19. In Love #2
“You should be,” Sin said.
“Sinclair,” Evangeline scolded. “Barbi, it’s your call. We will support whatever you decide, but I strongly urge you to reconsider.”
“I’m going to work tomorrow,” she insisted. “I need to know what’s arriving at Dulles. Between the ambassador and Petrov, I will get us some answers.”
“Bring the burner,” Evangeline advised.
“No,” Halston replied. “It’s too risky.”
“I don’t like any of this,” Evangeline said.
“If Grigori told someone and they search my things, I cannot have that phone on me,” Halston stated.
“Understood,” Evangeline said.
“Sin, make sure the police don’t question me,” Halston said.
“I got you,” Sin said, before he and Evangeline said their goodbyes.
Gabriel set down his phone.
“Every fiber of my being wants to put you on my private jet and take you somewhere safe,” he said.
“Like a tower?”
“My villas. Either would be safer than this.” He raked his hands through his hair. “Do you want me to stand guard while you shower?”
Her lips curled into a smile. “Shower alone? I don’t think so.”
Off came her wig, out came her contacts.
Seconds later, her baggy clothing lay in a heap on the floor.
With nimble fingers, she helped him remove his sweater, pausing to examine the Kevlar.
After helping him take it off, she gently removed his undershirt.
Boots, pants, and boxer briefs next. Yes, his back hurt, but damn if he didn’t have an erection.
One sweltering kiss as she caressed his hardness. Just as things were heating up, she ended the embrace.
“More,” he said.
She walked behind him, ran tender fingers over the spot where the bullet had struck. “You’ve got hella bruise. Are you in pain?”
“My balls are killing me.”
On a laugh, she faced him, threw her arms around him and hugged him hard. “You are an amazing man, Gabriel Santini. I love you, but not because you saved my life—”
“I owed you,” he said. “You broke that Bratva’s neck.”
“And you saved me from Donskoy,” she said. “This is a bizarre competition.”
“I’m not competing with you,” he said. “I’m trying to keep the woman I’ve fallen crazy, madly in love with alive long enough to marry—”
Silence.
He’d said too much. Way, way too much.
Up went her eyebrows, her ravenous gaze searching his face for an answer. With joy radiating from her eyes, she said, “Let’s get you in the shower, then I’ll take good, good care of you, my baby.”
Into the shower they went. With a tenderness he’d never known, she washed him. Every inch of him from his hair to his feet. Gazing down at his woman, he felt like the luckiest man. He’d found someone who adored him for him, not for his wealth or his power or even something he could do for her.
When she finished, she caressed his shaft. “I want us to make love in bed, but I also want to take care of you now. Something special just for you.”
“What about you?” he asked. “I want to take care of you, babe.”
“You do,” she replied. “In so many amazing ways. Let me do this for you. Just a little thank you.”
She knelt at his feet, took him into her mouth and twirled her tongue around the head. Pleasure replaced pain. Desire replaced fury.
As the water sluiced his bruised back, he watched with great interest as she caressed his balls, inched his hardness into her mouth.
Gentle licks turned into intense sucking as she unleashed her energies onto him, taking him in deeper and deeper into her mouth.
Her throaty groans sent him hurtling toward an orgasm, but when she took him all the way in, then flicked her hooded gaze at him, he exploded inside her.
The climax shot out of him, the ecstasy erasing the insanity that had become his life. Peace blanketed him, enveloping his angry heart with love.
When he stopped, she slowly pulled him out. Rising, she stood on her toes and kissed him.
“I love you,” she whispered.
He held her close, allowing her love to fill him with certainty. She was his woman. This was it.
Him. Her. Together. Forever.
“I love you,” he replied, “and I would take a bullet for you again, if that’s what it takes to keep you by my side.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, “but all I need is you.”
He insisted on washing her off, appreciating her curves and silky skin. They dried off, got into bed.
“I’m on birth control. I want you to know why.”
He waited.
“I wasn’t sexually active in Russia, but I was advised to go on the Pill by someone I respect at work. She was concerned that if I got sexually assaulted over there—”
“That’s what she told you?”
“It was hard to hear, but she had a point, so I went on birth control. I’ve never had a chance to try out the efficacy of it.”
He chuffed out a laugh. “Between you and Teddy, it’s like I’m in grad school.”
“It means effectiveness.”
“I got that.”
She moved onto him. “Let’s test it out.”
He gave her ass a light smack. “You’re a romantic.”
She laughed. “Are you comfortable?”
He rolled them over putting himself on top. “I like to be in control, you know that.”
“I love that about you.”
He kissed her with a passion that left her panting, then he waited until she begged him to enter her. When he slid inside her, pleasure had them both moaning, but when he began thrusting, she unleashed a torrent of energy… meant only for him.
And he took it as she bucked and scratched, ground against him.
He couldn’t get enough, couldn’t go in deep enough.
The desire to mate turned them savage. The rawness of their lovemaking had her crying out as she unraveled beneath him.
Her insides clamped down around him, and she milked another orgasm from the depths of his being.
When they quieted, they stared into each other’s eyes. With complete confidence, he knew this was the woman he wanted to spend his life with. A truer partner in crime he couldn’t find.
“Are you having fun with me?” he asked.
“So much fun,” she replied. “You believe in me, you fuck like a god, and I trust you completely. What about you? Are you having fun with me?”
“Yes, but so much more awaits us, my love. I want to take you on my yacht, show you my companies, travel the world with you. Spoil you with clothes and jewels.”
She kissed him, then dropped a peck on his shoulder. “I only want your love, Gabriel.”
Tell her.
After a few seconds, he said, “I want to tell you something.”
“Okay.”
“My brothers call me the Agitator because I am,” he started. “I like to rile things up. I keep everyone at a distance or push people away if they get too close.”
“Why is that?”
“I learned that from my mafioso father. Trust no one. Test people, even those closest to me, like my brothers. By creating chaos, I’m controlling the environment, managing the outcome.
Now… I keep people at a distance because they want something from me.
Always from me. You don’t. You just want me.
You aren’t after my money. You’re not looking for a favor.
You ask how I’m doing, how I’m feeling. You’re interested in me.
You care about me for me, not for a hidden reason. ”
“That’s what love is, Gabriel. It’s selfless. It’s about putting the other person first because you cherish that person.” Her smile touched his cold heart. “I don’t want you to change. I don’t expect you to change. I like you for you. And yes, I see why they call you the Agitator. And I get it.”
“I’m not a good person.”
“I don’t agree with that… at all,” she said.
“I’m close with my dad and my brother. They’ve always been the benchmark, and no man can top them.
” She dropped a loving kiss on his lips.
“Until you.” She paused for a second. “I’m also a realist. I don’t know about the future, but I know I love you. You love me. That’s enough. Yes?”
“Yes,” he replied, before he kissed her. “For now, that’s enough.”
HALSTON
The following morning at 8:05 AM, Halston entered the embassy, fully aware her cover might be blown. Even so, she wasn’t backing down. It was January 8th. That date meant something to the ambassador and to Dmitri Petrov.
Did it still?
Find out.
Acting like it was just another day, she dropped her computer bag and coat in her office, strapped on her crossbody, then went to see if her boss had arrived.
His door was open, his office dark, so she continued on to the break room.
There, she poured herself a mug of coffee and returned to her office.
After checking email, she glanced at the time.
Eighty-thirty, time for her daily sync-up with her team.
With her laptop bag over her shoulder, she trotted up the stairs, down the hall, and into the translator department.
Her team staggered in between eight and eight-thirty, but Grigori was always the first to arrive. En route to the conference room, she glanced at his empty cubicle. A chill raced down her spine. She would be dead if Gabriel hadn’t stepped in.
He was willing to take a bullet for me.
Her heart swelled, but now wasn’t the time to get soft.
She entered the conference room, offered a pleasant smile as she sat at the head of the table. “Good morning, how’s everyone doing today?”
Nice and easy.
Just another day, but her blood was racing through her veins.
If Grigori told anyone I’m a spy…
Forcing out the thought, she glanced around the room.
“Grigori should be here, unless he’s at an off-site meeting,” said a woman on the team.”
With a steady hand, Halston checked the schedule. “You’re right. He should be here.” Next, she checked her phone. “He didn’t call out sick.” She paused—on purpose—to allow someone to speak up.
As her gaze floated over the group, she was looking for a sign of uneasiness.
Someone fidgeting, someone not looking at her.
Her employees acted like everything was normal.
After working through a couple of last-minute translator conflicts and new meetings that had popped up, she opened the floor to questions.
None.
“I’m here today… unless the ambassador’s schedule changes. Let me know if something comes up. Thank you.”