Page 43 of Caught By the Bratva Boss

Grinning, I loosened my grip on her hand. “Then let’s eat quickly, and maybe if you are lucky, I’ll fuck you in the car on the way home.”

The words were barely out of my mouth when my phone began to ring. I froze. “Excuse me. I have to take this.”

I half turned away from her before I answered, keeping my voice low. Even though I knew she didn’t understand Russian, that didn’t mean no one else within earshot didn’t. The voice on the other end of the line was panicked. I listened for ten seconds before gruffly agreeing.

“I’m sorry but—” the words died on my lips. She was studying the menu like she was cramming for a test.

Slowly, she closed the menu and smiled. “It’s ok,” she said with a sigh that didn’t make me feel any better. “I know work is important.”

It was important, but I was begging her to see that she was too.

“Would you like me to get a cab home?”

“No.” I bent over without thinking, cupping her face in my hands, but I didn’t kiss her. “I want you to come with me. It shouldn’t take long, and then we can continue our date.”

Lily’s lips quivered against mine. “I don’t mind going home and waiting,” she began to say, and I cut her off. “You aren’t getting away from me that easily, Lily Ridgeway. I’ll just sort this out and then we can do whatever you want.”

Her eyes seemed to shimmer. “Anything I want.”

“Anything.”

Chapter Eighteen

Lily

“I didn’t know.” I trotted on my stupidly high heels to catch up with him as he strode from the car towards the door of the Aces Ten Casino. It was right at the last minute that he seemed to remember I was there.

Slowing his feet, he turned and pulled me into his body. His arm loosened around my waist. “Sorry,” he apologized quickly. “Sometimes I forget how little your legs are. I should have waited.”

Daniil was teasing me in the same way I had seen him tease Anya. It was just another thing that confused me.

Recently, Daniil had been different. Not loving, that was the wrong word. But he was treating me like a girlfriend and not someone he was sleeping with. At first, it was small things, the softness of his touch when he absently touched my face, and when he had asked me out on a date tonight, I hadn’t expected it.

And I sure as hell didn’t know how I felt about it. When it came to Daniil Popov, I had no idea what I was feeling.

There was no mistake that the sexual chemistry was off the charts, but was he wanting more? And if he did, did I? It was true that I hadn’t thought about Greg since the night in Daniil’s office, but technically, I was still his fiancée.

The thoughts vanished as Daniil, his arm still around my waist, led me into the grand gold and red foyer. The doorman nodded his head politely. The woman at the desk looked up with surprise clear on her face.

“I didn’t know you owned this place?” I finished in a whisper.

“I own more than eighty percent of the casinos in the city and a fair few in Las Vegas.” Turning me into his body, he brushed his lips against mine again. “Do you like to gamble?”

“I’ve never really had the opportunity to,” I admitted. “I didn’t really have the spare cash to risk.”

A flicker of anger flashed around his eyes. “Well, that changes as soon as I can take you to Vegas. I think you will like the hotel.”

Trailing off, he turned towards a heavily tattooed man who strode forward with a grim look on his face.

“Wait here a second,” he said with another brush of his lips against mine, and then he strode to meet him, leaving me standing there awkwardly. I didn’t want to eavesdrop because Daniil didn’t like that, so I made a point of looking around.

This place was seriously grand, and even though I was dressed up for dinner, I felt instantly out of place. From under my lashes, I watched a beautiful woman walk past, her neck dripping with diamonds.

She flicked her eyes to me, and her lips thinned in distaste.

“Sorry about that.” Daniil was at my side, his arms around me, and strangely, I felt better again, like the judgmental looks couldn’t touch me as long as I was with him.

“It’s ok,” I whispered, hyper-aware that more and more people were watching us.