Chapter 24
IVAN
I’m pulling into my parking lot at Zvezda when a series of texts from Boris lights up my phone. I take a moment to read through them.
It’s a wilder ride than expected.
Sounds like Melani tried to escape after speaking with her mother. The last message says he’s got her locked in her room.
I text him back, instructing him to unlock her door but to watch her closely.
Under no circumstances is she allowed to leave the suite until I arrive, but I don’t want her locked back in her room.
She’s never attempted to escape before. Locking her up again now would only highlight the unfairness of her situation and likely fuel her rebellion. I need her compliant, not desperate.
I slip my phone into my pocket and get out of my car, forcing thoughts of Melani aside.
I’ll deal with her later.
“I was just about to call you,” Luka says as I enter my nightclub. “Everything is set here.”
“Good.” I nod at Nadia across the main floor before walking with Luka down to the basement storage.
I’m here to cross-check the new shipments—not because I don’t trust him, but because I need to confirm it myself.
Once that’s handled, I head up to my office to sort through some paperwork that requires my approval.
Then I hold a meeting with Nadia and several other staff.
The discussions drag on longer than expected, and by the time I’m done and ready to leave Zvezda, night has already fallen.
I text Luka as I exit my office, and we meet outside in the parking lot. He’s more distant than usual. Clearly, something’s on his mind. “Spit it out,” I order him.
He hesitates, but only for a split-second. “Linda Fontana is at Korona,” he says, like I don’t already know.
“I’m aware.” I press my key fob to unlock my car, and I pause, raising a brow.
“Why are you doing this?” he finally relents, getting to the point. “We have no reason to hold Linda Fontana in our custody. Unless it’s because Melani asked. She asked, didn’t she?”
She didn’t. I open the driver’s door and slide inside without answering. Before I can process his intention, Luka jogs around the hood and gets into the passenger side.
“And what about your car?” I nod towards the vehicle next to mine.
“I already gave the key to Igor. He'll drive it back to Korona,” he answers, pulling the seatbelt across his chest.
My lips thin, but I start the engine. For the first few minutes, Luka replies to messages on his phone in silence. Then he glances at me. “Melani tried to escape today.”
My grip tightens on the steering wheel. “I know. If you have something on your mind, then tell me straight. I don’t have the patience to watch you dance around the subject all night.”
Luka shakes his head. “Bringing the mother into this was a bad idea. I wonder what she said to Melani. She’s never tried to escape before.”
He’s not wrong. Suddenly, I need to know. Curiosity overcomes everything else, and I slam on the brakes. Tires screech as the cars behind us do the same, followed immediately by blaring horns and shouted curses.
“Are you insane?” Luka stares at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“You drive,” I tell him, already unbuckling and stepping out.
We switch positions wordlessly—me sliding into the backseat while Luka takes the wheel.
Ignoring the look he shoots me in the rearview mirror, I pull out my phone, connect my AirPods, and pop them into my ears.
I had a listening device installed in Linda’s suite before she was brought in.
If she said something to Melani that triggered the escape attempt, I need to know what it was.
I open the surveillance app and select the most recent audio file. I have to fast-forward quite a bit before reaching the point when Melani walks into the room. Their conversation is short—barely six minutes—but there’s a lot to unpack in it.
When it ends, I remove the AirPods and stare out the window, contemplating what I just heard. As we approach my hotel, I open my messages and text Vasily.
I want you on Luciano Fontana’s trail. Find out how he spent his last few days before he went missing. What he did, who he met, what he bought. I want to know everything.
“Did you remember something important?” Luka asks as he pulls into Korona’s parking garage; he looks at me briefly in the rearview mirror.
“Yes.”
I don’t elaborate, and he knows me well enough not to press.
We get out of the car and head for the elevator.
As it carries us up to the top floor, I debate whether or not I should reassure Melani that I had nothing to do with her brother’s disappearance.
She already knows that—if her argument with her mother is to be believed.
But perhaps I need to remind her, reinforce it, since Linda clearly managed to get inside her head.
Maybe I should tell her what Aleksei revealed about Luciano’s visit to him.
No. I’m not the type to explain myself to anyone. Why am I even contemplating it in the first place? Let her believe whatever she wants. And yet my heart squeezes as I think of her voice on that recording, how she stood up for me to her mother.
The elevator opens on the top floor, and I part ways with Luka.
He goes to his suite, and I go to mine. But my steps slow when I find Melani standing right outside my door, waiting, and my heart does that weird tugging thing it always does in her presence.
I ignore it and her, brushing past her to get into my room. She follows.
I should tell her to leave, but I don’t. I can’t. The air shifts with her in here; it turns charged and restless, like it’s waiting for me to snap.
“Do you ever sleep?” she asks, shutting the door behind us.
“What?” I glance at her, caught off guard. Now that we’re alone in my room, sleep is the last thing on my mind. My eyes drift to my bed, to the nightstand where I had her pinned last night, and my cock stiffens. Fuck. It’s crazy how quickly she gets me hard.
“You’re never around here during the day. I assume you’re out doing your shady business. But then you still make time for Zvezda every night. So… do you ever sleep?”
I frown, genuinely confused. Of all the things I expected her to say tonight, this never even crossed my mind. But I answer anyway, “I only need three or four hours of sleep, at most.”
She purses her lips. “I could never. Three or four hours is a good nap for me. Do you know how much I appreciate a good nap? More than my life, maybe. Sleeping in is the best thing since sliced bread. Have you never rotted a day away before? It’s the closest I’ve felt to heaven.
” She’s rambling now, and I shake my head, not even sure what she means.
Rot a day away? Is this some generational gap?
“Heaven isn’t something I aspire to,” I tell her. “So I might as well take advantage of every waking hour I have left on earth…”
“You never feel exhausted? Your body could just crash one day, you know? That’s not healthy.”
I don’t think she’s listening.
“I’m fine.”
I meet her eyes as I shrug off my jacket. What does she really want? If the fluttering of her hands is any indication, she’s nervous. “Your eyes are getting darker,” she observes. “Did you know they do that sometimes? What are you thinking?”
More rambling. I smirk as I undo the buttons of my shirt and slide the fabric off.
Her eyes drop to my bare chest, her lips parting, pupils dilating—yet her feet remain rooted in place.
How far can I push her? With a quick flick of my fingers, my belt comes undone, and the leather falls to the floor with a whisper.
Melani licks her lips nervously, and my heart rate kicks up as she takes a few tentative steps towards me.
Closer. Closer. Until she’s standing right in front of me.
After a brief hesitation that feels like an eternity, she raises her hands and places them flat against my chest, fingers spread wide.
The touch is light, but hot enough to scorch.
My lungs drag in air slowly, heavily, because if I breathe too fast, she’ll know what she’s doing to me.
My cock stirs, thickening against the inside of my pants, and I grit my teeth.
“You’re attracted to me, right? You feel this too,” she asks softly. And for some reason, it reminds me of her mother’s words. You’re falling for him.
Her denial was instantaneous, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s a tendril of truth to it.
Could she be falling for me? Do I want her to?
I force my breathing to remain steady, even as my cock betrays me, pressing hard and insistently against the seam of my trousers.
The thought of her falling for me creates a strange warmth in my chest.
I ignore it as I stare down at her, my jaw tight. “What do you want?”
Her cheeks flush red, her eyes flickering with nerves, but she pushes on. “I can—I can get you off.”
That knocks the air out of me. I shouldn’t let her continue, but I want to hear every filthy word that spills from her pretty mouth. I want to watch her blush deepen, want her to tell me exactly how she plans on touching me.
“In exchange for a favor,” she adds softly.
My cock throbs almost painfully now. She has no idea what she’s walking into. I let my mouth twist into a dark smirk. My voice drags with deliberate provocation.
“Get me off? How? Tell me in explicit detail how you intend to get me off.” Please.
Her eyes snap to mine, wide, then dart away. She’s trembling, but I can feel her heat. She wants this. I can see it in the way her body tilts toward mine, like she’s losing the internal battle with herself.
“I—I could suck you off.”
Her words go straight to my dick. I go completely still, my teeth grinding together until my jaw aches. I want her mouth on me so badly it nearly scrambles my thoughts—but I won’t make this easy for her.
“Suck me off?” I push, my tone teasing despite the throb between my legs.
“Where? My fingers? My neck? Say the words, sweetheart.” Her lashes flutter.
She sways into me, like she’s already imagining it in vivid detail.
My cock jerks at the thought that she’s probably wet right now, just from talking about it.
“I mean your dick. I’ll suck your dick.”
I nearly groan, but I manage to swallow it down. My voice comes out lower, huskier than I mean it to. “How?”
“I’ll get on my knees… slowly take you—your dick out of your pants… and lick and suck until you’re groaning my name. Do you want that?”
Fuck. Her answer shreds my control. Hearing her speak filthily in that soft, breathy tone—my body screams yes with every fiber.
I try to maintain my smirk, but it dies on my face because I want it too much.
I can’t pretend otherwise. I sink my hand into her hair, tugging her head back so her eyes meet mine.
Her pupils are blown wide, her lips parted on a shallow breath.
I want to bend down and taste her, but I force myself to hold the line. My voice comes out rough.
“And what do you want in exchange? I’m not letting you go.” I’m never letting her go.
She shakes her head quickly. “No, not that. I want to know what happened to my brother. You know, right?”
The question cuts through the haze, sharp and sobering. I watch her carefully, my grip tightening in her hair. She thinks she can bargain with me like some common criminal. She doesn’t know I’d give her the world if she asked the right way. But I let the steel back into my voice.
“If I don’t come, you don’t get your answer.”
She hesitates, nervous energy crackling off her. Then she nods—a quick, determined jerk of her chin, her cheeks still flushed.
I release her hair and turn away, needing the distance before I do something reckless. Like telling her to forget about our little bargain and to get on that bed with her legs spread wide for me instead.
My cock pulses unbearably as I cross the room and drop into the armchair.
I lean back, legs parted, watching her from the shadows, waiting.