“You can,” I interrupted. “You just haven’t decided whether to trust me yet.”
“And why would I?”
I let a small smile ghost across my mouth. “Because I’m the only man who’s not afraid of you.”
That stopped her cold. Her lips parted again, her eyes widening just a fraction. For the first time since I’d stepped aboard, she didn’t have a retort.
Good.
CHAPTER 12
Kara
He stood there, all arrogance and ice, issuing commands like the world had never told him no. The yacht, the sunlight, even the sea seemed to bend around him.
Dmitri Markov didn’t fill a space; he ruled it.
I hated him for it.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
Every word that came out of his mouth was calculated. Even when he threatened me, he didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. There was something about that composure—about the quiet certainty of it—that pulled at me in ways I didn’t want to understand.
Roman had flirted with me. Lev had tested me. But Dmitri… it was clear that he could dismantle me without ever touching me.
I should have been terrified.
Iwasterrified.
But beneath that fear, a vivid heat sparked into life.
It was the calm way he said my name, like it belonged to him. The way his gaze never faltered. The way he closed the distance between us until I could feel his breath brushing against my skin.
He was control made flesh. And control was always the thing that undid me.
I tried to focus my anger on the fact that he had invaded my sanctuary, that he was here to use me just like everyone else, but I found myself just watching him with genuine curiosity. I realized Iwantedto see what he’d do next.
My pulse betrayed me, beating faster every time he spoke.
He wasn’t beautiful the way Roman was. Roman was the kind of man who caught the light and reveled in it; Dmitri was the kind who swallowed it like a black hole. He was carved from restraint and danger, and it felt intoxicating to be the sole focus of that much power.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I muttered, hating the way my voice shook.
“Like what?” he asked, calm as ever.
“Like you already know what I’m thinking.”
His mouth curved, just slightly. “I do know. You’re broadcasting it loudly enough.”
That did it: the spark, the heat started in my chest and crawled up my neck and down into my belly. Bastard. I wanted to hithim. I wanted to run. I wanted… God help me, I wanted him to keep looking at me like that.
He turned toward the railing, his profile sharp against the sun. “You can try to hate me, Kara,” he said. “But you’d do better to start understanding me.”
“I don’t want to understand you.”
“You already do,” he stated quietly.
Maybe he was right.
