daughters so I must warn you not to try that foolishness with me. I have cooked and you will eat.”
“I can’t eat when I’m worried sick. Aren’t you worried?” it’s a logical question, though it’s not one a senior bodyguard in the Bratva is used to hearing.
“I’m not paid to be worried. And I’m sure you must have been aware of the risks in coming so being worried comes part of this venture. Now sit.”
I pull one of the wooden chairs and sit with my shoulders slumped.
“Make sure you eat everything.”
“Everything, there’s enough here to feed four people if not more. Are you trying to fatten me up?”
He stares at me for a moment and I’m not sure what he’s thinking until he lowers to sit opposite me and takes one of the plates so he can eat too.
It makes me wonder if the amount of food he made was a sign of him not really thinking. He knows I barely eat as it is so he would have known I’d protest to this spread.
“We’ll both eat.” He starts serving himself and when he cuts me a sharp glance I serve myself too.
I take what I can manage and place some of the scrambled eggs on a piece of toast.
He watches me the same way Aiden would and doesn’t eat until I’ve taken a big bite.
I watch him too and try to figure him out. I’ve never spoken to him before today so other than what I’ve seen of him which is a man who is cold like fish and hard like a statue I don’t know what to expect from him.
“Have you heard from Aiden? He’s been gone for a while.”
Two hours exactly as on one minute ago.
I’ve been watching the clock with his words from this morning ringing through my mind. I’ve been with him for a little over two weeks and I know how I feel. I know I can’t accept that I won’t see him again.