Chapter 18 —Lev
“You can’t seriously be mad at me right now!” she snapped, her voice laced with venom.
We were already back home and had locked the door behind us in the master bedroom. I knew this argument was inevitable, especially because I’d been furious all through the drive back home.
“You were in the ladies’ room with my brother!” I barked, shedding my jacket, my blood boiling with anger. “Can you tell me what the fuck you were doing with him?”
Her head snapped back, disbelief tinting her eyes. “That arrogant prick disrespected me. He insulted me, and now all of a sudden I’m the bad guy?” The words rushed out of her mouth in a frantic burst.
“I asked what you were doing with him, Ravyn.” My jaw tightened, my expression darkening by the second.
“Jesus Christ—nothing!” She threw her hands into her hair, frustration creeping into her face and her tone. “He was the one who cornered me in the restroom. Why am I the one being interrogated?” Her voice rose higher than usual, her eyes wide with fury.
“Because you’re my wife, Ravyn!” I thundered. Didn’t mean to, but I did. “And with that title comes a shit load of do’s and don’t’s.”
“Well, newsflash, Lev, I didn’t ask to be your wife!
” she shot back, her chest rising and falling with uneven breaths.
“Hell, I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to be dragged into your world, and I most certainly had no intention of coming between you and your brother, so cut me some slack! ”
Her outburst silenced me in a way I hadn’t expected.
I took a moment to process what she had just shared, and honestly, some of her words hit me like arrows to the chest.
She glared at me, nose flared, eyes dark with something dangerous—something primal. Ravyn was pissed, and I could tell she had a lot on her mind, a lot she was holding back.
“You should warn your brother,” she said, her voice much calmer this time but still as venomous. “Because the next time he disrespects me again, a smack across the face will be the least of his problems.”
Silence.
Her brows furrowed, forming deep creases that accentuated her anger. “You should be mad at him. Not me. He should be the one you’re scolding, not me. But I guess it’s easier to let the Jensen girl take the fall than to confront your own brother.” Her words cut deeper than a knife.
“You should watch your tone, princess,” I growled, infuriated by her effrontery.
“And you should treat me with some respect, Lev!” Her voice rose again, rage simmering in her wide eyes.
“All of you in this house should treat me with some respect!” She exploded like a ticking time bomb that had just hit zero.
“I am not an object to be tossed around and treated like trash by you and your men!”
Before I could stop myself, I was already in motion, slowly closing the distance between us. My expression was blank, and she could tell that I did not appreciate her tone. A shadow of fear danced in her gaze, but she was quick to mask it with a frown.
Perhaps she didn’t realize it, but she was retreating, her backward steps taken one at a time. My eyes were locked on hers, my expression unreadable. Seconds later, her back hit the wall, and her chest wouldn’t stop heaving subtly.
I enjoyed watching her struggle to hide her terror — it was entertaining enough. I leaned in, one hand bracing the wall beside her head, and with the other, I grabbed her by the waist. Her breath hitched, an abrupt gasp escaping her mouth.
She stared right into my eyes, but I couldn’t hold her gaze for long before my eyes dropped to her lips. Those cherry-red, alluring lips were calling out to me.
I studied the gentle curve of her mouth, and my heart skipped a beat the moment those forbidden thoughts resurfaced. I mirrored her expression, my eyes gazing at her with a longing stare. Her breath was warm against my skin, her face shadowed with something I had yet to name.
It looked a whole lot like need—longing, desire—but I couldn’t get my hopes up. I couldn’t risk being wrong and getting rejected if I attempted to make a move on her. It would be quite embarrassing, and I wasn’t sure how I’d react to her rejection.
I watched the gentle rise and fall of her breasts nestled behind the fabric of her dinner gown. That spaghetti-strapped black dress with a daring slit that revealed her alluring thigh hugged her in all the right places.
Throughout the dinner, I was distracted by how she glowed like a goddess—elegant in every way. I felt jealous when she laughed a little too hard at Anatoli’s jokes or flashed an overly bright smile at another man who wasn’t me.
Perhaps I lost my composure when I saw Viktor holding her hand in the ladies’ room. It infuriated me, boiled my blood with rage, and fanned the flames burning within me.
My younger brother, Viktor, was lucky that I let him off with a warning. The kind that was enough to make an average man shit his pants.
I was never going to share her with anyone. Never. She was mine and mine alone. Viktor had his chance, and he blew it. I wasn’t about to make the same mistake.
My thumb hovered over her lips, my cock hardening in my pants just from looking at her face and the deadly expression etched on it. I wanted so badly to kiss her, to claim her mouth and drain the breath from her lungs.
Her silence and the glimmer of desire in her eyes should be enough invitation for me, permission to take what was mine. However, I couldn’t.
“You demand my respect,” I began, my voice deep and husky, barely above a whisper. “Yet, you don’t show me any. How ironic is that?” The words were spoken calmly, one at a time.
She looked into my eyes but said nothing, her chest still heaving, lips quivering. I wasn’t sure if this was fear or desire, and I wasn’t going to risk it. Not tonight.
So quietly, I let go of her waist and stepped back. We held each other’s gaze after I moved away from her against the wall. She had a look in her eyes as if she was furious at me for walking away or at herself for wishing I hadn’t.
Whatever the case, I was determined to control my desire. I swept my gaze over her body one last time before turning to leave the room, my shoes scuffing against the floor.
As I headed to my study, it hit me hard that I was starting to harbor a dangerous emotion toward this young woman. I wanted her so badly, and now it was clear that things were starting to take a different turn.
A storm was coming, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.