Knock, knock, knock. Are my book readers still here? Because your Jannel is back.

————————————————————————————

Roman "I don't know what I want more. Do I want to kill her or do I just want her?"

The last night was heavy with desire and what had happened, the air was thick with a mixture of lust and temptation. All the damn air since I was inside my wife again. I leaned against the cold wall of the dimly lit room where she had been, leaving me to ponder the blurred line between rational thought and primal instinct. It haunted me, were my thoughts just animal instincts or was there a deeper meaning behind them. Was I just a slave to my body or was there some method to this madness?

I hate it. I hate this woman for how easily she can suck the life out of me. How she can control me. And the worst thing is that I am one of the most dangerous people in this city, but next to her I feel like cotton wool on a stick. So sweet. Pink. Ugh. And yet, for some reason, next to her, it felt right.

A light chuckle spread through the room. Such an idiotic irony of fate. I really didn't understand what was going on in this life when it came to her. Do you know what exactly is worse about hate than love?

When you love, truly, without your own benefit, you do it just like that without any good reason. But when you hate? You have many reasons that bind you to this person for life. Oh, I know what I'm talking about because I loved this woman. And I can admit it.

When I first saw her in a photograph in her father's office, my only goal was for her to be mine. And she was. So daring, smart and different. But it turned out that one year of perfect bravery crumbled before my eyes when I heard her talking about me to her mother. One brick of hatred.

The second brick - This fucking woman ran away. She just took and disappeared as if we hadn't lived by her rules for 5 years. She had everything. But it seemed that even this was not delivered if a person runs away without even saying the reason or just saying it to my face.

The third brick - oh please, she fucking married some idiot, changed her personality and stuffed herself into a box with so many boundaries. And Melissa hates them. And I hate it when she does something that prevents her from living a full life.

What I couldn't understand was her hatred. Her reasons. I mean, it's obvious because I have two more scars on my shoulder and stomach and the way she looks at me as if she wants to rip all my insides out. What made her run away, hide and change. Her secret is covered in dust and she's clearly not ready and will never talk about it.

My thoughts inevitably turned to Melissa. Memories flooded my mind—her laugh, her intoxicating presence, the way the twinkle of mischief sparkled in her eyes. She had a way of igniting something inside me, a fire that both thrilled and terrified me. But now, remembering her sudden disappearance, he was left with an emptiness inside. She had run away, leaving me to sort through the ruins of their chaotic affair, a hurricane of passion and confusion. Only later did I find out that the fool had been drinking and didn't remember a fucking thing. What the hell luck for her, all that was left was for me to erase her memory and everything would be perfect.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, trying to push the memories away. The task required my full attention. Following Melissa's instructions, I quickly pushed myself away from the wall and walked over to the closet, opening its doors. Kate seemed to have stopped moving. Taking her body in my arms, hoping that she was alive, I headed to the bathroom, holding Kate's lifeless body in my arms. The coolness of her porcelain skin contrasted with the warmth rising from my skin, reminding me of the situation I found myself in.

As I entered the bathroom, my gaze immediately fell on Melissa, sitting on the edge of the sink, wearing one of my shirts. The fabric hung loosely off her, highlighting the vulnerability of her bare legs. The glass rested lifelessly in her hands, reflecting the dim light with a dull glint. My heart clenched strangely at the sight. The juxtaposition of false innocence and danger was intoxicating. I froze for a moment, my gaze lingering on her bare skin, as fantasies began to creep into my mind, unbidden and unwelcome. And the memory of last night.

The way those perfect legs were around my waist as I thrust into her to the sound of her screams. Oh yeah, that was probably the best sex enemies could ever have. Damn. I think I'm definitely going to need a lobotomy.

"Roman!" I blinked when I heard her voice. "Don't you dare think about my perfect legs right now. Actually don't you dare just think about me." "As you said..." I smirked. "It's perfect. So if everything about you is perfect...all my thoughts just need to be about you. It's impossible to think about something else." "Roma." "Yes, krasavica?" "You are annoying and I will kill you so just shut up." I felt his anger. "Baby, do everything you want but we both know that you were screaming my name last night." I stepped closer. "Oh, you don't...right...wanna round two?"

I bit my lip seeing how exactly she was reacting to my words. How her hips were slightly brought together and how hard her breathing became, slightly opening her plump lips. "So what to do with her?" I glanced at Kate, who was starting to move from being carried, and asked as casually as if I hadn't just dropped a time bomb. "Put her in the bath." She cleared her throat and answered so calmly, it was admirable. "Hurry up."

Clenching my jaw, I knew this mission had to be completed, no matter how twisted it became. And as much as I didn't want to, I knew it was best to do whatever she wanted because no one could do it better than her.

I needed to separate myself from the chaos, to be ruthless. With determination, I followed her orders, which were clearly not a request, laying Kate's body in the tub. The bright white porcelain was a stark contrast to the dark reality of the situation, a reminder of what they had to do next.

As I turned to Melissa, uncertainty settled in my chest. "Where exactly do you plan to get the weapon without my help?" I asked, trying to hide the growing tension in my voice.

"Who said...that I need someone's help?" She replied, a smirk frozen on her lips. Melissa jumped off the sink, her movements fluid and graceful. "Roma, I know how to make help need me." With a wink, she smashed the glass in her hand, the shards scattering across the tiled floor like a constellation of broken dreams.

I rolled my eyes and moved aside, dramatically giving her space and stood at the same sink where she had been sitting. I watched as she walked up to Kate, her demeanor changing from playful to predatory. A knot twisted in my stomach as I realized she was going to play with Kate, instilling fear in order to extract the information she needed. A symphony of horror was about to fill this room and I was dying to see it all. It was going to be fun.

Her ass was on perfect display as she bent over the tub and untied Kate's eyes. "Hi, sweetie." Her fingers were almost free of the tie around Kate's mouth. "Just please don't scream or I'll get mad and it'll be really, really bad." I tilted my head to see Kate's eyes widen as she finally got some air. And she was smart enough not to raise her voice. "Who... are you?" She was almost choking. "Your nightmare." Melissa leaned down even lower, causing my shirt to slide down her body so I could see the fabric of her panties. Don't look. Don't think. Breathe.

"I don't understand." "All I need is information." The shard flashed between them. "Give me the numbers and you're free to go." "But I don't know anything." Kate swallowed too loudly, clearly out of fear. "But I know." She ran the shard across Kate's cheek, causing the girl to scream and hiss, but Mel didn't care. The finger of her other hand simply collected a trail of blood and she peeled it off her finger, tasting it. "Let me go, crazy bitch."

"Shut up, even your blood is soaked in lies that you are bitter." Melissa smiled. "Look, you flirted with my husband and now you damn well want me to believe your lies? Naive bitch." "But.." "Numbers or you'll be a corpse right now." Now, her voice was cold and ten. The fun had evaporated and now Kate felt it too. Danger. "I...am first..." She whispered. "Three, one, and four." "See how easy it is to be a good girl." Her fingers were white from how tightly she gripped the glass. "But you know what bad girls like me don't forgive? When someone thinks they can flirt with my husband or touch him."

Melissa put the shard on the edge of the tub, but not because she was done. Not at all. She just gagged Kate again and grabbed the glass again. "You." She struck again, causing my white shirt to become stained red and blood to stain the white tub. "Little rich bitch." Another blow with the shard. "Did you think you could do whatever you wanted with whoever you wanted just because you had money?" Another blow under the floor, Kate's quiet screams as she bled out. "So know that Melissa Kirillova doesn't really like it when nasty hands touch what belongs to me." She threw the bloody shard onto the floor next to me.

Melissa's methods were brutal, but effective. She had a knack for breaking people, and in an instant she had the numbers she needed. But the fact that she had no hesitation in ending Kate's life, and the finality of it, struck Roman with a chilling sense of obsession. Blood splattered Melissa's face, and I couldn't tear my eyes away as she reveled in the chaos she had created.

Blood. So much blood. On her white shirt, on the floor, in the bathroom from the deep cuts on Kate's skin. On her face. It's amazing how perfect we are for each other when you consider that I killed Daniel for the same reason.

Catching my gaze, Melissa raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a mocking smile. "What? Only you can kill someone like Daniel?" "No," I replied, my voice loud and confident. "But how are you going to hide the body?"

"Oh, you're the one doing it; you've already had experience with Daniel." Her indifference sent shivers down my spine. She was right; I had been through this before, but the stakes seemed higher, the air heavier with the weight of their decisions.

I kept looking at her, she was a vision of beauty and horror, covered in blood. So fucking perfect. "You look hot in her blood, baby." I muttered, unable to contain myself.

"Don't flirt with me unless you want me to kill you too." She said, her tone playful but with a hint of threat.

I reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer, my heart pounding as I whispered, "I have the right to do this. Because if it weren't for me, you wouldn't know how to do any of this." The truth lay heavy between us, evidence of our twisted connection.

She smiled bitterly, tilting her head back to meet my gaze. One of her fingers traced the contour of my cheekbone, igniting a spark of desire that clashed violently with our grim reality. "You may have taught me this, Roma, but remember how I got all this and that in the end..." She stood on her tiptoes, her lips dangerously close to mine, whispering, "A student is always better than his teacher."

Silence enveloped us, thick with tension and unspoken truths. The world beyond dimmed to insignificance as we stood together in the afterglow of violence, our fates intertwined in a dance of desire and destruction.

At that moment, anyone could have realized that our relationship was built on chaos, a seductive attraction that promised power but demanded a heavy price.

As the echoes of their actions lingered in the air, I realized I stood at a crossroads, torn between the seductive pull of Melissa and the darkness of their actions. The night was far from over, and the choices we had made would haunt us long after the blood had dried.

The chapter closed, but their story had just begun. Something new. Like when she began to be the Melissa she became. I remembered like crazy that day when Mel crossed the border into the past. And how she became the one I can never forget.