Chapter 20 #2
“But you don’t want to tell me. You screamed no as if something horrible happened.” Her touch was so warm, yet her smile was pained.
“I was engaged to be married years ago. An arranged marriage, but I liked the girl very much. In fact, I thought I could fall in love with her. But in my world, violence is prevalent. She was killed because it was easier and safer to murder her instead of me. Women are expendable. Not trained soldiers.”
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes briefly and allowed a single image of Arina to shove aside the ones of Vivian that had obviously crowded my mind during the time I was unconscious.
“I am so… so sorry.” As always, there was a comforting sound to her voice, a lilt that could easily shove away any man’s suffering. “You didn’t love her.”
There was no emotion in her tone and when I studied her reaction to her own words, I sensed she was taking a survey, not wishing for an answer. “There is no place for love inside our worlds, Vivian. You must know that.”
She half laughed, half choked while peering out the window. “That’s exactly what my uncle said, surprised when I’d acted as if I’d been in love with someone. Don’t worry. Not you. There’s no way Uncle Sean would ever believe I’d fall for a barbarian such as yourself.”
“Is that what he said?”
“He didn’t need to.”
Being able to touch her soft skin, to be close to her evoked something deep and carnal inside as a man who couldn’t afford the luxury of thinking with his dick. “You should have told me who you were.”
“Why? So you could have forced me to turn my uncle and the rest of my family over to you? My uncle doesn’t know who the Ghost is, but he does realize the Bratva are dangerous.”
Now at least I knew the full breadth of their conversation.
Which perhaps would come into play at some point.
Right now, leaving the hospital was required.
Being here provided easy access for the Ghost. Although the game required cold calculations.
The kill with me lying on my back would be beneath him.
I cupped her face, using enough pressure she pressed her hand against my chest. Yet her touch was far gentler than mine. While the memories of what had occurred were fleeting at best, I sensed how much damage I’d done to what little trust we’d had.
“You’ll need to tell me about the man your sister married.”
“An Italian prince. Have you thought about the possibility that we were brought together? Have you yet wondered why and how?” She didn’t try to pull away, instead her fingers wrapping around the cheap hospital gown. A true lifeline.
There was no reason to feel so strongly about each other. We both knew giving a damn about the other was dangerous. But the desire was even stronger than before.
“Meaning?” I asked.
“Enzo Savoy, my sister’s new husband, will soon take over the throne of the Savoy Cosa Nostra. I wasn’t supposed to be in first class, nor did I have any access to that fancy club where we spent time together.”
I pulled her even closer. “Then how?” I could tell she was insinuating Enzo Savoy was responsible. As with all family members of the Cosa Nostra, many identities were kept secret. The Russians did so brilliantly, preventing photographs of family members taken, especially children.
Knowledge was power and in the case of a mafia regime, while there was a benefit to destroying the empire from the top down, those who did so from the bottom up usually garnered more success.
She blinked several times. “I thought Enzo had done so as a gift to my sister. What if it was someone else? What if the Ghost discovered an opportunity, although I’m not sure how or even why.”
“Because Kazimir had formed an alliance with a different Cosa Nostra family who used Mikhail’s anger with his brother against the Chertov regime.”
“And you think Enzo is working with Mikhail?”
“A good question. One that needs an answer and I can’t do so while in this hospital bed.”
Her look changed, shifting to being my doctor. “Not. Tonight. It’s after one in the morning. I’ll release you after the sun rises. Fair enough?”
When I chuckled, my body ached. “Fair enough. But you will be returning with me. I’m not going to accept an argument. With your conversation with your uncle, you placed yourself in greater danger.”
She opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it. “Fine. What are you going to do with my uncle?”
“At this point nothing. Except maybe have a conversation with him. Again, I need to get out of here.” I’d need to have a discussion with Kazimir first, and Dimitri.
We needed to learn how deep the Irish mob’s involvement was, if any.
I had thoughts but I wasn’t going to mention them to Vivian. Not yet.
“You will. Just not until the morning.” When she reached her other hand to the side of the bed, I arched an eyebrow.
“You’re not hiding a weapon, now, are you?
” I asked while enjoying caressing her cheek with my thumb.
Seeing the worry in her eyes after what had happened was…
telling. There was no other word for it.
She hadn’t anticipated caring for me, just as I hadn’t with her.
Our connection had gone far beyond a physical attraction.
What the fuck to do with it from here had yet to be determined.
With her head cocked, the combative expression I so adored returning, a sound drew my attention as the rail on the bed rolled down.
“You’re so untrusting,” she cooed. The woman had several sides, which could be misconstrued to be very dangerous. But I’d always craved a touch of danger.
“I have reason to be.”
“Including with me.”
I slipped my hand under her hair to her neck, my grip even tighter.
Not that she tried to pull away as I tugged her closer.
I needed to taste her soft lips. While the trust with her was difficult, if she’d wanted to kill me, I’d be dead.
She’d ignored the perfect opportunity. And I could tell by her reaction this wasn’t some great acting gig.
Whatever her reason to have a discussion with her uncle, the action was brave. Or…
“Trust is earned. Isn’t that something you’d say to me?” I brushed my lips across hers, enjoying the hell out of the private moment.
“Why do I still crave you?”
“I don’t know. Why do you?”
“Because we’re so much alike.” She lifted her gaze, her lower lip quivering.
“Maybe we are.”
Her eyes twinkled and, in that moment, the intensity of our closeness was even stronger. I could see how much she cared about me.
And damn it, I craved this woman.
She was careful to keep her hand away from my bandaged shoulder, but nothing else appeared to be off limits. The woman was part healer and part vixen, proved by the way she slipped her hand down my chest, under the sheets and dared tease me inside a hospital room.
“Well, well. I was right. You are a very bad girl,” I growled while she stroked the base of my cock, smiling as she did.
“Did the coma erase pertinent parts of your memory?”
“Oh, I forget nothing, little lamb. Absolutely nothing.”
“Be careful who you’re calling a lamb,” she whispered while rubbing her lips across my stubbled cheek. The way she was twisting her hand around my dick was about to drive me crazy.
“And you should be careful teasing a man like me unless you have full intention of doing something to relieve the poor man’s hunger.
” I kissed her lips and just being able to capture her mouth was enough to push the desire back onto the table.
There wasn’t a chance in hell she would be allowed out of my sight.
Especially not after the goddamn dream. I was a firm believer there was a reason for everything. If that was the case, my subconscious had been telling me to live the fuck the way I wanted.
Her mouth twisted into a wicked smile while she stroked up the length of my shaft, squeezing my cockhead. “I thought you hated me. You said I betrayed you.” Her hot breath cascaded across my chin.
“You did and you will face punishment.”
“What kind?”
“I guess you’ll have to wait and find out.”
After a slight roll of her eyes, she crawled her fingers to my seed sac, rolling my balls through her fingers. “Be careful, Russian. I have your… precious jewels in my hand.”
Fuck, I was about to lose my mind.
I pulled her into a deep kiss, sweeping my tongue inside.
She was stiff at first, likely because she was unused to anyone claiming her inside a hospital room.
But that was exactly what I had planned.
With my tongue thrusting back and forth across hers, she moaned into the kiss.
The moment was everything I needed to stir the fire deep within.
Devouring the woman was simply a byproduct of how I felt about her.
And how intense my hunger was.
When I finally allowed her to pull our lips apart, I was rewarded with a subtle, sweet laugh dancing across them. “You are also so bad.”
“Yes, I am. I thought you knew that. Now, I suggest very strongly that you turn off those goddamn machines, so your nurses won’t interrupt us thinking I’m in the throes of a heart attack.”
“By doing what?”
I shifted my hand once again, now fisting her hair. It felt as if I’d spent years in a coma instead of days. Whatever the timeframe, I had no intention of wasting any more. “Whatever the fuck I want.”
“Is that what you’ve been craving while taking a few days off?”
“That’s what I’ll always crave.” I dragged my tongue from one side of her mouth to the other, the sweet scent erasing the horrid stench of hospitals.
There’d been such a close connection that we’d shared that her understanding of the story I’d told about Arina and the meaning wasn’t lost as it would be with another woman.
She bit my lip, sighing softly as she did and this time, I allowed her to slip from my grip. With her eyes never leaving mine, she turned off the machines before proceeding to remove the gummy stickers holding the sensors in position all over my body.
“You know I could lose my job.”