That ship has well and truly sailed already. But I don’t tell her that. It’s my secret.
She’s on her feet in a second, chair scraping back hard enough it nearly topples. “No. You’ll refrain from doing it at all.”
She pokes a nail into my chest, frustration sparking through the touch. The second she realizes what she’s done, she tries to pull away, but I’m faster. I catch her wrist. The contact hits me like a fault line splitting open.
“I’ll keep you safe by any means necessary,” I say, my voice rougher than I intend.
“Do you not think this is all a bit extreme?” she asks, searching my face.
“No. Not even a little.” I release her before I do something I can’t undo.
“I have a lot of business contacts in Monaco, for laundering purposes,” I continue, forcing myself back into control. “I’ve done them a lot of favors over the years, and I called them in.”
She watches me carefully now, eyes narrowed, trying to read what I’m not saying.
“We will be flying out on Friday as planned, except on the Quinn’s jet, and staying in the accommodation I have arranged. Marco has already been reimbursed for his arrangements. Everything is still on track.” I offer her a small smile, the kind that hides more than it reveals, and wait as she processes it all.
“We?”
I’d expected shouting. Anger. Maybe a threat to throw me out of her office. Instead, there’s disbelief, edged with something softer I refuse to name.
“Yes. We. Us. However you wanna describe it.”
She shakes her head slowly. “You aren’t joking, are you?”
I frown, genuinely puzzled by the question. “I don’t often. Only if you catch me on a good day.”
She’s still standing too close when the silence stretches. Close enough that I can feel the heat coming off her, feel the shift in her breathing even though she’s pretending she’s calm. She isn’t. I know the signs. I’ve catalogued them without meaning to.
And that’s the problem.
Because every second I stand here wanting her like this feels like a betrayal carved straight through my ribs.
Lev trusted me with his life. With his empire. With his daughter. He handed her safety to me without hesitation, without conditions, and here I am standing in her office, imagining what her mouth would feel like against mine.
And what it would feel like having her lips wrapped around my cock. How perfect it would feel spilling down her throat.
Fuck.
“You don’t get to make decisions for me,” she says, but her voice isn’t sharp anymore. It’s lower now.
“I’m not making decisions,” I reply, forcing my tone steady even though my pulse is hammering. “I’m eliminating risks.”
Her laugh is quiet, breathy, and it slides straight under my skin. “You’re standing in my office, five inches from my face, telling me where I’ll be sleeping in another country. That feels like a decision.”
I shift without thinking, angling my body so I’m between her and the door. Not trapping her. Never that. Just instinct. Protection wired too deep to switch off.
Lev’s face flashes in my mind. If he could see me now…
“If you wanted me gone,” I say quietly, “you’d already be telling me to leave.”
Her throat bobs when she swallows. I see it. I see everything.
“That doesn’t mean I want you this close,” she murmurs.
The lie is thin. We both hear it crack.
My hand lifts before my brain can stop it, stopping just short of her waist, hovering in that menacing space where touch would ruin everything I’ve sworn to protect. Her eyes flick down to my fingers, then back up to my face.
