Once I’m done with them, those bastards won’t ever lay eyes on a woman again, let alone with the intention to sell her. This wasn’t just about Alisa anymore. This was about stopping these animals before they could destroy more lives.
***
By the time I got home, I was so damn furious that I needed a drink and some time to think and calm down. I also needed to check if Marc Montes had reported his daughter missing yet.
One whole week, and not a peep from the federal prosecutor about his missing daughter. Either he was handling it quietly, or he didn’t even know she was gone.
Both options left me feeling uneasy.
I headed straight for my office, loosening my tie as I walked. The door was slightly open, which immediately set off alarms in my head. I always closed my office when I left.
Silently, I pushed the door open wider just an inch, somehow aware of just who was snooping around in there. She didn’t know, but I’d found a loose hair clip on the carpet the other day.
Since then, I’d been careful about what I left accessible, creating a breadcrumb trail that would keep her occupied without revealing anything that could get her, or me, arrested or killed.
Alisa was bent over my desk, rifling through a folder I’d purposely left out with some information about our legitimate businesses. Nothing too damaging, but enough to let her think she was uncovering secrets.
I just watched her. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, but some strands of curled honey-blonde fell over her cheeks. Her eyes were wide and parted as she tried to read as fast as she could, and she did that thing I used to adore: The one where she bit her lower lip in concentration.
I wondered what she was looking for. Information about me? About the Bratva? Or maybe she was trying to find a way out of this marriage with the hopes of finding something to blackmail me with.
Just then, a loose sheet of paper strayed to the ground on her left. She let out a groan, and I smiled as she chased behind it, bending over to pick it up.
Time slowed, and I swear, I saw her skirt ride up.
Just a little.
But enough to reveal the smooth skin of her upper thigh—creamy and far too tempting for a man who hadn’t touched her in years but remembered how fucking good she felt.
That teasing flash of skin and the way the hem clung to her legs for half a second longer than it should have brought back every memory of her in my bed.
I felt heat stir low in my spine.
My eyes lingered longer than they should have, tracing the back of her legs and the slope of her hips as she stretched to reach the paper.
That body had always driven me crazy, but fuck, this wasn’t the time. Not while she was snooping around in my office, for god’s sake.
I stepped into view and cleared my throat, hoping it would clear my head too. “Find anything interesting?”
Chapter 6 - Alisa
I whipped up and around so fast at the sound of Dante’s voice that my back nearly gave up. Behind me, I clutched the sheet of paper with trembling hands, and my heart shot straight into my throat, clamping it shut from the panic of having been caught.
Dante leaned against the doorway with one shoulder to the frame, and his eyes slowly travelled from mine, down, down, and stopped at where my elbows bent back.
And then, he cocked an eyebrow at me.
“What’ve you got there behind you?” he asked in that smooth voice that felt really,reallydangerous to me, like the calm before the storm. His eyes didn’t stray from mine, and he kept me locked up in his feline gaze.
Oh dear. How long had he been standing there for?
Long enough, I supposed.
I wassobusted.
“Alisa? Need help looking for your voice?” He kicked off the doorway and started walking closer.
My mind went blank. Completely, utterly blank. Like someone had hit the delete button on every word I’d ever used.
