Chapter 10
MAKSIM
Nikolai walks across the furniture-repair store, feet crunching over broken glass and shredded fabric. I stand at the door, arms folded, jaw clenched. Several of our businesses were trashed last night.
Nikolai turns to me. He looks exhausted, with large bags under his eyes. I know he was up late talking with his girlfriend… or one of them. Nikolai isn’t a playboy, necessarily, but he’s a lot less stunted than I am.
“They’re searching for the second device,” I growl. “The second half of the key. That’s why they hit us last night. Bastards.”
“No one was hurt,” Nikolai mutters. “They know not to push it too far.”
“This isn’t too far?” I grunt. “Conrad and his cronies are ex-intelligence. They’re not mobsters or gangsters. They’re basically fucking civilians.”
Nikolai grins, but it seems forced, like he’s doing it for my benefit. My usual happy-go-lucky brother is buried in there somewhere under the exhaustion. “And the sky is blue. And sidewalks are made of concrete. And fish swim in the ocean. Are we done telling each other things we already know?”
“Hmm,” I grunt. “You know what I’m saying.”
“We should show them that the Bratva is more than zeroes and ones on a computer somewhere. That we can break them any chance we want.”
“Exactly,” I snarl.
“They didn’t hit our servers though,” Nikolai says. “They didn’t get anything useful. They walked the line carefully because they know what we’d do if they crossed it. We have to be careful.”
I laugh in disbelief. “It’s strange, you being the responsible one. Normally, I’d be talking you down from the idea of going all out.”
Another smile, which looks a little forced. It might be time to sit him down and have a proper conversation soon. But I’ve never been very good at that. I tried—sort of—a week ago, but he shut me down.
“That’s called growth, brother,” he says.
“I might try that sometime,” I reply.
“Yeah, right,” he says.
The idea is ridiculous to him. But with Lia, I feel like I could give it a go, be a new man, or at least unlock new parts of myself… for her. The thought sticks with me as we go our separate ways and get on with our days.
She was trying to slow me down this morning via text, and she was right.
When I was typing out those messages, my heart was pounding.
My body was flooded with heat, and my mind was in a feral haze.
I almost wanted to tell her I own her. Possess her heart and every curvy inch of her body.
I was tempted to tell her that she. Is. Mine.
Because sometimes, even when I was just watching her, that’s how it felt.
But I know that’s irrational. That I need to slow down. These are the thoughts of a man who’s spent years living a cold and calculated life. I know all of this, but sometimes, these thoughts feel far more real than they should be able to.
An hour later, I’m in my office, having civilized meetings with civilized people. It’s just gone one PM when I get a text from Lia.
Lia: Daniel Mercer is missing from the hospital. Was this you?
Maksim: WHAT?
Lia: Just answer the question, please. Joel is saying he woke up and walked out, avoiding the cameras, but I don’t think that’s likely. Based on what I’ve seen, I think someone took him. That poor man. And I know, I don’t know a thing about him. But it’s still not fair.
Maksim: It wasn’t me. But I’ll get on this immediately.
Lia: There’s something else too. Will you come by later?
I deal with the elite of society, the people who make the world turn. I instill fear in them. I make gangsters shake in their boots. And yet, this text sends a shiver of anxiety through me like I’ve never felt before.
Maksim: What time?
Lia: Seven? I’ll finish work, swing by Mom’s place, then go to the townhouse. There’s something important I need to ask you.
My head spins. Panic grips me. The feeling is insane considering everything I’ve been through, everything I’ve done, everything that’s been done to me. All the fighting and the bloodshed and the darkness, but this hits like a ton of bricks.
Maksim: Want to give me a hint?
Lia: Just be there.
Well, damn.
She looks beautiful when she answers the door. She’s showered and changed into a pair of green shorts and a T-shirt that hugs her chest tightly. Her hair is tied up in a knot. It’s not curated. It’s just perfection, casually highlighting how effortlessly gorgeous she is.
My body stirs when she turns and walks away.
The shorts cling to her thick ass tightly.
I swallow as the tension punches through me.
Instincts roar at me to surge up behind her, wrap my arms around her and massage her ample breasts, drive my crotch against her ass so she can feel how hard she makes me without even trying.
In the kitchen, she turns to me. “How did you know I don’t like creamer in my coffee?”
I lower my gaze, like a coward. I quickly lift it and look into her eyes. She’s staring at me with a carefully blank expression.
Walking forward, I reach out and take her hands. Her mask slips, and she lets out a short, high-pitched breath.
“Touching me isn’t an answer,” she murmurs.
“It’s the only answer I know how to give,” I say huskily.
I’m a bad, bad man. Clearly. She wants information and all I can give her is my savage desire. She makes a sweet noise of shock when I lean down and press my lips against her. She sinks into the kiss for long moments, moaning, then she sinks her fingernails into my chest and pushes me away.
“Maksim,” she whimpers, her breathiness sending heat straight to my dick. I grow hard, my balls swelling, my focus narrowing to the perfect woman in front of me.
My hands move to her hips, squeezing indulgently. She lets out another gorgeous whimper, then she pulls me toward her.
We kiss again, a collision that’s been building ever since I first laid eyes on her. Every stolen moment watching her on the CCTV, every thought about what her flawless body would feel like, the gorgeous noises she’d make if I finally got to touch her.
I smooth my hands around to her ass, massaging, pressing, indulging.
Her shorts ride up, and I tug them higher.
I groan when I feel her naked flesh. Her ass is thick, perfectly so.
My steel presses hard against my pants, my tip leaking.
I’ve never wanted something so badly. I’ve never truly felt desire like this.
When I lift her, she wraps her legs around me. It feels so natural, like she’s been rehearsing this in her head too. I place her on the counter and drive forward, letting her feel how hard I am. I’m sure I can feel her heat through her shorts, the stickiness, the heat.
I start rocking my hips, as I imagine slipping inside her velvety tightness, looking into her expressive hazel eyes as they flood with arousal.
She pushes her hands against my chest again, leaning back. “What sort of answer is this?” she moans.
I bring my hand to her leg, and slide it toward her core. She gasps as I move closer and closer. “The one you want,” I growl.
“I didn’t say you could do that,” she moans.
“Then tell me to stop,” I say, sliding higher, pushing my hand beneath the loose fabric of her shorts. “Tell me you don’t want my hand against your perfect, horny pussy. That you don’t want my mouth there too. Tell me you don’t want to finally let go, Lia. Tell me.”
She stares up at me, wide-eyed, like she’s caught and can’t set herself free. My fingers smooth higher, higher, until I’m pushing against the edge of her panties.
“Stu-stop.” She gasps. “Maksim!”
I throw myself back, breathing hard. My length is solid, stiff, almost painful because I’m so hard. I feel precome leaking out of me, hot waves, as I stare at this beautiful, impossibly sexy woman.
She hops off the counter, chest heaving.
“It’s a simple question,” she says breathily. “How did you know? You’ve never made me a coffee before. I don’t think you’ve ever seen me drink coffee. How could you know something so specific?”
“I know I need you,” I snarl. “I know that if I turned you around and tore those shorts off, I’d find you wet and ready for me. I know you’d break for me within minutes, Lia, because you’ve spent too long holding on. Too long living for others. Too long waiting for your chance.”
I walk toward her slowly. She chews her lip. Her chest heaves, her heavy tits rising and falling. I’ve lost the ability to think about anything else other than our bodies melting into each other.
“I know you need this,” I groan, grabbing her hip and pulling her against me. “I know you can feel how hard I am. I know you want this.”
My body surges with fire when she grabs my chest and pulls herself in for another kiss. It’s like time moves in slow motion. I can see the lust rising above everything else, dominating the moment. She writhes against me, pressing her body against mine.
“Fuck,” she whimpers between kisses. “Oh, my God.”
I growl as I slide my hand up her leg again, aching to feel her wetness. Just the thought of her warm, wet entrance, her needy nub so ready for attention… it’s got me feral.
“I know,” I groan.
But then she pushes me away again.
“You need to leave,” she says, a note of desperation in her voice.
“Because you’re as lost as I am.”
She hesitates, hands curling into fists at her sides. “Whatever this is, it’s not why I invited you here. I want answers. And the fact you won’t give me any is making me suspicious. So, go. Please. Don’t make me ask again.”
“Because you won’t be able to stop next time.”
She nods slowly.
“Does that make you feel powerful?” she snaps. “I haven’t been with a man in… a long time.” She huffs, waving her hand, like she’s annoyed she said that. “Either answer my question or go.”
I walk to the door, then stop. I can’t leave like this, a coward who won’t tell her the truth.
But I must be half a coward, because I don’t turn to face her.
“My company owns the company that handles the CCTV for the hospital,” I tell her. “My life is cold and boring, but meeting you was new and interesting. I was curious about you. So, every now and then, I’d log in to the CCTV servers and watch you, admire you.”
“Maksim,” she says, breathy. “Are you serious?”
“I’d watch you because those few minutes were brighter than anything in my miserable world.”
I walk out of the house, knowing I most likely just ruined whatever this might’ve been.
Outside, I remind my men to keep this woman safe, then climb into my car and drive away.