Chapter 26

                                    

                                          
~Maya~


As his words register, my mind spirals into a state of sheer panic. Naked and vulnerable, I climb onto his lap, cradling his face in my trembling hands. I sob uncontrollably, unable to articulate a single word in defense of my honor. 
I know how I ended up here, but I can't bring myself to tell him. If I don't speak now, this misunderstanding will never be cleared, and the thought of losing what Ilya and I have shatters my heart. I'm dying inside; the flicker of life that once refused to be extinguished is now fading as I watch Ilya clench his fists, struggling to restrain himself from touching me. Finally, he pushes me off his lap. My body hits the mattress, but it feels as if he's thrown me off a cliff, refusing to extend the hand I so desperately need. 
"Ilya... I can explain, please don't do this to me," I plead, grasping his hand and refusing to let go, the hand I shouldn't have held i the first place. Foolishness has always been my downfall. 
Ilya wrenches his hand away, glaring at me. "Sure, you want to explain? Please, enlighten me on how you ended up in bed with your driver?" he demands, running a hand through his hair, trying to control his anger. 
Tears stream down my face as I struggle to find an excuse, anything to avoid revealing my darkest secrets. I open my mouth to speak but quickly shut it, knowing Ilya doesn't deserve my half-hearted lies. Not able to do anything, say anything I sigh, dropping my head, the laugh of Ilya's bitter laugh filling my ear and drawing daggers in my heart. "You could've said you were drunk, and I would've believed you." 
I lift my head to see if he's joking, but the look in his eyes confirms he means every word. The emotional scars that have been tightening around my heart finally burst open, tainting my world with their poison. 
Ilya turns his back to me, walking towards the door leaving me alone with my demons and this time I know better to let him go, yet I can't help but whisper the three words I have been dying to tell him since so long, "I love you." The words come out so easy unlike what I always thought, it's as if they were always meant to be spoken to him. Ilya stops, a shudder running through his entire frame and small sliver of hope blooms in my heart, only to be extinguished by his next words. 
"I hate you, Maya Sokolov." With that he walks away, not bothering to throw one last glance backwards, and that's when I realize I have reached my rock bottom.  
After a while of swallowing in self-misery, of accepting the fact that Ilya has now left me, and it happened all because of who, I quickly gather myself.  
 
I glance myself in the mirror, my eyes puffy from all the crying, my nose red but what tears a sob out of me is the hickeys on my neck that were given to me by Ilya a few days ago in the swimming pool. My fingers graze slightly over them, remembering the hot touch, the mad passion and the fluttering feeling in my stomach knowing that from now on, all I'll feel is sheer pain and heartache the next time I see him. Which by the way won't be long.  
I wear my spilled clothes on the floor, and step out of my room to see the boogeyman sitting in the lobby, smirking when he watches me walk towards him. The boogeyman stands by the window, his brown eyes harsh and evil thanks to his line of work. My dad is an assassin, and my mother also works for the Russian BRATVA, yet they're eyes have the kindness around the edges, but this man? Is pure evil and despite the hatred I might feel for him, I feel pity for him too. For not having someone who could've protected him from this harsh world.  
 
Yet, for me he'll always be the boogeyman who destroyed my twin's life and tainted my childhood with secrets no one should keep. And one day he'll get his karma, just like I will.  
"Are you sad?" He smiles down at me evilly, and I suppress a shudder of anger that rolls down. He might be a bad guy but he doesn't scare me like the rest of the boogeymen do. He doesn't look at me the way the fat one does and that's the reason I pick him over the rest.  
"I know you did it," I spit out, resisting the urge to scream at him and expose the secrets I have been keeping since a decade.  
"I know you were a smart girl," he says ruffling my blonde hair like his. "Now go back home and take some rest," He smiles and I want to knock off his teeth. He's making fun of me.  
"And where your heels, the floor's cold." He says, before walking away and I release a silent scream. Guess I'll be going to my apartment.  
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This too is a short chapter, and it will be that way till I post the big reveal. And that's actually close.