Jude exhaled harshly and gave himself a shake as if waking from a dream.“You’re right.”
“I know.”
He shook his head again.“I’ll find the fucking pill.”He left the room, left her feeling more alone than she’d ever been.
***
“Stop the car here.”Dmitri Romanov climbed out and paused to take in the building in front of him.It was a nondescript brick, with no windows and only a single service door.He’d seen many like it, though this one was being used for a distasteful purpose.
A rave.
Someone should tell the attendees that raves were something from the nineties and should be left in that godforsaken decade.Under normal circumstances, he would have sent one of his men if attending was required.That wasn’t an option tonight.
He nodded at his driver and strode to the door.A few terse words and the password—the password, God save him—later and he was inside, every sense assaulted.He stood just to the left of the doorway, attempting to adjust to the sheer onslaught of sensation.Multicolored lights strobed, music shrieked loud enough to make every cell in his body vibrate, and the whole room smelled of sweat and sex.
The things I’m required to do.
He searched the crowd, looking for one person in particular.His man had followed her here, watching as she slipped her guard detail and made her way to this building.Aiden, you haven’t been taking care of your possessions.
A flash of dark hair caught his attention, and he turned to find the very woman he was looking for staring at him, not ten feet away.Keira O’Malley had all the beauty of her oldest sister, but it was sharper, more likely to cut than seduce.She watched him with the jaded gaze of a woman who’d seen so much that nothing surprised her any longer.He took in the torn-up jeans that bordered on indecent and the shirt that hung from her thin frame, revealing a lacy black bra that was expensive enough to buy a night’s worth of drinks for every person here.
Dmitri waited, part of him curious to see how she’d react.Would she run?Attempt a poorly thought-out attack?But Keira gave him a look that only an idiot would mistake as anything other than a challenge.
And then she slipped into the pulsing crowd and disappeared.
He followed, with his familiar harsh expression that made people retreat.A small path cleared, and it was enough for him to move freely after her.
Except when he reached the other side of the crowd, she had disappeared.
Dmitri turned a slow circle, irritated at himself for being drawn in.Of course she’d used the crowd to her advantage and slipped away.She was likely halfway back to the O’Malley house by now.Fool.
“You’re looking for me.”A voice in his ear had him turning to find the woman in question less than six inches from him.She went up on her tiptoes, giving him a good view of her dilated pupils, and spoke in his ear—or, rather, yelled, because anything less would be drowned out by the sad excuse for music.“What brings Dmitri Romanov to a rave in Boston?”She leaned back and pressed a hand to her chest.He didn’t need to hear the words she mouthed to understand.Little old me?
He could take her.She was drugged nearly out of her mind and alone.It would be child’s play to lead her to the back door where one of his men waited.They’d be in New York before the O’Malleys knew she was missing.
But, despite himself, he was intrigued by her.
Keira snagged his tie, studying the muted blue pattern as if it held the answer to the meaning of the universe.When she tugged on it, he allowed her to lead him to one of the little niches that had been built into the exterior walls.This one had a raggedy couch that had seen better days, but the music was slightly less than deafening, so it was an improvement regardless.
She pushed him, and he sat on the couch.Dmitri went still when Keira straddled him, her expression strangely contemplative despite the fact she was very blatantly blitzed.She ran her hands down his chest.“You’re awfully pretty for an evil bastard.”
“So I’m told.”
Her eyes went wide.“And a sense of humor.God really gave with both hands when he made you, too, didn’t he?”She palmed him.“Or should we make that three hands?”
Dmitri grabbed her wrist and removed her hand.“I don’t enjoy being fondled by children.”
She raised her eyebrows and mimicked his accent.“Do you not?Your hard cock says otherwise, Mr.Romanov.”She leaned down, giving him a good view of where her breasts were in danger of spilling free of their confinement.“I think you came here looking for a little revenge.”She rolled her body against him, and despite his control, his cock became even harder.
Keira’s lips brushed his ear.“It’s your lucky day.I’m a big fan of self-destructive tendencies and filled with self-loathing, so riding your cock would meet both needs nicely.What do you say?”
Yes.
He forced himself to take hold of her shoulders and move her back.“No.”
“Pity.”Keira shrugged like she couldn’t care less.She rose to her feet in an eerily graceful motion.“See you around, evil bastard.”Then she was gone, sliding back into the crowd.He suspected this time, if he followed her, he wouldn’t be successful in cornering her.
Dmitri stood, and it was only then that he realized she’d relieved him of both his wallet and his watch.He blinked, turned to look out at the crowd, and shook his head in reluctant admiration.She played me.
