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“Whatcha doin’, pretty lady?”
Looked like a couple of the men in that last bar had decided to follow her. Maybe she should have stopped in for that drink after all. She ran her gaze over the two men. They both looked like they spent a lot of time inside a gym. Dammit.
“Just heading home. I don’t want any trouble. How about you both just go back into the bar and find some chick who’s willing?”
As Juli predicted, they didn’t take her suggestion. Nope, the bastards came in closer to her, forcing her to back up. A quick glance up and down the street showed her she was alone. It also showed her that these arseholes had followed her long enough she could barely hear the noise from the main road. No one out in the bars and clubs would hear her scream, that was for sure.
Bugger.
With a growl, Daniil frowned at the two men who’d just slipped from their stools and left the bar. He hoped he’d misread their intent, but he doubted it. His little purple-haired surfing photographer had strolled past a few moments earlier. He really should have asked her name when he’d bought that photo from her two months ago. He’d seen her many times since but had always stayed far enough away no one would realise he was watching her. Including the woman herself.
Like tonight, he’d seen her down on the beach taking photos of the tower. After observing her work for far too long, he’d come up here to one of the many bars to get a drink and perhaps relax a little. His obsession with this girl was strange, and way outside normal for him. He’d never felt the need to keep watch over a woman before. In fact, he couldn’t recall an occasion when he’d put this much time into observing anyone. At least, not someone that wasn’t related to a job. He knew his behaviour bordered on stalking. However, he couldn’t seem to stop. It also didn’t help that trouble seemed to follow her. Just last week he’d had to scare off a would-be-attacker when she’d been taking photos down the coast. The woman seriously needed a keeper. He honestly couldn’t understand how she’d managed to survive this long in the world and remain so naive and, well, sweet. She was special, no doubt.
That was why he couldn’t claim her for himself. She was all things bright and sunny in the world, while he lived in the darkness of the shadows. He’d never minded before, but over these past two months he’d begun to wonder what it would be like to have a woman of his own. Maybe even a family. But that would give him a major weakness that would leave him vulnerable. He shook his head. No, he would simply continue to guard her from a distance when he could.
Downing the last of his drink, he moved from his place at the bar and headed in the direction the men had gone. Apparently, his night was going to end with a little wet work, because if those two arseholes were going to make a try for his little surfer, he would intervene and make sure they were unable to ever try anything like it again.
He was far enough behind them he easily blended into the shadows to follow them past the bars and into the quieter back streets. Daniil shook his head as the woman strolled along, oblivious to the danger prowling after her. Where was her fiancé? He couldn’t understand how any man who had a woman as pretty as her would ever let her out of his sight, let alone out in the night with no protection. Yet, all the times he’d seen her or followed her, he’d never once seen her with a man. Perhaps she had left him, or he her. Although he doubted the latter. Daniil had been tempted many times to dig deeper to obtain more information on her, but that would raise flags and put her in too much danger. Unless he was willing to claim her and put a guard on her around the clock, he couldn’t afford the fact she held his attention to be known.
She turned down a side street, and while one man followed her, the other crossed the road and jogged down the opposite side before returning to her side of the road and coming back toward her. Daniil was still a distance behind them and knew he needed to quicken his pace if he wanted to prevent her from coming to any harm. Before he did, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to his most trusted associate, his right-hand man and close friend, Viktor, telling the man his location and that he’d need a pickup ASAP. When the return message came back with an ETA of five minutes, he picked up his pace as much as he could while remaining hidden in the shadows. When the men cornered her and herded her out of sight, Daniil broke free of the shadows and ran on silent feet. As he moved, he decided against pulling out his gun. Even with a silencer, a gunshot would still draw attention if he was forced to fire, so instead he palmed his knife from its holster and hoped he could get the job done using only that. Fortunately, he’d been working earlier, so he had the weapons on him. Australian gun laws were tight and didn’t allow civilians to carry handguns around in public, so he didn’t risk carrying often, but today’s job had required it, and since he hadn’t been home yet, he still had his equipment on him.
When he got within feet of where the trio had disappeared, he stepped back into the shadows but didn’t stop moving forward. He could hear her sweet voice laced with fear, along with the gravelly, cocky voices of her would-be attackers. He slipped around the corner and barely held in his growl. One man had her held against his chest with an arm banded around her torso, holding her arms in against her body, while his other palm was over her mouth. Tears glistened in her eyes, and her chest rose and fell rapidly. She was panicking, with good reason. The bastard holding her was whispering in her ear, while the other arsehole came at her with a knife, holding the thing up to make sure she saw it. Her eyes were wide, and her gaze was focused solely on that blade.
In the seconds it took Daniil to plan his attack to take them out, the arsehole slipped the blade under the centre of her bikini top and sliced through the material. Her whimper cut through Daniil like a whip. With his teeth bared, he stepped up behind the man holding the knife. Within seconds, he thrust his own blade into the neck of the bastard, severing his carotid artery. Blood gushed, and with a shocked gurgle, the man dropped his weapon in order to grab at his neck. It was human nature to try to stop the bleeding, but there was no way would the man survive the wound. Daniil was well trained in these matters and knew what he was doing.
He roughly shoved the dying man aside. He was no longer the active threat, so Daniil moved on to the man who was. As the bastard pulled his head back from her ear in shock, Daniil switched his hold on the knife and threw it. His aim was true, and the blade slid easily into the man’s eye. She stumbled as the man fell, but Daniil didn’t let her go down. He snatched her to him, her palms and bare breasts pressed against his chest. Her sweet citrus scent mixed with the smell of the ocean had a shudder running through his body. Damn, but she was beyond beautiful, and he was struggling to restrain his cock’s reaction to her close proximity.
“You are safe now, krasivaya.”
She blinked up at him with a vacant look in her eyes before her pupils rolled back and she went limp against him. Not wanting Viktor to see her topless when he arrived, Daniil awkwardly shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her.
“Ah, solnyshka moto, this is going to change everything.”
This wasn’t a job, and him helping a random stranger without reason was unheard of. Everyone in his employ would hear about this before daybreak. And as much as he trusted those closest to him, people talked, and soon a friend of a friend would tell someone who wanted him harmed that he now had a weakness they could exploit.
Viktor pulled up, and Daniil swung her up in his arms and headed toward the vehicle. He laid her over the rear seat before heading back to help Viktor bag up the bodies.
Once they had them stored in the rear of the van, Daniil snatched up her bag from the ground and headed back to her. He climbed into the rear and lifted her head so it rested against his thigh. Even with her unconscious, his dick twitched to life at having her so near.
Bloody hell, this woman was going to be trouble. He knew it.
He started going through her bag, looking for her purse and driver’s licence. Since all his good intentions had gone to hell, he may as well take the opportunity to find out a little about her.
Things like her name.
CHAPTER THREE
A gentle touch down her cheek had Juli stirring awake. With a groan, she rolled to her side, blinking her eyes clear.
“What the hell?”
With a jerk, she shifted across the bed, away from the sexy Russian man she’d met at the markets a couple of months ago. He was lying beside her, attired in dark dress pants and a tight black T-shirt that hugged his muscular torso like a glove. Stretched out on his side facing her, he looked like some kind of sleek predator. A panther. That’s what he made her think of when she saw him. Sleek and beautiful, but dangerous.
“Relax, krasivaya. You’re safe here with me.”
With a frown, she tore her gaze away from him and glanced around, but she couldn’t see much. The only light was from a bedside lamp set on low, and that only revealed the large bed they were on. The fact she couldn’t see any walls aside from the one behind the bed had her thinking it was a large room.
“Where is here exactly?”
