I picked my phone up to set the needed preparations in motion, when she gasped. “No freaking way! You can’t do it. It’s breaking the law.”
“Newsflash, darling, I’m the definition of lawbreaker.”
She cried out in exasperation, and before I knew what was happening, she straddled my lap, her heels digging into the soft black leather as she palmed my face. “Dominic, my life is here. University. Father. Please don’t take me away from the life I love, like all those people did before.” My breath stilled inside me as rage overpowered all emotions. “I lied to Damian.” The abrupt change of subject baffled me. “When he asked what happened to me, I told him I lived on the streets for a few days before I was found. A lie. They found me lying on the road and took me.”
“Okay,” I said, not really understanding what it had to do with the current problem. She wrapped her arms around my neck in frustration.
“I’m sharing with you right now!” She closed her eyes, and muttered, “See? We need time to date to decide. You aren't a sociopath.”
My body froze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Damian… he is different. He functions differently, but you were around people. You had sex.”
Not liking the direction this conversation was taking, I snapped, “So did he.”
She shook her head. “Not like that. He only did if he needed information. No one mattered before Sapphire. But you… I don’t know the demons that haunt you. We all have them, but you are not as dark as he is. So please do not act like him. I’m not her. I don’t want to be kidnapped. I wouldn't be able to forgive you after Erik took away five years of my life.” Just at the thought of those fuckers, my hands itched to torture them to fucking death and then feed their bodies to the bulldogs. “Dominic, please.” Utter devastation marred her face, as she let me decide our future.
I could have let her know sex wasn't an enjoyment, just a way to relieve the stress and anger always running through me. That it was as clinical as it could get. That deep down, I was as damaged if not more than Damian. But all this information, she didn't need to know, because she was hurting. And since she was hurting, I would put her desires first.
I slid my hand up into her hair, tilting her head forward so our mouths almost touched, as my tongue licked the seam of her lips. “Okay,krasavica. You have your one month of dating.”
Her eyes hooded with yearning as her breath slipped. “And then?”
“Then we will see.” With that, I bit her bottom lip, giving it a tug before soothing it gently with my tongue and then holding her mouth prisoner for a long, wet, deep kiss. She tasted like honey, while the smell of roses and lavender washed over me as I breathed her in.
“Okay,” she whispered.
I ordered Vlad to take us to Don’s place, all while we kissed in the backseat of the car.
But even with all the emotions she brought up in me, I feared the day she’d discover I wasn't really a polite and easygoing guy who had his shit together. Hopefully, by that time, she’d be too tied up with me to ever question our relationship.
Man with the dragon tattoo
The stupid bitch didn't even harm anyone. Just when I thought I’d enjoy a show with blood, hopefully harming Rosa in the process, she magically calmed down.
I purposely supplied Liz the information about her husband, so she’d lose her ever-loving mind and barge into the place. Rosa getting shot during her date, for sure, would have sped up the war between the houses. Sliding my computer chair back, I picked up the phone and dialed the number. They answered on the first ring. “Is it done?” I asked, not liking the pause it took for the reply.
“Not today.”
The crystal glass of whiskey shattered in my hand from the anger boiling inside me. “Why?”
“Radmir is too strong. He got a beating, but they couldn't kill him. He was put in an isolation cell for a month. Our hands are tied.” Fuck! Breathing heavily, I hung up the phone and walked to the wide, brown corkboard spread across almost the entire length of the wall.
Two mafia houses, all the people involved, machinations, and business associates. Taking Radmir’s photo from the trash, I pinned it back near Dominic as my palm smeared blood all over his face.
One month. He got to live one more month, which meant my anger would have to be inflicted on someone else. My eyes landed on the beautiful brown-haired woman holding a laughing toddler in her arms. “Vivian.” Running my fingers across her features, I wondered how much thesovietnikwould be hurt if I raped and destroyed any sense of dignity his woman had.
Smiling in anticipation, I put on my coat and walked outside to the gala dinner hosted by Vivian’s father.
Game was still fucking on.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to call the police?” Dorothy bugged me yet again, as we both gathered herbs from Quinn’s backyard ‘garden,’ if it could be called that. The cabin was very small, and since the location of it was near the Hudson River, the forest and cliffs were the only things surrounding us. Quinn had his own land, where he harvested different herbs for health and food, along with some tomatoes and carrots.
I found it weird too, but the guy just seemed odd altogether. “Yes.” She pursed her lips in displeasure, as her blue-as-the-sky eyes focused on the area in front of us. “This is ridiculous. They could help you.”
Shrugging, I tugged harder on the carrot’s petiole, and it finally came out. Orange, long, and probably delicious. Placing it in the basket, I proceeded to do the same with the rest. The woman had no idea that the police would be of no help to me, not in the mafia world. Everything was decided there by the upper hand. I wouldn't even make it to the station before some rat spilled my location, and I’d be back to square one.
“Who did this to you, Lori?”
