She still didn’t look at Dmitri.It was hard enough to focus with him in the room, his presence soaking into the very air.“Because you’re going to give me your word that you won’t move until our men are in position.You have reason to hate the Eldridges just as much as we do—more after what happened to Charlie.I’m not interested in a pissing contest over who gets to carve the bitches up.My main priority is retrieving our man and ensuring they’re removed as threats.”
“You keep saying ‘we.’”Cillian cursed.“Are you one of them now, Keira?That didn’t take long.”
Her heart lodged in her throat, but none of her sorrow showed in her voice.“I married Dmitri.I would think that goes without saying.Will you help us or not?”
“What I—”
“Yes,” Aiden cut in.“Text Cillian the information he needs and he’ll track the phone.We won’t move unless it’s a coordinated effort, but we expect you to be transparent with your information.”
“Of course,” she lied smoothly.That call wasn’t hers to make, and Aiden should damn well know that.If he didn’t, it wasn’t her problem.
She finally shot a look at Dmitri and found him wearing a satisfied smile.He did this on purpose.He knew that nothing she promised would be binding, as long as he had some degree of reasonable doubt.Sneaky, sneaky Russian.
“In return, you will owe us a favor to be repaid at my choosing.”
“Deal, with the exception of demanding I come home.It won’t happen, and if you try to fuck with my marriage or my people, the fact that you’re my brothers won’t save you.”
Aiden cursed long and hard.“Damn it, Keira, if you’d just—”
“Thank you for the favor.I look forward to hearing from you.”
Keira ended the call.“What’s Mikhail’s cell number?”She typed out a text to her brother as Dmitri rattled off the information, but her mind was a million miles away—or two hundred, to be more accurate.She hadn’t missed the reservation in Aiden’s tone—or the fact that Cillian hadn’t spoken much after initially answering the phone.She’d made her choice, for better or worse.Dmitri over her family.She could comfort herself saying it was a choice she’d made to protect them—and it was the truth—but if she wanted to step into the role of partner, she needed to do it in full.
Which meant she had to let them go.
Something must have shown in her expression, because he studied her.“That was more difficult than you expected.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.It went swimmingly.”She might be willing to work with him while they figured this out, but that didn’t mean she was going to lay herself bare for his perusal.Fuck that.
The look on his face said he wasn’t about to let it go, so she acted before she could think too hard about what she was doing.Keira stood and shrugged off the robe—hisrobe—letting it fall to the floor to pool around her feet.
Dmitri inhaled sharply, and his gray eyes seemed to swallow up the light in the room.“You can’t dodge hard questions forever,moya koroleva.”
“I know.But I’m dodging them tonight.”It was easier to rattle off the words with a confidence she didn’t feel when he was looking at her likethat.She took a step toward him, and then another.
His lips quirked even as he raked a look over her from the top of her head to her toes.“We tried this already, and it went poorly.”
“My fault.”She could offer him that truth.They’d already talked about it, after all.Keira skirted the desk and moved into the small space between his chair and the polished wood.Dmitri didn’t retreat, which left his face in line with her breasts.Feeling almost shy, she cautiously reached out and stroked her fingers through his dark hair.“It won’t happen again.”
He closed his eyes, not quite leaning into her touch.“It’s challenging to argue with you while you’re naked and I can scent our sex on your skin.”
She kind of loved how his accent got thicker when he was turned on.Keira kept stroking his hair.He wasn’t going to turn her down, and they both knew it, but she was willing to let him take his time coming to that conclusion.“I’ll remember that.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”He opened his eyes and tilted his face up to meet her gaze.The move had his breath ghosting across her nipples, and she shivered.Dmitri noted the move the same way he seemed to note everything in his vicinity.“You chose earlier.”
“I did.”She might not have liked what he’d said while they were fucking—or been proud of her reaction to it—but she’d made the choice to get them there despite his cautioning her otherwise.Keira traced a finger along the shell of his ear.“I’m choosing now, too.”
Still, he didn’t touch her.“Make no mistake, Keira.You’re mine.You may not like hearing it, but it’s the truth.You see it as my wanting to put a collar around your neck.That’s not what being mine means.”He shifted to take her left hand and lifted it between them.Her giant ring gleamed unnaturally bright in the low light.Dmitri stroked his thumb over the backs of her fingers.“You took my ring.You’ll take my name.You aremy wife.”
“All that means—”
“Let me finish.”
He twisted his hold until his hand was on top.It was only then that she realized he wore a ring, too.Should have noticed that before now.It was thick silver with a darker silver band in the middle of it.Nothing close to as flashy as hers, but she’d bet it was damn near unbreakable—it didn’t look like normal silver.So typically Dmitri.
He lifted his ring finger and let it drop.“I wear a ring,too.We are meant to play different roles in this and my men will always answer to me first, but that doesn’t mean your role is the lesser of the two.You are mine, yes, but I am yours as well.”
Yours.
