“That’s why.”
She looks at me like this is totally normal. I guess, on the old money side of the Bratva, it is.
“They wanted to make sure I could make an appropriate match, and to do that I need to be pure.”
I huff out a laugh.
She’s pure, alright.
Pure fucking heroin for a man like me who craves innocence and light.
“I think you need to understand some things, princess. When you walk around a place like this, in an outfit like that… It drives men crazy.”
“This was at fashion week this year. It’s on trend. I saw it in the latest Vogue.”
“And I’m glad it makes you happy… but Natalia, your body and that dress.” I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. “It’s distracting our men from their work. We don’t exactly hire for good character in our operations here. These are hot-blooded men who take what they want and think about the consequences later. This kind of clothing is like a drop of blood in a pool of sharks.”
She’s quiet and thoughtful as she considers this. “Does it drive you crazy, too?”
I don’t dignify that with an answer. Isn’t it obvious that it does?
“I thought… You don’t find me attractive.”
This girl.
How could I not find her attractive?
She’s in my fucking apartment wearing a mini-dress so tiny that there’s more skin on display than is covered. I can see the delicious curve of her breasts, the sweep of her waist, and that golden hair streams down her back in alluring curls.
“What the fuck gave you that impression, Natalia?”
“You said… that this was a marriage in name only. That I shouldn’t forget that.” She repeats my words back to me.
The meaning of those words is foreign to me now. Even more strange is the idea that Natalia could believe them.
I shake my head slowly and deliberately. Those green eyes flicker in confusion as I wrap a hand around her wrist and pull her to her feet.
Those wide, innocent eyes stare back at me in shock.
We’re standing face to face now, her breasts whispering against my chest as I pull her closer. My lips brush the hollow of her neck as I whisper in her ear.
“I said that, Natalia, because I needed to get the hell out of the same room as you. Because if you had looked at me for one more millisecond with that innocent expression, I was going to do something not very innocent at all. And I had just watched you swear on your babushka’s grave that you wouldn’t let me touch you.”
Past me had more self-restraint than I do right now, that’s for sure.
Because it’s no less than a certainty in my mind Natalia’s babushka is going to be cursed to oblivion by our actions.
Natalia’s mouth drops open. “Is that why?—”
“Why I paid Vera’s friend a visit that evening? Yes. It is, princess.”
Natalia’s expression of surprise is so fucking enticing that I thumb her bottom lip, swiping that delicious moisture away. I tilt her chin up so she meets my eyes, looking up at me and absorbing what I’m saying to her.
“I might wish I didn’t find you attractive, Natalia. But truth is, no one has been driven more crazy than me.”
Natalia lifts her chin to meet my gaze.
This is stupid. Especially after kissing her two days ago.
