But if I’m being perfectly honest with myself that’s not the only reason I want her.
In truth, I’ve never wanted another man’s wife—until the night I met Anika.
Even then, I didn’t realize right away who she belonged to.
But now Pyotr is gone.
And if I don’t take her under my protection, I have no doubt someone else will claim Anika.
“No use fighting because you’ll take what you want regardless?” she spits between gasping breaths as she glares up at me defiantly.
I can see how that’s the conclusion she would jump to. It’s not like we’ve given her a reason to believe we’re the good guys. Wearen’tthe good guys, I suppose, in her world. But that doesn’t mean I would ever stoop to forcing myself on a woman.
“There’s no use fighting me because I’m not going to let you get away—and if you were smart, you wouldn’t try because whatever fate waits for you outside these walls would be so much worse than the one I have in store for you,” I promise.
“Give myself freely to you so no one else will take what they want, then, is that it?” his hisses.
That about sums it up, I suppose, and I tip my head in acknowledgement, studying the beautiful flush of her cheeks, the fresh spark in her eye that seems to bring them to life.
“I would rather take my chances.”
The words are barely out of her mouth before she’s running again, rocks flying in her wake as she makes a beeline for the front gate.
It’s still closed and perfectly intact because we chose to infiltrate from the back of the estate—where the fewest guards would see us coming.
But that doesn’t slow her down, so I race after her again, this time closing the distance much more quickly.
“Let me go!” Anika screams, kicking and bucking against me as I scoop her up and throw her over my shoulder this time.
Her fists pound my back, and she pushes and squirms against me.
But I have a solid grip on her thighs now, keeping her weaponized shoes as far from me as I can while I march her back toward the house.
“Put me down, you animal!”
A string of Russian cuss words rushes from her next, and I can’t help but smile at the venom Anika spits.
I’m almost glad.
She looked so terrified and small curled up underneath the dining room table, I was worried I’d traumatized her.
But now I can see the fire I caught in her blue eyes that night almost a year ago.
Anika releases another feral snarl, her full hips squirming by my ear, and I give her ass a sharp spank, my cock twitching unexpectedly to life when her supple flesh responds to me.
She freezes, seeming stunned by my audacity, and her struggles cease, though she remains tense against me.
My hand itches with the desire to do it again, to palm her ass and feel how round and muscular it is before giving her another playful swat.
But she doesn’t know me or how far I might take things, and I don’t want to make today any more shocking than it already must be for her.
As I reach the foyer, I find Gio and the twins waiting for me, their eyebrows raised in a look of mild bafflement as I hoist my unruly cargo higher on my shoulder.
“I’m going to find somewhere safe to keep her for now,” I state. “I’ll be back. Vittorio,” I call, jerking my chin toward one of my men I know I can trust to follow orders.
He drops what he’s doing to come over and follows me up the sweeping staircase as I head in the general direction I imagine I’ll find a bedroom.
I stop at the first door that doesn’t lock from the inside and twist the handle, opening it to find a finely decorated room with beige walls, soft carpet, and a crisp white queen-sized bed.
