I could see his thickly perfect, tattooed fingers in my mind. I shifted my ass on the seat. I was practically lying down, it was dark—well, darkish—and no one was around. One hand wandered down to my thigh. Then I snatched it back.No! Jesus, what’s wrong with me?
“What will you do then?” said Avelina, asking the question I couldn’t.
“Pick you up,” said Gennadiy. “Carry you through to the bedroom.”
I’d experienced his arms wrapped around me, the press of his pecs against my back. I could imagine exactly what it would feel like to be carried like that.
“I’ll throw you on the bed,” Gennadiy told us. “Pull your dress down and suck a breast into my mouth.”
My hand started to wander downwards again. Then a movement in my peripheral vision caught my eye. The drapes were open in one of the mansion’s upstairs windows, and a hulking, suited figure had walked into view, a phone pressed to his ear. I froze, staring. I could see his mouth move as his words filled my ear. “I’ll rake my teeth along your nipple, feeling it harden against my lips. And my hand will be on your throat, pinning you to the bed.” The figure turned, and my heart jumped into my throat. He was staring out at the street, staring atme!
“I’ll spread your legs wide,” said Gennadiy in that silvery Russianaccent. “And let my cock just kiss the lips of your pussy. That way, I can feel you getting wetter and wetter as I lick your breasts. I’ll watch you grind your hips and arch your back. Trying to get me inside you. Needing me.”
I hated him. But waves of heat were rippling down my body, making me crush my thighs together. My nipples were achingly hard, and I could feel I was getting wet.
Gennadiy paused, still staring right into my eyes.He has no idea I’m listening. Right?
“Do you need me right now?” asked Gennadiy.
Silence.
“Answer me!” growled Gennadiy.
I felt my lips formyes.Then Avelina whispered it, and I jerked in shock: I’d almost forgotten she was there.
“And then I’ll bury my cock in you,” said Gennadiy in my ear. “Deep, deep in you.”
He’s speaking to her,I repeated again and again in my mind.He’s speaking to her.
“And I’ll fuck you. Hard. Fast. Feeling you flutter and slicken around me until you’re clawing at my back, until you’re grabbing my ass to pull me into you. And then I’ll ram myself into you to the root and kiss you while I shoot deep inside you. I will banish every man who’s ever fucked you. You. Will. Be. Mine.”
I lay there panting in the darkness, panties soaked. I detested this man. But apparently, my body hadn’t gotten the message.
He was speaking to her. Right?
Gennadiy ended the call and pulled the drapes closed. But it was a long time before I stopped staring up at the window.
A few weeks later, at the end of the operation’s first month, assistant director Halifax breezed into our office. “How’s it going?” he asked.
“Great!” I beamed and waved at the wall of photos pinned to thewall, at the tree diagram of front companies and illegal enterprises we’d drawn. “We’re closing in.”
“Outstanding, Brooks.” Halifax headed for the door. “Glad to hear it.”
The instant the door closed, I let out a groan and slumped forward, resting my head on my keyboard. The truth was, we weren’t any closer to bringing Gennadiy down. Some of it was a lack of resources. Caroline worked her ass off and was really great at tracking down information and making connections. But Hadderwell had to be asked three times to do anything, and Fitch was surly, obstructive, and spent most of his time staring at my ass.
The main problem, though, was that Gennadiy was just too smart. We had plenty of information, but no smoking gun that would let us arrest him. Most criminals are actually pretty stupid. A few are clever and organized. But Gennadiy wasexceptional.He worked his ass off, and he never let his guard down.
Caroline patted my shoulder. “We’ll get him.”
“I have no idea how,” I mumbled into my keyboard. “He’s just so...focused.”
“Reminds me of someone,” said Caroline.What’s that supposed to mean?“Look, you mind if I head out?”
I checked the time. It was after six, and unlike me, she had a family and a life. “Shit! Sorry, Caroline. Go, get out of here.”
She squeezed my shoulder, grabbed her purse, and headed out, leaving me as the last person in the office. I got up and paced, too stressed to sit still.What the hell am I going to do?Maybe Halifax had been right. Maybe Gennadiywasimpossible to take down. If I failed, if three months went by and I still hadn’t got him, I could kiss my career goodbye. But, worse, Gennadiy would get away. He’d keep getting more violent, keep building his empire, keep crushing the little people under his feet.
I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a computer monitor and stopped.The little people.Like my parents.
