Still gonna kill him
746 Words
Caitlyn’s POV
My phone buzzes. I swipe it open.
Vlad: Hope the cookies made up for the cardio. I’d say you run sweet, but I prefer you breathless for other reasons. Enjoy, Babochka.
My knees actually go weak.
"Oh my God," Mia gasps. "You’re smiling like a dork."
"Where would he get my number?" I question myself.
"That’s the part you’re focused on?. Dummy he is Vladislav Mikhailov. Of course, he has his own ways,” inner Caitlyn scolds me.
Her jaw drops. "He’s the guy who dragged you into the club restroom, isn’t he?"
I say nothing.
Which is everything.
"Oh my God. You vixen."
Mia gasps dramatically, holding the cookie box like it’s evidence in a scandal.
"You’re seriously texting the guy from the club. The hot older one who looked like he just stepped out of a mafia-themed GQ shoot."
"You don’t know him."
"No, but you do." She arches a brow, smug. "I saw you two flirting. Then you vanished. And now you’re standing here smiling at your phone like a lovesick virgin."
"I’m not—"
"Don’t even try it." Mia leans in, wagging a finger in my face. "You’re shagging him. Aren’t you?"
"You must be imagining things."
"Hell no. I know that look. That guy is so into you, he beat the s**t out of that dude you were with at the club."
I freeze mid-step. "You...saw that?"
"Uh-huh. It’s all coming back to me now." Her grin goes feral. "That’s when the f*****g happened, right?"
"Mia!"
"Okay, okay!" She throws her hands up, laughing. "But damn, Cait. I still can’t believe you’re a prude after being railed by a beast like that. He looks like he’d break the bed and say *thank you* afterwards."
You have no idea.
“We haven’t,” I mutter, staring at the floor.
Mia blinks. “Wait. Seriously?”
I sigh. “Can we please change the subject?”
She gives a theatrical groan but softens, sidling up to pull me into a sideways hug. "I’m just happy you’re finally moving on from Sergey."
My spine stiffens like someone dropped ice water down my back.
Even his name feels like a bruise I forgot to treat.
"What are you talking about?" I try to sound casual. I fail. "I was over him ages ago."
"Bollocks." She pulls back and brushes a stray curl from my cheek. "You haven’t been the same since. It’s like... like he stole the spark out of you. You used to wear color, Cait. You used to laugh at stupid memes and actually go out. I wanted to punch him in the throat, but Dad said you’d hate that.”
I blink, stunned.
That’s the first time I’ve heard what my silence looked like from the outside.
Mia watches me carefully now, all teasing gone. “You never did tell me what actually happened. What did he do to you?”
I exhale, slowly. Then I say it—flat and bitter:
“He’s gay.”
Mia jerks back like she’s been slapped. “What?”
I nod, jaw clenched. “I was just... a charade. A safe front for his family. For himself, maybe. Who knows.”
“He was actually in love with his f*****g bodyguard,” I sniff.
“That f*****g asshole,” she hisses, eyes blazing. “He used you?”
“Pretty much.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was ashamed, Mia. Because I fell for someone who never wanted me. And the worst part? I thought it was my fault for not being enough.”
Mia’s mouth tightens. She’s vibrating with fury now, fists clenched at her sides. “I swear to God, if I see him again—him and that weird-ass bodyguard of his—I’ll beat them both with a crowbar.”
A laugh sputters out of me—sharp, surprised, fragile.
“Seriously. I’ll find him. I’ll drag his closet-dwelling ass into the street and throw glitter bombs at him until he cries. And I’ll tell the world he has a micropenis.”
“You’re unhinged.”
“No, you let him off easy. He deserves therapy. And a restraining order. From me.”
I shake my head, the ache in my chest dulling for the first time in forever. “You’re insane.”
“And you love me.”
“Unfortunately.”
She grins widely and wickedly. “Still gonna kill him.”
- Writer
