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“That’s my girl,” Ivan says, a smirk dancing across his lips.
In the stillness of the car, I can see his face better. His thick brown hair hangs over his forehead, dripping water across the deep creases in his weathered face. The sharpness of his eyes betrays the deepness of his wrinkles. I’ve never seen a face that looked so full of stories, yet so eager to make new ones.
Ivan’s eyes aren’t the only things that strike me as unique. His jaw, wide and firm, is the jaw of a man who’s made tough decisions and stood by them. It’s unyielding like an iron beam in a snowstorm, but the way that Ivan just smiled tells me his jaw is capable of expressing more than brutal commands.
His lips are really what give away the warmth that lurks beneath the surface of his rigid exterior. They’re not thin and sucked into his mouth like an old man. They’re plump and youthful, and I dare say I get a little curious by looking at them.
What would it feel like to have them pressed against mine?
I take a sharp breath as the thought crosses my mind, breathing it out and trying desperately to forget how Ivan’s lips made me feel.
“Are we safe now?” I ask, looking out the window for a distraction. I can’t see a thing from the rain. It’s unrelenting.
The leather steering wheel creaks beneath Ivan’s heavy hands. “We’re never safe.”
I can’t help but to laugh, but it comes from a place of fear. “That’s awfully ominous.”
“So be it,” he grumbles, taking a sharp turn. The car handles it well, despite the perilous road conditions.
I grab my seatbelt, pulling it over my chest and locking it in place. It would be a shame to survive a shooting, only to die in a car accident minutes later.
Ivan’s eyes shift over to me, laughter dancing in them. “Safety first,” he teases with a wicked grin.
I scoff, folding my arms over my soggy chest. Even my leather jacket is soaked, despite normally being quite resistant to rain. I might as well have jumped into a pool and stayed underwater for an hour.
“You must think you’re funny, but you’re not,” I say, my emotions much drier than my physical self.
“I like to think I have a sense of humor,” Ivan replies, still grinning. “But on a more serious note, I prefer not to wear a seatbelt. It makes fleeing the vehicle a lot faster.”
“Yes, I suppose flying through the windshield is rather quick.”
He laughs. “There, see! You also have a sense of humor.”
I roll my eyes. “Okay, but seriously, you should probably put it on. It’s bad enough that you’re driving like you’re trying to get into an accident on purpose.”
“How could it be an accident if it’s on purpose?” he asks, finally putting on his seatbelt.
“A wreck,” I nearly shout. “You know what I mean. Jesus, I thought you were a little scary at first, but it turns out you’re just annoying.”
“I can be scary, if you prefer,” he replies, the smile melting off his chiseled face in an instant. His eyes dull, and his jaw clenches as he looks toward me, still driving at a dangerous speed through the pouring rain.
“Look at the road!”
He doesn’t move an inch, his eyes burning through me with the heat of a thousand flames.
My throat tightens, and I shift away from him in my seat. “Ivan, seriously. You’re freaking me out.”
“Good,” he grumbles. “You should know who you’re dealing with.”
I shove my hands between my thighs and squeeze them. “Okay, I’m sorry. I actually don’t know who you are, only that you know my uncle Dimitri somehow.”
“Dimitri is family to me, but not in the civilian sense,” he says, rubbing his recently shaved chin. It scratches with the sound of new stubble, despite the lingering smell of aftershave.
He keeps using that word, civilian, but I’m too scared to ask him what it means. The way he switched from teasing me to being stone-cold serious was frightening enough not to risk it happening again.
So, I just offer him a thin smile and nod.
Ivan takes a turn down another street, and we finally start to slow down. He’s more comfortable, his broad shoulders dropping a few inches as he observes the road ahead. He smooths his wet hair back, and I notice the ring again.
