Her eyes glaze over, and she leans in toward me. “You’re a professor. Why are you laundering money?”
I huff out a heavy sigh and step toward her, but she screams, “Stop! Don’t take another step.”
I ignore her and stalk closer.
“I’m serious,” she says again, her tone begging. “I don’t want anything from you unless it’s answers.”
I lower my head and growl, gripping her closer. “This is the only answer you need.”
Her squeal of surprise is cut off by my kiss. A hard, demanding pressure against her mouth that’s satisfying us both. She’s nearly breathless. I drag my hand up and into her hair, ravaging her mouth, my hand pinned against the wall behind her head, the other firmly holding her arm.
She tries to squirm away, but I hold her firm, kissing her, until a pleading sigh escapes her throat.
“I told you I wasn’t a good man.”
“I thought you meant you were a bad boy level of bad. The kind where you smoked and you beat people up when they pissed you off. Not criminal, money laundering bad. Tell me what’s going on.”
I bite the side of my cheek and look toward her, her scent overtaking every nerve in my body. “If I tell you, you’re going to hate me.”
She gasps. “I hate you now.”
“That’s not what all that moaning last night said.”
“Please! Last night was a joke. You didn’t even… it doesn’t matter.”
“I’m hurt,” I growl lowly in her ear. “I thought you felt something. I did.”
“What you felt was my stupidity on full display.”
“Well I quite liked it,” I say, kissing her neck softly. “Your stupidity had my cock desperate for more all night.”
“Tell me who you are. Tell me what Ryan has to do with all this.”
My heart squeezes as I stare back at her, knowing full well that the next words to leave my mouth could force her to run.
I suck in a deep breath. “My name is Viktor Novikov, son to Gedeon Novikov, head of the Russian mafia.”
Chapter Sixteen
Everleigh
He’s handsome. His eyes are dark and flaring, his gaze is dangerous and carnal, and his breath against my skin is lighting up every nerve in my body. All things I shouldn’t think about anyone involved with any sort of mafia.
“So what does that mean? Your dad is the head of some mafia.What does that make you?” I hang onto the words hoping I’m wrong. I knew something was off about him. I should’ve trusted my instincts.
He laughs, still so close that I feel his breath on my skin. “I’m second in command.”
Air is sucked from my lungs as I ask, “What does that mean?”
“It means, my father hides while I do all his dirty work. Last I knew he was somewhere on the west coast. I handle the family’s day-to-day operations.”
I’m hearing his words but they’re not fully connecting to form opinions. More so, it’s like I’m in a movie watching it all play out.
“And how is Ryan involved?”
“I should let Ryan tell you that.”
“Tell me what?” My eyes stay on his searching, wondering how honest he really is, wondering how the hell innocent Ryan got wrapped up in the mafia. How could he keep this from me? We tell each other everything. At least I thought we did. I’m such a fucking idiot.
