“I was not—” She shuts her mouth when the words come out loud and shrill. “Jealous,” she hisses.
“No? I was.”
“What? When?”
“When that French asshole was drooling all over you.”
She lets out a laughing sigh. “He wasn’t flirting, not for real. He was just trying to irritate you for some reason. What was that about—the guy who said he knew you?” I hesitate, and she whispers, “Dead body disposal, circle of trust, remember.”
“Is that our club name?”
“Liev.”
“I don’t know his name. He was part of the security detail for an oligarch Mikhail was making a deal with. I rarely travel with Mikhail for that kind of thing, but they were worried there might be trouble and wanted me there. It was…” I think of how to word it.Bloody? Violent?“Contentious.”
Sera rolls onto her side and angles her face up toward me. I roll as well and tip my chin so I can see her. “So, what are you?Like the scariest of all the bratva? No other gangster would do to keep him safe?” She’s got a little smirk on her face, and I know she’s teasing.
For a split second I think about lying. But if it’s going to be a problem for her, better I know now. Plus, if the other French guard decides to cause trouble over what happened to his colleagues in Cypress, I should probably give her a heads up.
The thought sobers me. I’m going to have to watch him. I don’t want my past to put her in danger.
“I have a reputation for a reason.” I finally say, maintaining eye contact. I see the uncertainty cross her eyes as she tries to decide if I’m kidding. “Having me there was a reminder about what would happen if they thought about double-crossing Mikhail—a reminder of what the Kovalyov Bratva is capable of. It wasn’t the smoothest of meetings, but it wasn’t the worst either.”
Her lips part, and a puff of air escapes.
My ribs tighten painfully over my heart. This is what I’ve been worried about. What Alex and Declan hadn’t understood. Contrary to what they believe, most women who aren’t raised in our lifestyle are horrified by what we do.
Her next words take the air from my lungs. “Does it make me a total weirdo that I think that’s kind of hot?”
It takes several seconds before I can speak. “Yes,” I say through choked laughter, as relief floods my body.
She shimmies around so that her head isn’t at such a crazy angle to grin at me. “You don’t know me that well, but the stories I could tell you about what I’ve seen and helped with at Elite would probably surprise you.” She wrinkles her nose and imitates her brother’s deep voice. “My brother putting on theSera’s so inexperiencedspeech wasn’t entirely about the job.”
I see the moment she lets her guard down.
“He’s worried about something happening between us. To him, I’ll always be the younger sister.”
“You are young.”
What the hell am I doing?Trying to talk her out of it?
“Not that young.” She looks at me through her lashes.
Heat blasts through me.
Fuck. This woman is going to be the death of me.
My eyes trace from her gorgeous eyes, down her nose to her lips, and then back again.
My voice is husky when I say, “Just so we’re clear… I’m not interested in sleeping with Keke.”
“Because it’s against the rules?”
The air is thick, the tension almost palpable between us. I take a risk. Lifting my hand, I brush the loose hairs back from her face. “Because the only person I’m interested in,” I say, emphasizing the word so she can’t possibly mistake my meaning, “experimentingwith… is you.”
Her breath catches, and her pupils dilate before the vulnerability creeps back in. “I told you I haven’t been able to…”
My chest cracks. I can imagine what it costs her to admit this to me, to open herself up like this. “I know. That’s why it’s an experiment. No expectations.”
