Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Thea was the one to bring a halt to their kissing long minutes later. But she couldn’t bring herself to completely move away from Fergus, instead resting her forehead against his as their ragged breaths intermingled.
Because she had realized in the last few minutes that this man now owned her. Both body and soul.
And Thea still didn’t completely trust her own emotions or that the two of them had a future together.
Fergus was helping her right now, and she was very grateful for that assistance, but a fierce physical reaction and sex—even of the “singularly the most powerfully intimate experience” kind—did not a relationship make. Thea would do well to remember that before she allowed herself to become even more emotionally involved with Fergus.
It was a little late for that, when she believed she had already fallen in love with him!
But at least she hadn’t told Fergus that. This was going to hurt badly enough when their relationship came to an end, without Thea having to suffer that humiliation.
She pulled away completely when Fergus’s cell phone, which he’d left on one of the worktops while they ate, began to ring.
It had pinged a couple of times to alert him of incoming messages as the two of them kissed, but Fergus had chosen to ignore them.
He was ignoring its ringing now too.
“Shouldn’t you get that?” Thea prompted.
“No,” he bit out tersely. “Seeing people scrolling through social media on their cell phones, or worse, actually answering calls, when they are eating with other people is one of my pet hates,” he explained when Thea raised questioning brows. “It's bloody rude and gives me indigestion.”
“Except when it's Angel,” she reminded.
“Angel is the exception to that rule. She always will be. She’s special, and not just to me, but to the whole family. Besides, we weren’t eating.”
“I was only teasing,” she apologized.
He glared at the cell phone when the caller chose to ring off rather than leave a message.
He turned back to Thea. “Angel and Sapphie, her mother, had a lot of shit to put up with before Magnus met and married them. And I do mean he married both of them, because he adopted Angel as his own on their wedding day.”
“That’s really nice,” Thea admired.
He nodded. “I don’t—” He broke off as his phone began to ring again.
“It could be Nikolai calling you back about the tattoos,” Thea reasoned.
“It probably is,” Fergus acknowledged. “But I don’t want to talk to or see anyone else until I know the two of us are good.” He lifted his hand to once again gently stroke her cheek.
Fergus’s phone went abruptly silent before it started to ring for a third time. “I really think you need to answer that. It seems to be somewhat urgent.” She tensed. “Maybe Declan had a relapse? Or?—”
“It’s Nikolai,” Fergus assured after picking up the phone and looking at the screen for the caller ID.
“Then you should definitely answer it.” She doubted many people ignored a call from the sovietnik of the Russian bratva.
Fergus looked at her. “Are we good?”
“Yes.” For now, at any rate, Thea told herself inwardly. She had no idea what would happen between them once this situation had been settled.
“Fine.” He nodded before taking the call. His expression instantly darkened. “What? No! Nikolai? Arrogant fucker!” He held the cell phone away from him to look at the screen. “Bastard cut me off,” he muttered fiercely as he slammed the phone down on the breakfast bar. “Nikolai is downstairs and wants to come up—” He broke off as they heard the sound of the elevator doors opening out in the hallway. “How the hell did get up here, let alone so quickly…”
The answer to that was obvious when, seconds later, two men, not one, walked into the kitchen.
“I met Nikolai downstairs and invited him to come up in the elevator with me.” Despite his light brown hair and hazel eyes, the younger of the two men, who had just spoken, looked enough like Fergus, facially, for Thea to guess this was Linus, the youngest Wynter brother.
Whoever he was, he obviously had the code and whatever other security was necessary to allow himself and Nikolai Volkov up to Fergus’s apartment.
Thea’s gaze moved to the man standing beside him.
A man she knew, in view of the brief telephone conversation he’d had with Fergus just now, had to be Nikolai Volkov.
Whatever Thea had expected the sovietnik of the Russian bratva to look like, it wasn’t this tall, muscular, blond-haired, and urbanely confident man, probably aged in his mid to late forties.
His handsome face was all angles, with cheekbones so sharp, they looked as if they could cut glass.
His short hair, no doubt expensively cut and styled, was such a pale blond that the strands of gray were almost invisible.
A couple of inches over six feet tall, Nikolai somehow managed to appear taller and more intimidating than that in the perfectly tailored dark gray suit, white shirt, and silver tie.
All colors, Thea realized when her gaze returned to his angular and handsome face, that complemented his pale and coldly piercing gray eyes.
His narrowed eyes swept briefly around the kitchen, taking in his surroundings, before that wolfish gaze finally settled on Thea. “Miss Morgan, I presume.” It was a statement rather than a question. “The stepdaughter of Andrei Yegorov and the stepsister of Lev Yegorov.” Again, it was a statement, not a question, with no inflection in his voice to say whether or not he liked or knew either of the other Russian men.
“Nikolai—”
“It’s okay, Fergus,” Thea assured him warmly when he would have interceded, the coolness of her gaze continuing to meet the Russian’s challenging one as she stood up. “Yes, I have the misfortune to be both those things, Mr. Volkov. But I have always refused to let my relatives, especially the ones I’m not related to by choice, define who and what I am.”
“And who and what are you?” Volkov challenged.
Thea had a feeling this man already knew exactly who and what she was. That he always knew everything about anyone he intended interacting with.
Her chin rose. “I’m a hardworking teacher who’s just trying to get by in life. Something that’s proving a little difficult right now because of outside influences beyond my control. One thing I’m decidedly not is a member of the Russian mafia.”
“Thea—”
“I much prefer a woman with spirit, Fergus,” Volkov drawled with obvious amusement before turning back to Thea. “We prefer the word bratva rather than mafia,” he corrected her gently. “And I already knew of your dislike for your deceased mother’s husband and stepson.”
“Then why?—”
“I wanted to gauge what manner of young woman you are for myself,” the Russian said without apology. “I am very protective when it comes to the people I consider my friends.”
She nodded. “And Fergus is your friend.”
Volkov’s lips curved into a smile. “Much to his annoyance, yes.”
Linus, the youngest man in the room, was openly grinning as he listened to their exchange.
“Except, of course, when he needs my help to protect his woman,” the Russian continued, his voice hardening. “Then, it seems, I have my uses.”
Color blazed in Thea’s cheeks, and she couldn’t even look at Fergus. “I’m not Fergus’s woman!”
“Oh, but you are, Miss Morgan, and now that I have met you, I understand why.” Volkov unfastened his suit jacket before making himself comfortable on one of the stools on the other side of the breakfast bar. “Do you mind if I help myself to the salad?” He used one of the serving forks to pierce a tomato. “My own dinner has been delayed because someone asked me to seek out information I was told was needed urgently.” He gave Fergus a pointed glance as he chewed.
“I thought you would call me with the information, not make a personal visit,” Fergus defended.
“You ignored my messages and calls,” Nikolai Volkov reminded coolly.
Thea didn’t know whether to be amused by this Russian’s calm arrogance or terrified of him.
Either way, she had known from that very first glance that the watchful Nikolai Volkov was a very dangerous man.
A predator.
A wolf .
* * *
Fergus had never wanted to hit someone on their arrogant nose quite as much as he now did Nikolai Volkov.
The bastard was enjoying himself far too much. At their—but mainly his—expense.
Thank God, Thea didn’t seem in the least in awe of the mocking Russian bastard.
The opposite, in fact. Her gaze was amused as she steadily returned Nikolai’s stare.
Fergus had never experienced jealousy before he met the adult Thea, but he was definitely feeling that emotion now in regard to the slightly older Nikolai.
The other man might be happily married, but he was also handsome as fuck, and Nikolai also knew how to turn on the charm when he felt like it. Now that he had decided he liked Thea, that charm was very much in evidence.
Linus was grinning at them all like a fucking loon, obviously enjoying this situation immensely.
His brother held up “don’t look at me like that” hands when Fergus glowered his displeasure at him.
Fergus turned back to Nikolai. “Did you find anything about the tattoos I described in my message?” he prompted briskly.
Having finished eating what salad had been left in the bowl, the Russian turned on the stool to look at him. “They were, as you and Declan thought, the loyalty markings of the men employed as Lev Yegorov’s bodyguards. And yes, now that I have finished the salad, I would very much like a cup of coffee, thank you for asking,” he added lightly.
Fergus glared his frustration, knowing the other man’s pointed remark was meant to make him aware of how lacking his manners had been since the other man arrived. After all, he had asked for Nikolai’s help, not the other way about.
“Hi, Thea.” Linus, obviously tired of being ignored, now stepped forward to thrust his hand out toward her. “I’m Linus, Fergus’s much younger brother.”
Fergus scowled. “Six years isn’t much younger.”
“Well, it’s a lot closer to twenty-four than forty-two is,” Linus taunted.
Fucker!
“Nice to meet you, Linus.” Thea shook his hand briefly. “I’ll make us all some coffee,” she offered. “I worked as a barista to help me through my years at university,” she added chattily as she poured the coffee beans into the top of the machine and then poured the filtered water into the reservoir. “But then, with your skills, I’m guessing the two of you already knew that.” She turned on the coffee machine before turning to give both Linus and Nikolai a pointed glance.
Linus nodded. “Guilty.”
“I also know that you did so because you refused to accept any financial help from your stepfather,” Nikolai confirmed, completely unabashed by the fact he’d obviously done more than investigate the origin of the tattoos Fergus had asked him to. “But does Fergus also know that it was due to you that your mother dropped her attempt to blackmail him ten years ago?” he added conversationally.
Fergus’s eyes widened, and he could tell by the way Thea’s gaze became accusing as she looked at the Russian that what Nikolai had just said was the truth.