Owned by the Russian Mafia Boss: A Mob Romance (28 page)

Chapter Seven

“It’s strange how I’ve never seen you before,” the woman said in a husky voice as the man ran his hands down her legs. “I come here all the time.”

He didn’t reply as he nuzzled her neck. Her whispers turned into moans as he pushed her against the wall of the alley and shoved her dress up to her waist.

“Tell me your name,” she begged. “Tell me who is doing these things to me.”

He only pushed his fingers inside her. Sex was rarely a pleasure these days. He didn’t do it chase the demons away or drown himself a mindless orgasm. Sometimes it was to pass the time. Sometimes it was to divert curious glances.

Tonight it was for information.

As he freed his erection and pushed himself inside her, the woman locked her legs around his waist and grunted at the invasion. She was wet and warm, but she was hardly tight. She sought money, but tonight, she would get both money and pleasure.

“Tell me where to find him,” he whispered in her ear. Roughly pulling her head back by her hair, he nipped at her neck. “Give me an address.”

“I can’t,” she gasped. “He’ll kill me.”

Slowing down his thrusts, he pulled back and stared into her eyes. “You fuck men every night in this alley. I’ve watched you. And I’ve been disgusted with your desperately fake sounds of orgasms. Tell me what I want, and I’ll make every single muscle in your body shake with pleasure.”

“Oh God,” she cried out as he stilled his body completely. “Don’t stop.”

He reached down and circled her clit almost lazily with his thumb. “Tell me what I want. He’ll never have to know it’s you. No one will get hurt.”

She drew in a few haggard breaths before spilling the address. With a satisfied grin, he pushed her against the wall and began to pound her. Her nails dug into his shoulders as her cries turned into wails and screams. And when she convulsed around him, he dropped her to the street without finishing and zipped himself up.

“Clean yourself. And don’t say a word about me,” he snarled. Counting out a few bills, he tossed them on her. He’d stayed in the shadows. She would never be able to describe his face.

And now he had what he wanted to get another step closer.

***

The morning sun filtered through the window, and he watched as it bathed her in light. For a moment, he was astounded by her natural beauty. Her dark curls spread out over the pillows, and the sheets were rumpled around her naked body. He watched as her chest rose with each breath she took.

And he knew without a doubt that if he didn’t find a way to keep her safe, he wouldn’t get many more moments like this.

Charley was the first woman he’d ever woken up next to. Usually his trysts involved finding a weak spot and pressing it until he got the information that he wanted. Sometimes it was just an hour or so of releasing pent-up frustrations before sending them on their way. Sometimes he just left them.

It had felt so natural to wrap her in his arms as they fell asleep. She’d nestled against him like they’d done it all their lives, and he slept easily. Too easily.

If someone had attacked them, he wouldn’t have been on his guard. She made him soft. She made him weak, but he had no idea how he was going to let her go.

“I know I’m gorgeous first thing in the morning, but if you keep staring, it’s going to get creepy,” she murmured as she yawned and smiled at him. He could only chuckle softly in response. “You’re already dressed. How disappointing.”

“Charley,” he said hesitantly. “About last night.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed herself up. “You can save yourself the speech. I’m sure it goes somewhere along the lines of last night being a one-time deal. I get the impression that you don’t settle down. Don’t worry. I’m not planning our wedding.”

He felt both relieved and disappointed. “I apologize for the position that I put you in last night. I had no idea that Ivan would touch you. It won’t happen again.” His voice was stiff and formal. It helped him hide the desperate need to kiss her again.

“Please tell me that it was worth it.”

He hesitated. Truth be told, he did get some information last night. “I haven’t had time to look through the pictures that I took. I’m not really even sure what I’m looking for.”

Charley crawled out of bed and stretched. His mouth went dry as the sheets fell away and she stood naked in the room. Even though he had explored every inch of her body last night, he wanted nothing more than to do it all over again. She was a drug, and he was addicted to the way she’d cried out and shook in his arms as he gave her more and more pleasure. He was addicted to the way she’d felt wrapped around him.

He was hungry for more.

She must have caught the look in his eyes because she gave him a devilish smile. “For someone who doesn’t want a repeat of last night, you’re doing a piss-poor job of hiding your lust.”

Reluctantly and almost angrily, he turned away. “I’m going to review the documents and try again to get ahold of Kaz. I need to find some place safe to stash you until this is all over.”

“Stash?” she muttered angrily. “I’m not something that just can be shelved, Dmitri.” He didn’t say anything, and she sighed. “Fine. I’m going to take a shower. I hope you’re in a better mood when I get out.”

He kept his back turned until he heard the door close and the shower start. He almost didn’t trust himself not to go in and join her, so he ordered some room service, left her a note to stay in the room, and went down to the lobby. From there, he could safely review his pictures and keep an eye on the entrance to make sure none of Ivan’s men tried to come through.

Ivan would have a hard time tracking him down, but hiding was harder with Charley along. Once Ivan learned that she had disappeared last night, he would suspect that she was with Dmitri. And two were easier to track than one.

His old guardian hadn’t changed much about the home since he’d moved in. Fedor Saiko had impeccable taste, and Veronika had taken virtually nothing with her when she moved out. She’d been so disgusted with everything that she just signed everything over to Ivan like it was nothing. Was she another person he’d duped on his way to the top?

He tried to remind himself that he didn’t have proof of Ivan’s wrongdoings. Until then, he needed to try and keep an open mind. The man had practically raised him.

Raised and molded him into a monster.

He continued to leaf restlessly through the papers. Most of it was transfer information from the companies that Fedor ran. None of it would help him.

Anything truly personal wouldn’t be in this heap of pictures, but Dmitri did have a chance to jimmy into a locked drawer of Ivan’s desk. Inside, he found a bound folder that contained older pages. He’d taken pictures of each page before he realized that his time was up.

He was just about to look at the pictures when he felt like someone was watching him. Looking up, he felt a streak of anger. Charley had left the room and anyone could have grabbed her. But when he looked at her face, his mouth immediately dried.

Her hair was still soaking wet from the shower, and the white tank top she wore was slowly soaking through. If he didn’t get her out of the lobby soon, she was going to give everyone a show.

Hastily, he tucked his phone away and hurried to her. “You shouldn’t be out here,” he said as gruffly as possible. It sounded weak even to him.

“I was going to see if I could get something fresh to wear from the store. Then I remembered that I don’t have my wallet. So I was going to ask to borrow money, and that seemed humiliating, so I guess I thought maybe you’d suggest new clothes if I came down looking like this.” She took a deep breath and looked at him. “Also, I suppose that I wanted to apologize. I know this isn’t easy for you, and I know having me around is just making things harder.”

Something was certainly hard, and it wasn’t exactly the situation. It suddenly occurred to him that when this was all over, he would never see her again. The thought hit him like a brick wall, and for a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

“Go back up to the room,” he said quietly. “I’ll go get you something to wear.”

“Dmitri,” she started softly, but he only lifted an eyebrow. If she thought he was angry with her, she couldn’t have been more wrong.

Twenty minutes later, he was back in the room with some bags. She sat on the bed with her wet hair wound to the side, and she looked hesitantly at him. He gave her a gentle smile.

“I’d like to take you out to dinner tonight,” he said gruffly.

She stared blankly at him. “I’m sorry?”

“Have you forgotten what dinner is?” he teased her gently.

“Dmitri, I appreciate the offer, but I can’t go out like this.”

He sat the bags on the bed. “I had to guess your size, but I’m sure one of those will fit you.”

She peered cautiously in the bags, and he watched as her eyes widened. He’d spent a good amount of money on the dresses in that bag, and he hoped they would do her justice. “Is this a date?” she asked cautiously.

Normally he would have shuddered at those words, but tonight, coming from her, they didn’t frighten him. Still, he knew he couldn’t give her more than this. “It’s a nice dinner. A thank you for helping me.”

“Last night wasn’t a thank you?”

He laughed gruffly. “I’ll be in the lobby when you’re ready. Don’t take forever.”

“So romantic,” she muttered, but she was already sorting through the things in the bag.

Half an hour later, Dmitri lost his breath as Charley emerged from the elevator. She was wearing the red dress that cut low at the top and high at the hemline. He knew she was bold enough to wear it, but he’d had no idea she’d be so breathtaking. She’d worn her naturally dark and curly locks down, and she wasn’t wearing a stitch of make-up.

He wanted to hike her dress up and take her right then and there in the lobby. “Sorry,” she said softly. “I would have been here sooner, but the hair dryer really blows, and I didn’t want to get the dress wet.”

“You look beautiful,” he said softly.

“I do clean up nicely, don’t I?” she said with a smile. “Of course, the dress helps. What is the occasion? Is it your birthday?”

His birthday? He didn’t even remember the date of his birth. Instead of answering, he held out his arm to her. She watched him suspiciously as she took it, and he whisked her out of the hotel. “While the food here is superb, I get bored of eating from the same menu night after night.”

“I’m fairly certain there is some symbolism in that,” she muttered, and he grinned.

“If the taste is exotic enough, I’m known to go back for seconds,” he said with a wicked smile.

Charley rolled her eyes. “So I’m all dressed up because you don’t want hotel food anymore? Has anyone told you that you might be bipolar? I mean, you’re chasing after the man you suspect killed your father. You’re trying to keep me alive. You’re trying to hide your identity from the rest of the world. You’re pissed that you have to babysit me, and now you want to take me to dinner. It’s very difficult to keep up with you.”

“Think of this dinner as an apology for my atrocious behavior,” he said as he opened the door to the car.

She bit her bottom lip as she stared at him. “Is this a last meal? Are you planning on feeding me to the wolves tomorrow?”

In a move that surprised even him, he bent down and kissed her. As his lips lingered on hers, his pulse started to race. Never had a woman so frustrated him and turned him on. “Charley,” he said softly. “Get in the damn car.”

Rolling her eyes, she ducked into the car. “It’s a valid question,” she complained as he shut the door.

“You’d think she’d be grateful,” he muttered to himself as he crossed the hood of the car. Realizing that he was now talking to himself, he shook his head regretfully. It looked as though she was rubbing off on him.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate a good dinner,” she said as he started the car. “You just don’t seem to make decisions on a whim.”

“I do like to be in control as much as possible…”

“I noticed,” she interjected.

He slid an annoyed look her way. “But in my line of work, survival is all about being flexible. Besides, I thought you might be feeling cooped up.”

“Cooped up?” she barked in laughter. “You’re the one who paces around the room like a caged animal. It’s like you’ve never spent a minute of your life standing still.” She immediately clamped her mouth shut and shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Dmitri asked, although he already knew the answer.

“I know you don’t like it when I probe into your past,” she finally said. “And for the record, I didn’t ask a question. I just made an observation.”

He kept one eye on the road and the other in the mirror. So far, it didn’t look as through anyone was following them. “You do realize that you know more about my life than I know about yours.”

“Like you haven’t probed into every part of my past.”

“Sure. I know what it looks like on paper. But you never talk about your time before school. You never talk about your family or your friends in America. You don’t slip in any high school references or what your undergraduate career was like. You never complain about exes or talk about crushes. You live your life as though you’re all about having fun, but you’re actually quite regimented. It’s all about balance.”

She didn’t say anything, and he dropped the subject. He hadn’t meant to bring it up. Dmitri understood the desperate need to keep the past in the past. Sometimes, there were very good reasons.

But he had looked at her background history, and it didn’t look as though there were anything for her to be ashamed of. She lost her parents as a teenager, and he imagined that probably hurt. But there was nothing in her background to suggest criminal activity. There was nothing to suggest she indulged in anything excessively. And she had obviously worked quite hard to get to where she was now. Still, she took great pains to hide that from everyone, and he wished he knew why.