“I’m fine,” she insists, even though her shoulders remain rigid. “Keep going. I want to. It’s okay.”
But her body tells a different story.
“No,” I tease, shifting away from her. “You haven’t even bought me dinner yet. I’m not that easy.”
I have to hide the animal urge to snarl and rip apart the bastard who did this to her. I comfort myself with the fact thatIwillfind him, and Iwillkill him. With an excruciatingly slow method until he’s begging me for death. The Kovalyov reach across the globe is impressive. He won’t be able to hide.
Frustration and arousal war on Sera’s face. I have to look away from her swollen lips before I break.
“This was a good start. I’m happy to be your test subject whenever you want to experiment, but I should go.”
My body is screaming at me to get back on that couch. She says she wants this, the selfish beast inside me hisses. You’ve never denied yourself before.
It’salmosttoo much temptation.
But my brain overrules my instincts. Despite what her mouth says, she isn’t ready, and I can’t mess up with her. Not if I want to keep her.
Drawing on a level of patience and self-restraint that I’ve never had before, I make myself walk away.
“Liev,” she calls as I get to the door. “I’ll talk to Brady. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
10
SERA
“Have you lost your mind?” Brady’s voice is sharp enough that I flinch. I cross my arms, digging my nails lightly into my sleeves.
“Didn’t youjustsay this new job needs a big body as a deterrent for overeager fans, and we’re stretched thin on operatives? I think he could handle that.” I know I shouldn’t be so sarcastic when I want my brother to agree with me, but his knee-jerk reaction pisses me off.
When I got to work this morning, I overheard Elizabeth asking him for a favor. One of her supermodel clients needs a bodyguard to accompany her on a marketing tour. Apparently, the client made some posts on social media, and her team is concerned protestors might show up at her events.
“First, you shouldn’t eavesdrop, second—” His gaze drops to my mouth. His dark brows bunch over his eyes as he squints, taking his first good look at me, and freezes.
“What the fuck happened to your face?” His roar brings Finn from the cyber room, and Elizabeth stands straighter, her lips parting with a little gasp.
Shit.I thought I’d done a pretty good job of hiding my injuries with the makeup I use to cover my scars. By the look on everyone’s faces, it obviously hasn’t worked. Two days isn’tenough time to erase a split lip or the swelling on the side of my face.
Brady steps closer, blocking my view of the others. His jaw tics, and his nostrils are flaring in a way that makes my stomach clench. “Sera.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Don’t lie. Not again.”
“Easy, Brady.” Elizabeth places her arm on my brother’s bicep and squeezes.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I blurt. I don’t want to lie to them, but I can’t tell them the truth.
My brother wouldn’t hesitate to go to war with the Russian mob if I told them what Liev’s father had done. “I got mugged on my way back to my car.” I force a smile, but I can tell no one is buying it. “They weren’t expecting me to kick their asses.”
Brady’s hands flex at his sides. “Did you call the police?”
“No.” My lips press together at the argument I feel coming. “It wasn’t necessary.”
Finn mutters something behind me but wisely stays silent. Brady sucks his lips between his teeth, but I know he’s about two seconds from exploding—and Ido nothave the emotional bandwidth for that right now.
Between what happened in the alley, the run-in with Joelle, group therapy, last night with Liev, and Hannah’s relentless texts this morning checking on me regarding my surprise visitor, my nerves are shot.
I take a deep breath. “Which brings us back to Liev.”
