Chapter Fourteen #2
Another moment of silence stretches between us before she straightens up and takes the flowers from me. She inhales them and smiles. Not at me, though...more to herself.
“I can’t accept your apology, but thanks for the roses.” With that, she turns on her heels and heads toward the walk-in closet.
My pulse spikes, my body rippling with electricity as a response to her fingers brushing against my skin when she took the flowers from me. I’ve managed to stay away from her for a couple days now, but that brief contact seems to have snapped me out of whatever restraint I had left.
Without a second thought, I follow her. “Why won’t you forgive me?”
“Because you need to learn to trust your wife,” she says, barely glancing over her shoulder. “If you believe anything and everything, then I don’t see how our marriage will work.”
“I said I’m sorry.”
“Oh, yeah.” She grabs a pair of scissors, cuts off the bottom of the stems, and places the roses in a glass vase. “Sorry to be the one to break this to you, big boy, but sorry doesn’t fix everything. You can’t take back damage that’s already done.”
Her refusal to forgive me only unravels me even further. The last thing I want to do right now is argue with her. She’s driving me insane, making me want to shut her up in the most effective way I know.
I wonder if she knows that’s what I’m thinking.
“What do you want me to do?” My voice is low, my tone calm. It’s deceptive, like bait a predator uses to catch its prey, and she falls for it.
She shrugs. “Do whatever you want. It’s what you do best.”
“Whatever I want?”
“Yes.” She brushes past me without sparing me another glance. Our bodies make slight contact, and it ignites a fire in me that consumes me completely.
Before I can stop myself, I grab her wrist and haul her against me, wrapping my arms around her waist to keep her in place.
“What the hell are you doing?” She grits the words out through clenched teeth.
“Whatever I want.”
I lower my face to hers and claim her lips in the most primal way possible, kissing her like my life depends on it.
She tries to shut her teeth, but I push my tongue between them, deepening our kiss. It’s ravenous and intense and she gives up her fight, completely melting against me and kissing me back.
Fuck, I think I’m losing my mind.
No, I think I lost it long ago. Maybe I did a year ago, but I was in denial. Or maybe it happened when I met her again at the club two weeks ago.
Either way, I know now that every part of my soul and body belongs to this woman, and trying to prove otherwise would only be a losing game.
I’m as much hers as she is mine.
Every inch of me. Every fiber of my being. And she doesn’t even know it yet.
I push her gently against the wall and spread her legs with my thigh. She lets me, moaning into my mouth and fisting my shirt as if she’d kill me if I stopped.
My phone starts to buzz in my pocket, but I ignore it. I lift one of her legs and slide my hand down it, grabbing her ass and squeezing it.
A groan tears from my throat at the same time a moan leaves her. We’re so in sync with each other that it feels like we’re a match made in heaven. And maybe we are.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper against her lips as I kiss her.
She doesn’t reply. Instead, she bites my lip. Pain and pleasure ripple through me in equal waves. I slip my hand into her panties and my cock throbs painfully when I find the pool of wetness there.
Bozhe Moy! My God.
The last bit of restraint leaves me. I press my thumb to her clitoris and dip another finger inside her.
Her head falls back, her grip on me tighter than before.
My phone starts to ring again, and each time it stops, another call comes in. None of my men would be stupid enough to call me repeatedly if it wasn’t urgent.
I break our kiss and reach for my phone.
Audrey whines disapprovingly before she buries her face in the crook of my neck. I push my finger deeper inside her to keep her occupied while I find out why my men keep calling me.
Sergei’s name flashes on my screen, and I answer. “What is it?”
“We have a problem, boss.”
I take my fingers out of Audrey and pull away slightly. “What happened?”
“Our boys picked up something strange this afternoon. At first we dismissed it, but more signals kept coming.”
I grunt and run my fingers through my hair. Sergei of all people should know I detest suspense. “Get to the point.”
“There are unfamiliar faces around our businesses. Not inside the clubs, but outside them—parking lots, rooftops, coffee shops across the street. They’re taking shifts, and from the look of things, I think they’re tracking our movements, too.”
A slow burn settles beneath my skin. “How many?”
“We didn’t count, but there are enough of them for us to know this isn’t a coincidence, and I can guess who’s behind it.”
I glance at Audrey. She’s already pulled her dress down. Her face is still flushed, and her brow creases with concern.
“Do they know you’ve noticed them?”
“I doubt it. We only caught on because one of our men recognized the same vehicle outside two different properties six hours apart.”
“Good. Keep it that way. Let them think they have us under their control. Have the men keep track of when they leave and follow them discreetly.”
“Yes, boss.”
I hang up and clench my fingers around my phone so tightly that the screen cracks. It looks like it doesn’t matter what I do after all—war will always find its way to my doorstep.
“Is everything okay?” Audrey asks.
Her voice soothes me in ways even whiskey has never managed to. I nod and give her a vague answer because I don’t want her worrying about me or my business. “There’s somewhere I need to be.”
“Will you be long?”
“I’m not sure.”
She smiles, but it barely reaches her eyes. “Go ahead. I’ll wait until you come back.”
I inch closer to her, pressing my forehead against hers. The need to be inside her keeps growing stronger by the second, but I can’t stay. “I’ll be back as soon as I finish my meeting, okay?”
She nods. “Stay safe.”
“Always, baby.” I press a kiss to the top of her head, and then another to her neck. “Don’t go anywhere without Dimitri.”
“Sure.”
I pull away from her and start to leave, each stride heavy with reluctance. I would rather be with her right now—hugging her, kissing her, and making love to her. But we don’t always get what we want.
Before, I only had to protect myself and my empire. I never worried about Ruslan because he could take care of himself.
Now I have a wife to protect.
The thought of Emiliano laying a finger on Audrey sends something dark and murderous unfurling inside my chest. He already made the mistake of hurting her once.
There won’t be a second time.
If war is what he wants...
Then I’ll show him exactly why the bratva has ruled Miami for years.