Chapter 18 #2
"I apologize! Happy?" I snatched the notebook back, voice rising, laced with hurt and fury I didn't even recognize.
"I know I shouldn't have used you as a prototype!
If you think I violated your mafia code or made you feel spied on or disgusted, then let's tear up the contract right now!
I'll pack my bags and get back to my crappy apartment, and you don't have to pay me a cent!
Stop looking at me like I'm a traitor, and stop humiliating me with those damn words! "
My eyes burned with the sting of tears.
I spun around, ready to bolt before I actually cried.
"Vivienne."
A low call from behind. Then a chuckle.
He was laughing?
I whirled around furiously, then froze at the sight.
The most brutal, ruthless Russian mafia Pakhan in all of Washington was slumped in his leather chair, one hand covering his lips in a pathetic attempt to hide it, but his broad shoulders shook violently.
He was laughing. That kind of wicked, devastatingly sexy, got-you laugh.
"You wrote brilliantly, firecracker." He dropped his hand, gray eyes lit with bright mockery and teasing.
"Including those back-seat scenes... not only vivid but remarkably objective about the male lead's stamina.
Sasha told me you terrorized every gardener and maid on the estate this afternoon.
I just couldn't resist seeing how long your tiny courage would last."
I blinked. The tears evaporated into dry kindling.
Sasha played me. Nikolai watched the show. These two bastards tag-teamed me all day!
"Nikolai Volkov! You goddamn silver-haired asshole!"
I lost it.
I slammed the notebook on the desk and launched myself at him across the island. I swung my fists and pounded his chest. "You had me sweating bullets all day! I thought I'd be stuffed in a cement barrel by tonight! You evil bastard!"
Nikolai didn't even flinch. He let my harmless punches land.
His chest rumbled with deeper laughter. His long arm snaked out and locked around my waist. Before I could shriek, he scooped me up and settled me firmly on his lap.
"Let go! You liar! Release me!" I thrashed in his arms, one slipper flying off, skirt a total mess.
"Sit still, wildcat." He tightened his grip like an iron chain, pinning my back to his burning chest. His other hand clamped both my flailing wrists and locked them in front of me, lips grazing my hot ear, exhaling deliberately.
"Keep squirming, and I don't mind recreating those positions from your chapters right on this desk. "
The words hit like a paralysis spell. I froze instantly, breath stopped.
We panted heavily in the cramped leather chair.
From the struggle, my dress strap had slipped sideways, inner thighs pressed tight against the unmistakably taut outline beneath his slacks.
The gunpowder tension faded, replaced by that familiar, dizzying, drowning electric charge.
The study went quiet. Sunset stretched our shadows long across the wall.
The teasing in Nikolai's eyes slowly sank away. He loosened his grip on my wrists. That calloused palm slid down my forearm and wrapped my fingers gently in his.
"I'm serious, Vivienne."
He turned my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes.
Those dark gray depths held no trace of humor—only pure, unshakable certainty.
"I read every chapter. Your eye for detail, the raw, visceral life force in your words—better than any bestselling author I've seen.
You didn't write me as some mindless killer.
You saw the darkness even I hate, and turned it into... art."
He reached for the notebook and pressed it back into my arms, fingers brushing my lips, voice low and magnetic.
"Starting today, in this estate, you can leave your notebook and laptop anywhere you want.
No hiding. No lying to anyone. Since that Aleksei makes you so popular...
" He quirked his lips into a wickedly possessive Alpha grin.
"I'm honored to be your exclusive material.
But, fiancée, remember to write his stamina stronger in future chapters.
After all, the real Pakhan is far more savage than anything you type. "
I looked down at the flamingo sticker, then up into those eyes blazing with possession and dark fire.
My heart still hammered wildly, but I didn't retreat. I took a deep breath, lips curling into a brazen, fatally seductive smile.
"Oh, really?"
I reached out and boldly grabbed his half-open shirt collar, yanking him down.
Our breaths tangled instantly. I tilted my chin up, lips barely grazing his, voice a whisper only we could hear.
"As an author who demands meticulous detail, I take my research very seriously.
Since you volunteered to be my exclusive material...
looks like I'll have to conduct much more thorough, in-depth 'field testing' of Mr. Pakhan to get the most accurate stamina data. "
Nikolai's pupils contracted violently.
His Adam's apple rolled hard. The hand on my waist clenched, nearly fusing me into his bones.
Watching the dangerous fire ignite in his eyes, hearing his steady, powerful heartbeat, the sting of hurt vanished. In its place swelled a feeling so full my heart might burst.
I was done for.
Screw the fake marriage. Screw the triple-salary contract.
I looked at this man who ruled the underworld with ruthless brutality yet embraced my entire soul and dreams with utter tenderness.
The fortress I'd built from old wounds and defenses crumbled to dust in that instant. I couldn't lie to myself anymore.
I'd fallen for him. Completely. Hopelessly.