Chapter Twelve #2
I needed to understand who this man actually was.
Was his wealth inherited? Was it his father’s empire handed down, or did he build it himself?
How old was he, and how did he have the power to make older men step back when he walked toward them?
Why did people fear him the way they did?
It wasn’t just respect, but fear. So I began looking around.
I needed information. But I also knew a man like him wouldn’t leave information lying around for someone like me to find.
The study was quieter than the rest of the penthouse. There were a few files on the desk, sitting there in a neat stack. I moved closer and pulled one open, but the door opened before I read a single word.
I turned, my heart skipping. Cole stood in the doorway, looking at me.
“Dammit, Cole. There is a thing called knocking.”
“You looked startled.” He said. “Are you stealing?”
I closed the file and walked toward him. “I am not a thief.” He gave me a look that said I was wrong. “What? You think your sister is a thief?”
He turned and led the way out of the room. “I’m nine, not stupid. I know you took Dmitri’s briefcase.”
“Hey,” I caught his hand and turned him to face me. “I didn’t steal anything. I took money from a man who stole my job first. There’s a difference.”
“That’s stealing.”
I crossed my arms. “Go to bed.”
He smiled. “I came to tell you I was going to sleep, anyway. It’s midnight. Do you want to hear what I learned today?”
“Forget it, I—”
I paused when I saw Dmitri standing in the corridor behind Cole, watching us. I didn’t know when he arrived or how he moved through the penthouse without making a sound. He stood there in the same suit, eyes on me.
Cole turned to him and immediately became a different child entirely. He lit up the way he did when he was with people who mattered to him.
“I finished the Vietnam book,” he said, stepping toward Dmitri. “I have so many questions.”
“I like questions.” Dmitri kept his eyes on me for a moment longer before dropping them to Cole. “I will take two tonight. I have something important to get to.”
The last part of that statement was meant for me. The smirk confirmed it, and the way his eyes moved over my body once before he followed Cole said the rest.
I stayed rooted to the same spot until their voices faded.
This was the chance I was likely to get tonight, and I needed to decide right now what to do with it. I had one thing to offer, and I had already made peace with offering it.
I was still wearing the silver dress. Standing there in it, I could admit that whoever chose it knew exactly what they were doing. I was going to put it to a different use tonight.
I went upstairs to the room I woke up in this morning. It was Dmitri’s room. I learned to recognize his scent and the little details like the color and taste without wanting to.
Standing in the middle of it, I thought about the logistics.
Was I supposed to strip and wait on the bed?
No, that was too obvious and desperate. Maybe I could walk to the shower and stay there until he walked in?
That felt like something from a film. It terrified me for reasons I couldn’t understand—two strangers under the running water, with nowhere to look but at each other.
When the doorknob turned, I moved instinctively backward and to the bed. My hands settled in front of me, trying to find a posture that said less than the fear deep inside.
Dmitri stepped in. He had loosened his shirt at the collar, and his suit jacket hung from one hand.
He stood there for a moment, as if he were reading the room before committing, and pulled the door shut behind him.
The lock clicked into place. That small sound did something immediate and unwelcome to my confidence.
This was a stranger, a man I had just met. And I was standing in his bedroom making calculations about letting him between my legs for a favor he hadn’t agreed to yet.
My heart wasn’t just racing now. It was embarrassing itself.
He stood by the door, saying nothing, which was worse than if he had said something.
It was now or never.
I lifted my hand and found the dress’s strap. Slowly, holding his gaze, I began pushing it off my shoulder. I didn’t look away so that I could see his reaction. The lust was already there. One thing about him, he would look, make you notice he was looking, and wouldn’t be apologetic about it.
I swayed my hips and pulled the dress down, inch by careful inch, until it dropped and pooled around my feet.
I stepped out of it and stood in front of him in only my underwear.
He took his time, eyes moving from my chest down to my stomach and back up without rushing or pretending he wasn’t doing exactly that.
“Let’s do it,” I said. “I will do anything you want.”
His lips moved to form a smile, and then he thought better of it. “Anything I want?” He tossed the jacket onto the sofa in the corner and started moving toward me, folding back one sleeve. “Do you understand the weight of those words?”
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are.” He folded back the other sleeve. “And so am I. But you don’t know how I like it.”
The idea of tying me in the basement came back to me immediately, and my body shivered. Was he serious about that?
“Tell me how, and I’ll do it.”
He chuckled and stopped directly in front of me. “What you’re asking for is dangerous, Inna.” The smile disappeared. “Are you certain?”
I hesitated before nodding.
“Hm,” the sound came low. His eyes dropped to my chest and stayed there a moment. “I will fuck you in more ways than you’re ready for.” His eyes found mine. “But I’m curious about one thing. Why are you shaking?”
“I’m not,” I said quickly. “And if I am, it’s because it’s cold here. Are we doing this or not?”
He scoffed. I couldn’t read what was behind it, amusement or something else, and I hated that I couldn’t read him. I hated it more that I was standing in front of him in my underwear and he still looked like he was enjoying seeing me like that.
“Let’s make it interesting.” He pushed both hands into his pockets. “If I find you wet, I’ll fuck you however I want tonight. If you’re not, you win, and you can ask me for one thing, whatever you want.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You did well tonight at the auction. Consider it a reward.” He closed the remaining space between us until I could feel his warmth. “If you’re wet, I win. And Inna, I will not be gentle about it. If you’re not, you win, and you name your price.”
I stood there and wondered whether he already knew what I was planning, or whether he thought I would ask for something small.
He gripped my shoulders without warning and turned me so that his chest was at my back. One hand slid down my stomach while I pulled in a breath and held it. His other hand moved to my throat, fingers wrapping around it with a firmness that tipped my head back against his chest.
“You might want to breathe,” he said against my cheek.
His hand moved lower, fingers tracing the hem of my underwear, as if he were in no hurry and wanted me to know it.
We had only one problem.
I already knew which way this was going to go because my body had already decided it for me.