"You say this like it's news."
I end the call and sit back, letting the weight of the evening press down on my chest.
Tonight, I proved exactly what I am.
I pushed too hard, too fast. But she wore it. Sat across from me with that challenge burning in her dark eyes, daring me to do something about it.
So I did.
And now I'm sitting alone in a restaurant with a raging erection and the taste of her still on my lips.
Maybe not. But I know this: she didn't take it out. I'm sure she didn't. When she walked away, when she dismissed her guard, when she leaned across the table and delivered that devastating line, she was still wearing my gift.
My cock throbs at the thought.
I adjust myself under the table, grateful the restaurant is nearly empty. The staff pretends not to notice their most dangerous customer sitting motionless in a private booth, staring at nothing.
I should go home. Take a cold shower. Review the security reports Igor left on my desk. Do anything except what I actually want to do, which is follow her back to that compound, climb through her bedroom, and finish what we started.
Balls deep inside her.
The image hits me like a fist to the gut. Vittoria spread beneath me, all that fire and defiance softening as I push inside her. Those sharp eyes going hazy. Her mouth forming my name.
I've imagined it a thousand times since the gala. Since she looked at me like I was something dangerous and thenran.
My phone buzzes. Yuri again.
She's inside. Gate secured.
I type back:Good. Stand down for tonight.
I'm halfway to my car when my phone buzzes again. Not Yuri this time.
Aleksander.
My thumb hovers over the screen. I should have called him after what happened with Natalia. Should have checked in, made sure she was okay after discovering those journals. Instead, I've been too consumed with Vittoria.
I answer. "Brother."
"You didn't call." Aleksander's voice carries no accusation. Just fact. He's always been the calm one, the peacemaker among us. The one who smooths over the damage I leave in my wake.
"I know." I lean against the car, letting the cold Chicago air cut through the heat still simmering under my skin. "How is she?"
"Better." A pause. Aleksander exhales. "The horse thing helped. She spent three hours in the stables yesterday. Named the foal Mishka."
Little bear.Something loosens in my chest. "Good."
"It was a kind lie, Dmitri. Telling her Papa wanted her to name it."
"Papa would have wanted her to stop crying." The words come out harsher than I intend. "I gave her something to do. That's all."
Aleksander doesn't push. He never does. That's what makes him dangerous in his own way. He waits, patient as stone, until you crack open on your own.
"Karolina's staying at the estate for a few more days," he continues. "She's worried about Natalia being alone."
"Natalia has staff. Guards. She's not alone."
"You know what I mean."
