20. Nadia
20
NADIA
M axim raked his gaze over me, but it wasn’t that smoldering look that preceded his ravishing me. “I had a call with my brother.”
I sobered up quickly at that news. All traces of sleepiness vanished. I felt so relaxed and rested, sleeping all night with him. Being with Maxim soothed my soul.
“Um…” I fought hard not to wince. “Which brother?” I fidgeted, tossing the covers off me to hurry and go to the bathroom.
He laughed lightly as a knock sounded on the door.
I froze, one foot on the plush carpet and my butt still on the mattress.
“I ordered breakfast.” As he headed toward the door, he smiled at me and tilted his head in the direction of the bathroom. “Go on. We’ll talk as we eat.”
We’ll talk. Those words sounded so scary, but as I hustled to use the restroom, I realized he’d said them without any hint of scolding. He was back to the charming guy, smiling easily and confidently.
That’s gotta be a good sign, right?
I washed my hands after I used the toilet, and in my rush to go back to him, I grabbed a robe that hung on the back of the door. Tying the sash as I went, I sought him out.
He’d taken the room service cart to the lounge area, and as I slowed my pace, I let it sink in that this was currently my life.
This was me , a guest in this posh, expensive hotel suite wearing a thick robe, padding barefoot over the softest carpet. Maxim was spoiling me, getting me breakfast and waiting on me like this.
“Which brother?” I asked again.
He smirked, offering me a mug to fill with coffee. “You don’t want caffeine first?”
Is he teasing me? Taunting me?
I was nervous at once. After the way we’d come together last night, I wanted to be sure that we were on the same page. We’d expressed our desire for each other. I wasn’t lying when I told him that I wanted him.
“Do you not believe me?”
He raised his brows, confused at my blurted question. “What?”
“Do you not believe me that I want someone like you? A Mafia man?” I licked my lips, hating how I could have set him up to know he was the opposite of what I would naturally want. That night when we stayed up talking, I expressed how much I disliked the Mafia life. I went on and on about how I didn’t want to associate with criminals and thugs but acknowledged that my father had always been an affiliate with men like Maxim.
“I’m lost.”
I winced. “So am I.”
He furrowed his brow. “Is your head bothering you? The concussion…?”
“No.” I sighed. “My head is fine. As fine as it ever was. But I’m…” I pulled my lower lip between my teeth. “I’m nervous.”
“Why?” He had the gall to smile as he poured me coffee.
I shook my head at his offer of creamer. “Because you said you just had a call with your brother.”
He sipped his hot beverage, then nodded. “I often do. We’re close.”
I pressed my teeth harder on my lip. “And that sounds great. Having brothers and all.” I envied him for having an actual family. “But if you were talking to your oldest brother, your boss, then he probably had something to say about the fact that you haven’t brought me home to my dad yet.”
“I did speak with Alek,” he confirmed.
I tensed, grimacing as I pulled my legs up until I had my feet tucked under me on the chair. “And?”
“And it’s probably a good idea if we leave this area and get going.”
My heart sank. To get going back to the States. All hope faded as I realized he would still take me home to marry Lev.
“It wouldn’t be wise to stay in one location.” He split the eggs and other breakfast foods between our two plates as if he didn’t have a problem with what he said. Nonchalant. Indifferent, like we were discussing the weather.
Huh?
At my stunned expression, he smiled again. “It makes us far too vulnerable to stay in place. Too easy to be followed or tracked.”
“It makes us too vulnerable?” I flicked my finger between us. “You and me?”
“Yeah. Us. Staying on the move is advisable.”
I narrowed my eyes, daring to let hope bloom again. “But not you moving me back home…?”
He shook his head. “As it stands, I don’t want to take any chances that Lev’s people could find us. Like Erik, that asshole I fought in the alley in London.”
I blinked. “Wait. So I was right? That was an Avilov man?”
“Yes. Lev’s nephew.”
I winced. “Oh, shit. You kicked his ass, which means…”
“Which means that the Avilovs are already suspicious of the Valkov power. It looked like I was stopping him from getting you for his uncle, his boss.”
I licked my lips. “But you didn’t know who he was.”
“True. I assumed he was just someone who wanted to snatch you out of the bar. And I had tunnel vision to track you down again, so I didn’t linger and ask him who the hell he was.”
I let his words play back through my mind. I picked at them, testing to see if they stood up and still made sense the way they seemed to. “You don’t want to take chances of the Avilovs finding me now?”
“No fucking way.” He smiled that arrogant grin. “Now, they need to know that I will stand in their way.”
I gasped, jumping up and running to lunge at him. He laughed, catching me as I landed on his lap. I framed his face with both hands and stared at him. My pulse skyrocketed as elation took over. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“What do you think I’m saying?”
“That you won’t deliver me to Mr. Avilov.”
“That’s the last thing I want to do.”
I had a hunch of what he wanted—me. He’d shown me how much he desired me last night.
“Is that what Alek thinks you should do?” I gnawed on my lower lip again, too nervous to just believe him, too cautious to not assume this was a trick.
“He thinks that I can use my judgment here.” He reached up to free my lip. His thumb remained near my mouth as he gripped my chin. Then he tugged me down so he could kiss me.
“Is this a trick?” I asked. I had to. I couldn’t leave anything to guesswork.
“Can you trust me, sweetheart?”
Oh, shit. When he used that nickname with his voice so low and husky like that, I was a goner. I nodded, still furrowing my brow.
“I’m not taking you to your father. I’m not delivering you to Lev—yet.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yet?” When he said that word before, it filled me with excitement. Knowing he counted on more time with me felt like a gift.
This yet made me uneasy.
“I have to do this wisely,” he said as he reached around me to pick up his coffee again. “It’s going to get cold,” he warned.
Food—or coffee—was the last thing on my mind right now.
“Wisely?”
He sat back, bracing his hand on my side as I remained in his lap. Sipping his coffee, he made me wait. “Yes, wisely. Unlike Alek and Nik. They both took their wives rashly. Impulsively. And it caused… issues.”
“More Mafia drama,” I summed up wryly.
“In short, yes. If you and I can stay together without any threats hanging over us and my family, then preparations need to be considered. Precautions need to be taken.”
I grabbed my coffee, then leaned back against him. Settled in, I tested the brew. It was decadent, and my seat on his lap was perfect. “What kind of preparations?”
He picked up his fork laden with eggs and offered it to me. As I chewed, he shrugged. “Making sure things won’t backfire.”
I huffed a laugh after I swallowed the bite. “Backfire? Well, it’s obvious that Mr. Avilov will be mad.”
“He will.”
“And Alek is fine with taking him on?”
He didn’t make eye contact, opting to feed me another bite. “He doesn’t want to ‘take him on’.”
“Then what does he intend to do?”
He stalled again, giving me another bite. I wasn’t helpless. I could feed myself. But for the first time ever, I relaxed to let him pamper me like this.
“It depends.” He shot me a look that advised me to give up asking anything else.
He was being vague, and I couldn’t help but get a hunch that this meant his Bratva was looking into removing the threat of the situation. As in removing Lev.
For good.
I’d dreamed of that miracle so many times over the years. I’d fantasize about someone shooting him or the old creep just passing away in his sleep.
If that was what Maxim was trying so hard not to say directly…
I sighed, relaxing against him.
Something had to be very wrong with me to look forward to that possibility. I wasn’t a violent person, but in terms of survival and defense…
It would be an ideal solution.
If Maxim would go so far to kill someone for me, that had to indicate something significant.
I faced him, catching him watching me.
“What?” I felt shy all of a sudden, knowing he’d had his gaze on me while I thought it all through.
He sighed, smiling as he slowly lowered his face to mine. I closed my eyes at the tender brush of his lips over mine. Warm and firm. While he kept this kiss soft, I appreciated it just the same as I did his harder, more demanding ones.
“I trust you,” I told him, finding the courage to repeat it. It mattered to me that he knew that, that he heard me vocalize it with confidence.
“Good.” He kissed me again.
Just like that, I started to become aroused. I set my coffee down to turn toward him, straddling him in this big chair.
He groaned, untying the thick sash to the robe and pushing the terry material back off my shoulders. Goosebumps spread over my skin, and I shivered at his hands caressing me.
As he lifted me, urging me to get on my knees so he could kiss my breasts, I exhaled a long breath. “Do you trust me?” I challenged. That mattered too.
He lifted his heated gaze to me and smiled, his lips still pressed against the swell of my breast. “I do, sweetheart. I do.”
I grinned down at him.
“And I trust that when I tell you to lose this robe, you’ll do it.”
I lowered my arms, letting the sleeves slide down. The robe landed on the ground, and he didn’t waste a second before torturing my nipple with his lips and tongue.
“I thought we had to get ready to leave,” I said as he lifted me higher until I stood.
He shoved the breakfast tray aside and turned me until I lay on my stomach over the table. “Oh, we will.” His hand smacked down on my ass, and I moaned at the heat of his spanking.
“But first…” He tugged me back onto his lap, and I sank right down on his erection.
“Yeah, first, this,” I agreed on a breathy moan as I rode him on the chair.