Chapter 7 - Mark
“When you want what you want, and you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it.” – Jim Rohn.
Orange lights flashed and spun in a circular motion as the car drove down the highway. The city lights reflected in the windows as we approached the busy streets and stopped at a red light. The honking of the cars was muffled by the soundproof, tinted windows and I relaxed.
Then, after a few seconds, Yuri grew uncomfortable.
It started with a quiet shuffle in the driver’s seat, followed by an exasperated sigh. I ignored him and resumed work on my laptop, checking one email after another and sorting through a few death threats that weren’t even spelled correctly.
A restless tap, tap, tap broke the silence, and I glanced sideways at Yuri’s slender fingers on the steering wheel.
“You have my attention. What do you want to say?”
He let go of the wheel, stared at the traffic lights through the windscreen, and shook his head. “I’m chill. Sorry for the distraction.”
Shifting the laptop on my thighs, my gaze narrowed as it slid over Yuri’s gray, unbuttoned suit. His brown hair was an unruly mess on his head and his expression was stoic.
His jaw jutted, eyes hard, and fingers clenched. Something was bothering him; I could tell. I had known Yuri Smirnov for close to a decade, and he couldn’t lie to me, even if he had two guns pointed at his head.
“Spit it out.”
The traffic light turned green, and he accelerated. The engine purred quietly, and we sped up, moving into the express lane. “It’s nothing, boss.”
I turned in my seat sideways so I could look at him and grinned when I had his attention. “You want me to ask again, big guy? You know I don’t like fucking repeating myself.”
Yuri wasn’t even fazed. If it were someone else, they’d be pissing themselves already. He stroked his chin with one hand and looked at me. “It’s about Logan.”
“Jesus, Yuri. Again?” This was the third time he spoke of Logan’s disappearance. The third fucking time in one day. Something gnawed at his mind. Yuri was one of the most suspicious people I knew.
“I told you; you’re fucking worrying for nothing. The bastard can run, but he can’t hide. We”ll get him. He won”t slip through my fingers again. I’ll see to that.”
“I’ve seen you in action, boss. I know what you can do. When it comes to you, I”ll follow you with everything I”ve got. But I don’t trust him.” He looked at me and added. “Or the girl.”
I rolled my eyes. The hidden truth revealed itself. It was about the girl. He’d finally gotten it over with—the real reason he kept mentioning Logan; his reservations were about Addison.
“I mean no disrespect, but you are too soft. Even the men have noticed that you’re taking it easy on her,” he said in Russian.
He had no intention of being disrespectful, but his words were like a slap in my face. Good thing I wasn’t feeling trigger-happy. I might have shot his arm and taken the wheel. I glanced at the laptop screen again.
“I don’t fucking owe you or anyone else an explanation, but since none of you can mind your own business, you should know that the girl is innocent. She’s a victim.” Click, click. My fingers pressed harder on the keyboard, and I gritted my teeth. “Just like Irina was.”
“Or so it seems.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“For all we know, she could be in on this with Mercer.”
The idea was not far-fetched, but under the current circumstances, it was almost impossible.
“For heaven”s sake. Don’t be stupid. You were there when Logan landed two deadly blows and nearly took Ivan’s head off. He ran away like a fucking coward. And … then he left her.”
Addison was clueless, so na?ve it almost physically hurt. She thought he loved her and believed the coward would return for her. But I was here to prepare her, to brace her for the impact when the mask would finally fall. And I would smile when I peeled off that damn mask.
Yuri sighed. “I’m just saying, we shouldn’t completely trust her. Even if she’s innocent, it doesn’t mean she can’t stab you in the back for her darling fiancé.”
It was one of those moments when I wanted Yuri to shut up. But I didn’t stop him.
He was right. I saw it in her eyes; her undivided loyalty to him, the immense devotion, the great love she had for him. She adored the idiot, idolized him, held him in high esteem. I couldn’t understand that at all. I didn’t want to either.
She gave him everything in an immeasurable amount, even if he didn’t deserve it. Anger rose in me like hot blood rushing through my veins, igniting a discomfort in my chest. To be loved by Addison Mae, a girl who loved and gave so generously. I wondered what that felt like and suddenly had the urge to see her.
“How many more minutes before we get to the house?”
“Twenty minutes.”
With my eyebrows furrowed, I readjusted the laptop again. I minimized the email tab, pulled up another tab, and reloaded the page. The surveillance videos from the indoor and outdoor cameras installed in the house appeared on the screen and I zoomed in on the field with the person I was looking for. A smile spread across my lips as I saw her slim figure moving through the kitchen with a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other.
As if on cue, the rage calmed as I watched her. Long, dark hair that cascaded to her waist, long, shapely legs, and bare feet. Even in her simplicity, she looked simply divine. The more she pranced around, the more my heart swelled. I couldn’t put my finger on it; I didn’t know what it was that made me content as I watched her walk from the stove to the pantry and back again.
I enjoyed watching her as she worked in the room as if she owned it. I had made a conscious decision not to send a tray of food to her room. That was what I wanted; to see her everywhere, in every corner of the house, like a timid little kitten.
“Boss?”
My head lifted and at that moment I realized that we were parked in front of my house. Yuri looked at me quizzically. He’d seen the screen, but I didn’t give a fuck. I’d spent twenty minutes watching her in action and that wasn’t enough. I craved more.
Without a word to him, I shut the laptop and got out of the car.
The house was quiet when I entered. The sound of clinking dishes and rushing water grew louder as I approached the kitchen. My footsteps were quiet, and when I got to the threshold, she was standing at the sink with her back to me.
I tilted my neck to the side to get a better view. She was doing the dishes.
Couldn’t she find the dishwasher?
The sight made me chuckle. If Addison Mae wasn’t na?ve, she was amusing. An heiress to a billion-dollar business empire, standing barefoot at the sink with soapy water up to her forearms, washing plates and pans like my maid.
Cautiously, I crept closer and dropped my laptop bag on the center island.
I stole a few more minutes to follow her every move with my eyes: the subtle way she scratched her right ankle with her left toe, the gentle way she flicked back her hair with a roll of her shoulders, and her sweet voice. She sang and hummed to a tune coming from the speakers, small and shrill, like a fucking nightingale.
Every fucking thing about her turned me on.
I wanted to go closer, but a thought halted my first step.
Why?
Why did she bother with the dishes? She owed me nothing but her hate. If she’d opted to go on a rampage and break all the fucking ceramic, I wouldn’t even blink. But there she was, humming, and swaying her hips to the tune, so slowly, it made my cock twitch.
I kidnapped her—even if I denied it to her face. She was here without her consent, so why did she do it? Was it kindness or an act borne out of fear? I wanted to unwrap her like a complex puzzle and put all the pieces together until I had her figured out.
But I couldn’t wait to find out.
With a few long strides, I stood behind her, close enough to feel her heat, but I did not touch her. Her hands froze over the rim of a pot, and for a second, I didn’t hear her breathe.
We waited together in silence mingled with rushing water from the faucet. Neither of us moved or said a word. The top of her head was just under my chin, I closed my eyes and simply breathed her in. I basked in the overwhelming feeling of her back against my chest. Her ass was snug against me, right where I ached the most.
My fingers trailed feather-light down her arms, and I placed my hands at either side, caging her. Then, I pressed further. She emitted a soft mewling sound, and her hands began to tremble. I let my forehead sink into the back of her neck and hid my smile in her hair. My face nestled into the spot between her neck and collarbone, and I kissed her delicate skin. I had been thinking about how she would smell, and now I knew.
“It’s okay,” I murmured with closed eyes, intoxicated by her sweet and citrusy scent. “You can continue.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed and nodded curtly, and her hands began to move. My lips curled into an amused smile. She was proving to be a good and obedient girl. I liked this Addison. The one who submitted to me, no questions asked.
I kissed and lightly grazed every inch of her neck as I’d dreamed of doing, the second I saw her appear in the footage. Every flick of my tongue on her skin set me on fire. I didn’t—fucking couldn’t stop. Not when I desired more of her. And when I thought I heard her sigh, I reached for her waist and ...
Nothing.
She turned off the tap and spun in the circle of my arms before I had a chance to go any further.
She arched her back, our eyes met, and she held me with her gaze like a sunset, captivating, and mesmerizing. I felt like warm chocolate was dripping over my skin. The tension between us was so palpable you could almost taste it. This girl ... She was an enigma. When I thought I could penetrate and see behind her solid wall, she reinforced the security and threw me out.
No other woman fascinated me like her. She could be feisty and snarky, but at that moment, she had a vulnerability to her that made my brain disconnect and my body take over.
I gently tucked her soft, silky hair behind her ears, and she opened her mouth.
“Mark?”
My eyes hardened. And so did my cock.
“What?”
“I ...” she glanced down at her feet. “I need clothes.”
A laugh rose in my chest, and I didn’t bother to suppress it. She stared at me as if I were mad but looked on expectantly. I backed away and gave her some space.
My eyes scrutinized the dirty, baggy sweatshirt that clung to her body and the shorts that barely covered her fine piece of ass. When she noticed my stern look, she tugged the hem of the shirt down.
No doubt about it, the dirty clothes with a big LOGAN printed in white on the chest belonged to him. I liked the shorts. As for the sweatshirt ... Yuri was going to fucking burn it until there were no ashes left.
I turned around and took her hand.
“Come with me.”