And damn me for wanting her more despite it.
She wasn’t afraid to call it what it was—a test.
Now it seemed like I would face one myself. A test to see if I could keep my wits around her with the realization that my gorgeous wife was far more than a mere Cartel princess. A woman with her kind of knowledge and background could be downright dangerous.
Or an ace we hadn’t known we needed.
12
CARINA
Maksim stared at me for a long moment after he parked at the house.
That drive was nothing but an excuse to get me out of the large residence. I knew it. He knew it. But I couldn’t tell if he’d done it strictly to test me about what I knew in regard to the intricate business of smuggling or if he had wanted me out of his home so they could more fully bug it.
While he was gone, I went to the gym. I’d multitasked while I was there, though, texting my brother to see if he’d reply. When I got nothing from him, no replies, no emails, not even a means to leave him a voicemail since his inbox was turned off, I wondered if it was because all outgoing contact was traced in Maksim’s network. We’d done that sometimes, when a guest would stay at the villa and I thought it would be wise to have our cyber team set up a firewall to see what they were saying.
No measures had been put in place to see what I was doing. No layers of protection showed up when I investigated through my settings on my phone. I even hopped on the laptop that I’dfound in another room that seemed to be an unused study. No arranged protection halted me.
It couldn’t be true, though. From all I’d seen so far, the Volkovs didn’t take chances with security. There had to be a catch somewhere, and I feared for a second that his taking me for a drive was the excuse for his tech people to install more recording devices or bugs.
He’d made this little drive more like a chance to talk, though. Although I was the one doing all the talking, answering what I’d do in his test of a scenario, it felt different.
Alone, without guests at a wedding or any of his brothers or cousins around, it seemed like a strange attempt at getting to know me.
Intimate, with him seeming interested in me for more than sex.
I swallowed hard, trying not to let it get to me.
He doesn’t care.
This means nothing to him.
We’re not a couple.
It’s an arrangement and nothing more.
“Pass?” He lowered his hand from the steering wheel and let out a light huff of laughter.
“Don’t tell me that wasn’t a test.” I’d shown my hand this morning, scolding him and educating him about how his route plans wouldn’t have worked.
“Oh, it was.” He got out and rounded the car to open my door. I didn’t need him to play gentleman with me. I opened thepassenger door myself and stood, determined to cling to any scrap of independence I could have.
He didn’t allow me any space. Coming right up toward me and nearly caging me to the side of the car, he raked his gaze over me. “After the hint of your knowledge this morning, I wanted to see how you’d approach a problem.”
I raised my brows, pleased that he wouldn’t lie and tell me that it hadn’t been a deliberate exercise.
“You didn’t pass.” He almost smiled as he met my gaze. “You fucking blew through that without a doubt.”
I dragged my teeth over my lower lip. I hoped it would remind me not to smile. Not to show this man—my husband—any sign of weakness.
Because that was all I felt.
Weak in the knees. Vulnerable as my heart raced. Thrilled by his praise.
Yet, I refused to accept it.
“You’re not bluffing,” he said, taking my hand and leading me into the house, perhaps realizing that I was sticking with hiding behind a mask and not replying to him.
