Chapter 24 #2
Oh yes, I had to become bratva. But that was only to gain their protection, not to protect me and Sebastian from the Vozhokari. And after what happened to Kolya’s parents, I understood his reasons for insisting we join the bratva.
I couldn’t let my attraction to this man, who could make eating a burger with his strong angular jaws, cloud my judgment. That strong column of his throat and those intricate tattoos that made the act of swallowing sexy, and had me salivating to lick him from…
Shit, Chloe. I started coughing.
“Are you all right?”
I averted my gaze. I only had to remember that Dora had moved out of the carriage house today, and wouldn’t exist as a buffer between Kolya and me. My skin prickled under his regard.
“You’re turning red.”
I wanted to yell at him to stop staring at me like he wanted to eat me alive.
It only reminded me of the way he pounded me into the mattress.
Heat pulsed between my legs. Awareness sent goose bumps racing across my skin.
I grabbed my soda to give myself time to formulate an answer. He wouldn’t stop staring.
Now would be a good time to fuss, Sebastian. But my boy was happily munching on the cheesy fries and grilled burger meat.
I lowered the soda and tried to look at him innocently. “Swallowed too fast. One of the best burgers I've had. Meat is at the right temperature. Juicy.” Oh my God, stop babbling. “I love these buns.”
Kolya smirked, his eyes gleaming knowingly.
“I love these buns too. They’re soft and fit my hands perfectly.
” He held out the burger as if to show me.
“Fits perfectly in my mouth. Like this.” Then he made a production of taking another mouthful.
And repeated the action of chewing and swallowing, but this time while he was staring at me.
Sweat beaded my forehead.
What the hell was in these burgers? Some kind of aphrodisiac?
Kolya finished his burger and ordered another beer. “So, Dora moved out today,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Have you given thoughts about moving?”
That caught me by surprise because we hadn’t resolved the problem of why I had moved out of my apartment into the cottage. And then more issues piled up. “Why? Is Lucy kicking me out?”
“If she had her way, she’d let you stay there forever, you know that, right?”
“But not you?”
“You may not have made up your mind about us, but I’ve already made up my mind that I’m taking care of you and Sebastian.
When we figure out who attacked you at the apartment and if Marena Rodriguez is connected to it, then we have to start thinking about Sebastian’s environment.
He needs a backyard to play in. He needs a house where he’d grow up with round-the-clock security. ”
“You’re serious, aren’t you? Sebastian and I will never be safe.”
“I’m sorry, Chloshka. What happened today with the viral post? We’re already too public. We have to be proactive. And I get it. You don’t want to commit to me and what I am, but Sebastian is half of me.”
“That’s not fair. I can never regret you being Sebastian’s father. I love our boy and he’s half of you.”
He picked up my hand in his. “Then trust me. But I’m asking you, for the sake of our son, don’t accept any more proposals from anyone. Give me a chance to make this right.”
“Are you saying…you’re not proposing, are you?”
“I will when the time is right. Just…just wait…I’ve already asked Margo to look into something for me. Or rather Lucy did.”
“What? When?”
“When I came clean to them about—”
“Your ex-fiancée,” I gritted.
“Yes.” He glared at me, knowing we were speaking in code again. “There is a loophole Margo is validating.”
“How long is it going to take?”
“She said she’s verifying the documents.”
“So she found one.”
“We already knew of one. Ivan was the one who pointed it out. But even if there were none…I’m not giving you and Sebastian up.”
“Kolya,” I said. “You can’t just say things like this to me in public where I can’t …can’t—”
“No,” he replied stubbornly. “It’s the perfect place. Because you don’t get to run away.”
“Oh, really? Who was the one who left me in that basement when I asked a sensitive but relevant question?”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “I wasn’t ready to discuss it.”
“And you think now is the time to talk about this? In public, no less?”
“Can you blame me? You avoid me at the house. You use Dora as a shield. You move around me like I don’t exist.”
“You’re the one who had a don’t-talk-to-me attitude. I was walking on eggshells around you.”
His brows furrowed. “I could say the same about you. So, I decided maybe you needed a more neutral environment. I texted you about lunch, but you didn’t reply.
So I showed up at the shelter and they said you went to The Grindhouse.
” His eyes flashed with an accusatory gleam that excavated the guilt I was feeling earlier.
Like I had cheated. “When I saw De Lucci and Hayes, De Lucci scowled at me because he had made a bet with that Hayes guy that I wasn’t going to show up. ”
“They bet whether you would turn up or not?”
“Yes,” Kolya gritted. It was as though he was replaying an unpleasant experience. “Hayes patted De Lucci on the back, saying he’d seen this play out many times, it’s so predictable.”
“What’s predictable?”
“Caveman tactics. So to prove him wrong, I didn’t charge in there and tried to act cool.” Kolya glared at me. “Every time I think about how I haven’t gotten to punch Wu in the face yet, it makes me want to hunt him down.”
“Kolya,” I whisper-yelled. “We’re in public. Tone it down.”
“He’s not taking what’s mine.”
“You better dial it down there, mister,” I warned him again.
We glared at each other.
“If only we weren’t in public right now,” he growled.
“Or what?”