“I want to,” I say quickly. “Being a vet has been the sum of my dreams for years. I need to get there.”
“So you will,” Dorian says simply. “I think you’d be sexy as a vet. I’ll probably request to fuck you in your white doctor’s coat.”
I smile, gazing at him fondly. “I’m sure I’ll be able to find a way to accommodate you.” I inhale a deep breath, focusing on our tasks for the day. On my impending meeting with the man who tried and failedto kill me or get me killed more times than I can count. “What are our plans for the day?”
“We have a rendezvous with Sergei and Asher at 5:30. Before that, our day is our own.”
“Carver might’ve sent men out to crawl the city and keep eyes on us,” I speculate. “He’s probably smart enough to anticipate that we’re already here, and that we won’t stay in Silving.”
Dorian picks up his phone and scrolls on it. After a moment, he chuckles. “Sergei already has his people tracking Carver’s men in the city. If we want to go out, they won’t follow us.”
“There’s not much to do around here,” I say honestly. “I mean, there’s a movie theater, but it only plays old titles.”
Dorian nods. “Cool. Then I propose a naked day. You, me, this bed. And the couch.” He looks out into the small living room, brows furrowing. “I think I’ll have you on the dining table, too.”
“Will you, now?” I tease.
He nods. “Yes. You only came a few times last night—I felt like edging you into oblivion. Today, I’m in the mood to tease out multiple orgasms.” He sets his phone and coffee aside, lifting me by the waist and laying me flat on the bed. “I think I’ll get started right now…”
Despite his threats disguised as pleasurable promises, Dorian doesn’t go too hard on me. Mostly, we spend the day cuddling and talking. We have sex a few times, and Dorian is averygenerous lover… but neither of us want to be sore for the meeting tonight.
We meet Seamus and Connor at Asher’s range. It still feels insane to think of the man as my biological father, but in hindsight, there were many clues. I always attributed his kindness to pity, but now I know he was looking after me in the only way he could. I greet Asher with a hug, following him upstairs where Connor and Seamus are waiting in his small sitting room. Many additional chairs have been added, presumably in anticipation of Sergei’s entourage
“You’re both rocking the multiple-orgasms look,” Seamus quips, waggling his eyebrows playfully.
Asher leaves the room with a grunt. Evidently, discussing my sex life is a step too far for him. Dorian watches him go, then hooks an arm around my waist and pulls me into his chest. His hand drops to cup my ass, and he raises his eyebrows at Seamus. “I have the best piece of ass I’ve ever seen readily available to me. If there’s a single day when Miraisn’trocking the glow, you have permission to shoot me in the head.”
My cheeks heat and I hide my head in Dorian’s chest. “Do you have to announce our private lives to the world?” I squeak.
“They know either way, baby.”
Asher steps back into the room. Dorian’s hand disappears from my ass, moving to my waist.
“We’ve got company,” Asher says. He disappears downstairs and returns after a few minutes, escorting Sergei Novikov and his men into the room. The men take up positions in the hall and by the door; Sergei descends on one of the chairs like a king taking his throne. He takes his time examining Connor, Seamus, Dorian and me, before turning to Asher. “We leave in one hour. Between now and then, let’s talk strategy.”
My heart rate speeds as discussions ensue, outlining location, conversation topics, and a gameplan for getting rid of Carver’s entireoperation. Not all the men will be in attendance of the meeting—apparently, Sergei’s gleaned intelligence that suggests Carver plans to have about twenty of his men with him. Five in the room, five in the bar above where we’ll meet, and ten scattered around the perimeter of the brewery.
Connor, Seamus, and Asher are instructed to track down and kill Carver’s remaining men during the meeting, then work their way from the perimeter of the brewery into the room, exterminating everyone they cross paths with. By the time they arrive, all of Carver’s backup will be dead, and it’ll just be him and whichever men he deems fit to sit in on the meeting left.
Sergei specifies that he wants Carver alive. The bratva boss suspects that the local gang leader will have valuable information to give, especially under painful duress.
Even though I know I should keep my mouth shut, I can’t contain myself. When there’s an ebb in the conversation, I speak.
“Why do you care?” I ask.
Sergei’s ice-cold eyes shift to me. He’s leaned back in his seat, nursing a glass of vodka that one of his men gave him.
“Mira,” Dorian says quietly, placing a hand on my knee. We’re side by side on the couch, seated across from his boss.
“It’s quite alright,” Sergei says, dismissing Dorian’s worry. His energy always has a steady hum of danger, but now its overlaid with the faintest hint of curiosity. He cocks his head to the side as he stares at me. “Why do I care about what?”
“Dismantling Carver’s operation,” I clarify. “Blowing up his trafficking business and freeing the women. Forgive me for my forwardness, but why would a man like you give a shit?”
Everyone in the room’s staring at me now, giving me looks with varying degrees of threat and indignation. As if I’m a peasant who has the gall to demand answers from the emperor.
“A man like me,” Sergei echoes. “What sort of man do you think I am, Miranda?”
I barely hide a wince. I haven’t been called that name in a long time—the last person who called me it was my mother, and only when she was lecturing me.
