Heat shoots straight through me even though I know—I fuckingknow—this isn’t what it seems.
That doesn’t stop my caveman brain from jumping around screaming“ooga ooga”like I just won the reproduction lottery.
She’s not shy about touching me. She roams methodically, her slender fingers tracing over every inch of my leg.
My breath stutters. I can’t stop the involuntary response as her hands travel higher, her fingers brushing the inside of my thighs as she nears?—
Her thumbs graze over me through my pants, the contact instant and electric. Blood rushes south, my cock hardening despite my fury. The hatred, bloodlust, and aggravation should provide some kind of protection and bolster my ability to manage my physical reactions.
But I’m only human.
That loss of control presses against the fly of my pants, straining toward her hands, getting harder under her touch. Her expression smooths into one of satisfaction.
Her thumb makes a single, deliberate stroke along the length of my erection through the fabric. Slow and controlled, so I’m aware of every millimeter of her contact.
Then she looks up and meets my eyes, a flush crawling up her neck and into her cheeks. “Big talk when there’s nothing ofworth in there.” She jerks her hand back and rises. “No locket. You lied to me. Again.”
“Fuck you.” I want to kill her more than I’ve ever wanted to kill anyone. I’m also more aroused than I’ve been in years. And I can’t do anything about either of those urges.
The combination drives me wild.
But I’m patient. I know how to bide my time.
She paces again, that same measured circuit around my chair, but I recognize the agitation in her gait. She’s not as certain as she was, though I’m not sure what’s changed.
I can’t figure her out.
Not with this impossible-to-ignore sexual tension crackling between us.
“You know what I find fascinating?” She’s behind me now, her voice creeping along the back of my neck. “You act like you’re the victim here. Like I’ve committed these unforgivable sins. But you work for a crime family, Max. You destroy people because Roman tells you to. So forgive me if I don’t feel particularly guilty about giving you a taste of your own medicine.”
“That’s different.” I shrug as a way to test how much slack I’ve got. Still not enough to do anything.
“How?”
“I don’t pretend to be what I’m not. I don’t hide my thirst for revenge. I know exactly what I am.”
She comes around to study me, her face pinched with what might be pity. “And what are you, Max?”
“A weapon.” The truth isn’t something new to me or anything to hide. “Nothing more. Nothing less.”
“How tragic.” She sits and clutches her chest with both hands. “The self-aware monster. Very literary.”
If she wants to act like a child, I’ll treat her like one. “Better than the deluded princess playing at vengeance because Daddy hurt her feelings.”
Her eyes narrow. “I’m not deluded. I’m patient. And I’m going to destroy Roman Kozlov piece by piece until there’s nothing left of his empire.”
“By framing innocent men? Manipulating civilians? By turning the family against itself? Killing people who never did you wrong?” I let the accusation hang in the air. “Real heroic, Nika.”
“I don’t know why you’re so angry at me.” She exudes genuine curiosity as she picks at a loose thread on the chair cushion.
I stare across the space that separates us. Her response stokes the rage curling in my chest. “Sasha is dead because of you.”
Her attention snaps back to mine. Fire burns in that gaze, breaking through her ice princess exterior. “You’re blaming me because your family’s imploding? He’s dead because of you. You shot him in the face, then twice more in the chest. Not me. You ensured he was dead, all to protect your backstabbing Pakhan.”
I lunge for her.
The chair legs scrape against the floor, but the cords hold fast and keep me firmly bound. Unable to free myself, I replay her words in my head.
