Chapter 2
2
C olm’s anger stirred as she turned away from him.
He reined it in. Barely.
He wasn’t angry at her. Not really. It was at the fact that she thought she had to lie to him.
Colm hated secrets.
Of course, he held a number of them. Things he could never tell anyone. But that was different. Those were things he had to keep secret.
They were all about business.
Sofia was pleasure.
Well. You wish she was.
He hated that she was keeping things from him. What if she needed help? Would she tell him if something was wrong? Or would she hide it?
This isn’t your business.
She’s not yours.
No, she belonged to that Russian bastard, Oleg. That asshole wasn’t worthy of being a pile of dog poop at her feet, let alone being in her bed every night.
That thought made him feel ill.
Face it. You’re jealous.
Jealous of the fact that he gets to be with her and you don’t.
Colm took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He reached out to grab her wrist without thought. He tried not to touch her. It was too much of a temptation. Because once he touched her, he didn’t know whether he’d be able to stop. If he’d be able to keep to the fragile boundary that they’d created between them.
She belongs to someone else.
And he really didn’t seem to care about that much.
Sofia hissed with pain, jumping away with a yelp, shocking him.
What the fuck was that?
She turned, holding the wrist he’d lightly touched with her other hand. The fear on her face floored him. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe.
Was she scared of him?
“Fuck, Sofia, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to touch you that hard. I would never... You know I could never hurt you.”
She just stared up at him, her shoulders hunched, her breathing too fast and shallow. And he realized he wasn’t asking her the most important question of all.
“Are you all right?” he whispered. He wanted to grab hold of her hand to inspect her wrist for bruises.
But he held himself back, scared of making things worse.
Fuck. When was the last time he’d feared something? He couldn’t remember. But this woman had the power to make him afraid, to bring him to his knees.
To make him do anything she desired... give her whatever she wanted.
Right now, she probably wants you to leave her alone.
The one thing he didn’t want to give her.
Why wasn’t she speaking, though?
Fuck. What should he do?
“Sofia?” he spoke softly, not wanting to startle her. “Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry, Mo leannan .”
Crap.
Did he really just call her ‘my sweetheart?’
What was he thinking?
She shook her head suddenly. “No, it’s fine. You didn’t hurt me.”
Anger filled him for a second time, and he had to breathe his way through it. Why was she lying to him?
“I obviously did, since you just went pale as a ghost and flinched back in pain.” His gaze narrowed as he studied her. Something else just occurred to him. “Unless it wasn’t me who hurt you. Show me your arm.”
Panic filled her.
She couldn’t let him see her arm. Couldn’t have him asking her questions about what had happened.
There was no way that she could tell him the truth...
“Sofia. Show me.”
His voice was steel. Pure demand.
And very unlike the soft tone he’d used to talk to her before. When he’d thought that he’d hurt her.
The last thing she wanted was to lie to him.
But it wasn’t like she could tell him the truth, could she?
She rarely saw his harder side, but she knew it was there. You didn’t get to be the bodyguard of Rogan MacGuire without proving that you had a ruthless, dangerous side.
“No. Thank you for helping me, but you can leave now.” She thrust her shoulders back and raised her chin. It felt good to assert herself. To say what she wanted for once. Too bad she couldn’t grow a permanent backbone.
And the sad truth was that the only reason she could refuse Colm’s request was because she trusted him not to retaliate and hurt her.
Request? Who are you kidding?
That had been an order, pure and simple.
“Sofia,” he rumbled, his Scottish accent thickening again.
Despite the firmness in his gaze and the way he’d growled at her, she still didn’t fear him. She cocked her head to one side, letting a smile tease at her lips.
When was the last time she’d smiled? It happened so rarely she couldn’t remember.
Probably when you were talking to Colm.
What she wouldn’t give to be free to pursue her feelings for him. To feel as safe as she did with him all the time.
God. That would be incredible.
Her cousin would kill to keep her safe. But even he didn’t know about all the monsters in her closet.
And he couldn’t know—she couldn’t lose him.
Aleksandr was all she had. Without him, she’d be lost.
She’d be nothing.
“Yes?” She tried to act nonchalant, to sound unaffected. But she could hear the breathy tone of her voice.
“Show me your arms.”
“Have you got an arm fetish? Seems a weird thing to be interested in.” She winked at him, trying to lighten the mood. Sofia knew how single-minded he could be.
How stubborn he was.
“Sofia, I am not kidding around, I?—”
“Oleg? Are you in here?”
Sofia spun, slightly alarmed at the sound of her cousin’s voice. Aleksandr Anisimov was the head of the Bratva. He was also the man who had taken care of her when her father died. She’d been seventeen and terrified. But Sacha had been living with them for several years by that point. And he’d made it clear that he would always take care of her.
They were family, more like brother and sister than cousins.
But a part of her was still scared that his love for her could be broken. That the affection he gave her in private would turn to disgust.
To hatred.
That couldn’t happen.
Her breathing grew more rapid.
Losing Sacha wasn’t an option. He was her world.
He’d even opened this restaurant for her.
Sure, he used the secret back room for meetings, which often included the leaders of some of the most powerful gangs in San Antonio. Meetings she wasn’t privy to, meetings she was supposed to ignore, to pretend they never happened.
But she knew the way these things worked. She’d grown up the Princess of the Bratva. Sofia knew how to keep secrets. How to hide what she really thought or felt.
Although both her father and Sacha had shielded her from the harsher side of what they did.
Maybe they’d shielded her too well. Perhaps if she’d had a few more street smarts, she wouldn’t have gotten herself into the predicament she was now in.
Crap.
What would Sacha think if he found her in here with Colm?
He liked Colm... at least he didn’t seem to hate him. But Colm wasn’t Russian. He wasn’t in the family.
So she knew he wouldn’t be considered an appropriate partner for her.
Before she could figure out what to do, Sacha opened the door to the storeroom and walked in. Sacha was a handsome man. Not as broad as Colm, but just as tall. He had dark hair and eyes. One of his lady friends had once described his eyes as cold as the pits of hell.
She hadn’t lasted long.
And she obviously never got the Sacha that Sofia did. The one who could be kind and warm. But she understood that he couldn’t show that side of himself to just anyone.
The reason she got that side of him was because he trusted her.
A trust you betrayed . . .
Her breathing came in sharp pants again.
Sacha came to a sudden stop as he spotted Colm, and his gaze narrowed in on the large Scot.
But Colm never moved his gaze off her.
Risky move if he wanted to get out of here alive.
“What’s going on in here?” Sacha demanded.
Say something.
Speak.
But for some reason, she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.
What was wrong with her?
“Sofia. Breathe.”
That order came from Colm.
“Now.”
God, he was so damn bossy.
The flash of irritation broke through her panic, and she turned to glare at him. “No.”
His eyebrow rose and amusement flashed through his face before he quickly shut it down.
“You don’t want to breathe?”
Great.
Now she sounded like an idiot.
Instead of replying to him, she turned to Sacha with a forced smile. “Aleksandr, hi. I didn’t know you were coming in this morning.”
That suspicious look on his face didn’t fade. In fact, it seemed to grow.
“No need to look so suspicious,” she told him. “Colm was just helping me unload the van.”
Sacha looked from her to Colm, who crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her cousin.
Not helping, man.
She gave Colm a warning look.
He just raised his eyebrow, clearly amused.
Sofia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Men. So much posturing and pretense. She didn’t know how the hell they ever got anything done with all that testosterone clouding their heads.
Because they have fools like you doing their work for them.
“And what was Colm doing here this early in the first place? Before we are even open.” Aleksandr stressed his name as though he hadn’t realized they were friends. He didn’t fool her. Her cousin knew everything.
Well, almost everything.
She tugged at her sleeve, immediately wishing she hadn’t as she drew Colm’s suspicious gaze.
“Actually, I’m not sure. What are you doing here?” she asked Colm.
Hey, she wasn’t above taking the pressure off herself when needed.
Besides, she was kind of curious, too.
Colm glanced over at Aleksandr. “Boss sent me over with something for you. It’s in the car.”
She waved her hands. “By all means, both of you go take care of business. I’ve got to open up in an hour anyway.”
Aleksandr frowned and didn’t move. “And why are you opening up? Or unloading things, for that matter? Where is Oleg? You’re not supposed to be lifting anything with your back.”
“My back is fine.” She glared at her cousin for letting that piece of information slip. It was something she kept deliberately quiet. Sofia hated being treated differently just because she got the occasional ache and pain.
“And it has a better chance of staying that way if you follow the doctors’ orders,” Aleksandr preached. “No heavy lifting and no standing for long periods. That was the agreement when we opened this place. You’re only supposed to be supervising. You’re the owner. So tell me again, where the fuck is Oleg? Or Boris? And why aren’t they doing their fucking job?”
Her cousin was generally calm and collected. But when his temper let loose, it was a sight to be seen. And not something you wanted to be around.
“Do not talk to her like that,” Colm said, suddenly stepping between them.
Wait. Was he . . . was he protecting her?
From Sacha?