Page 4 of His Forbidden Obsession

My car had been parked by a valet, so it would be a production to get it back. I considered walking down to Dimitri’s dock and stealing a boat. Remington’s family had a house on the lake. I could dock there.

I tipped my head back and sighed. In the past, I’d been to plenty of events that were just as tedious and didn’t feel so drained by it all. What was the matter with me? Was I just fucking sick of playing these games? Of being the model negotiator for Remington?

There was something dark inside me that I’d been keeping at bay. It wanted to come out. At that moment, I didn’t care about alliances. I didn’t care about business. I wanted to burn the world down. I wanted to take Nikolai, drag him to my car, and take him somewhere no one would bother us. I wanted to destroy him in the best possible way, and then I wanted to be alone so I could stop having to make so many fucking decisions. I wanted to release myself from responsibility to myself, to my brothers, to Remington.

But that wasn’t an option. I’d tried being irresponsible once, and the results had been fatal. It should have been me who died for my sins, but I couldn’t change the past. All I could do was keep trying to make it up to my family.

I sighed as I leaned back and looked up at the stars. How bad would it be to track Nikolai down, toy with him, give him a thrill before he was locked away with a pretend wife and a man who would treat him like an object with no feelings of his own? Would that really hurt anyone? Most of the guests were drunk off their asses by now, and Dimitri was surely busy talking to everyone who wanted to beg him for a favor.

Don’t do it.

Even as I tried to tell myself no, I stood. After catching me watching Niko, Dimitri had likely sent him to his room to keep him out of trouble. If I found him there, he wouldn’t be able to run from me, but the house was enormous. I needed a way to narrow down his location.

I looked up at the row of windows. Only one room on the second floor had lights on. I’d start there.

I entered through the kitchen. My fierce expression dared the caterers to question why I was there. I grabbed a server by the arm and asked if there was a back staircase. The man stared at me, saying nothing. “I’m getting impatient.”

That seemed to snap the man out of his trance. “Yes, sir. This way.” When he showed me, I tipped him and sent him on his way.

As I climbed the stairs, I considered my position in the house. The lit-up window had been the third from the end, which should mean the room was the third on my right once I was in the upstairs hall. When I reached the top of the stairs, a door opened, and a man stepped out, followed by a woman who was still trying to get her dress zipped back up.

Even in the dim light, I recognized Dimitri’s brother, Matvei.

He glared at me, ignoring the woman as she slipped behind him and headed for the stairs. “What are you doing up here?”

I glanced toward the woman as she disappeared. “Same thing as you are, apparently.”

He snarled. “This is my brother’s house.”

“Would your companion’s husband be interested in how you’re using your brother’s house?”

Matvei reached for me, and I stepped out of his reach. “Think really hard about what you’re doing before you put your hands on me. There will be consequences.”

He dropped his arms to his sides.

“That’s better. Now. I will pretend I didn’t see you here, and you’ll do the same.”

“Watch your back.”

I gave him my evilest smile. “You do the same.”

I waited until he’d retreated down the stairs to continue my search for Nikolai.

When I reached the third door, I tried the knob, but it was locked. Fortunately, that wasn’t an issue for me. I slipped a lock pick from my jacket—never left home without them. In seconds, the lock released, and the knob turned. If Dimitri wanted to keep his son safe, he needed better locks and maybe a guard or two, not that any of those would have kept me out, but it would work for most of the scum he associated with.

3

NIKOLAI

Idropped my book when I heard the doorknob rattle. I hadn’t actually been reading. I’d been staring at the same page for ages, unable to stop thinking about Lorenzo and the way he’d looked at me when he’d congratulated me on my sham of a marriage.

And then later, when he’d stared at me out of the library window. Had he known I’d gone to walk in the rose garden? Had he chosen that room just so he could watch me? The way he’d looked at me made me think he knew how I reacted to his presence. My whole body felt like it was on fire when he looked at me. He acted like he wanted to devour me. I should be terrified. Instead, I wanted to offer myself at his feet. He’d worn a dark gray suit. The jacket stretched across his shoulders, and the pants clung to his muscular thighs. The way his nearly black hair curled over his collar and the tattoos on his hands contrasted perfectly with the formal attire and made him look as dangerous as he was.

What would happen if I sneaked out of my room and found him? What would he do if I told him I’d fantasized about him since the first time we met?

The knob shook again. Who was at my door? No one besides my father was likely to look for me, and he knew where I was since he was the one who’d locked me in and told me I’d regret it if I left this room before dawn. If he’d forgotten his key, he would just pound on it or yell for me to open it. No one else should be here.

The knob continued to move. Whoever was out there was determined to get in. I heard scraping sounds. Were they trying to pick the lock? I grabbed the heavy brass candlestick from my bedside table and moved closer to the door. I held it over my shoulder, ready to swing on whoever entered.