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“Siya. If I had known you were interested in a tour, I would have brought you over myself. There’s no need to bother Katrina.” Demetri strolls in, placing a kiss on my cheek. My muscles instantly relax with his touch, knowing he will kick Siya out of my gallery and keep him far away from me. I stare up at my husband with adoration, looking forward to the reaction of the other man when Demetri rips him a new one for bothering me.
“I was under the impression that Katrina controlled this. My error. Please, let me gift my wife one of her amazing paintings. It would honor me, since I haven’t been able to get you a proper wedding gift.”
I just told the man no.
“I’ll have Katrina pick out a suitable one for you.”
My jaw drops. Demetri has no say in what I do here. We agreed on this.
He’s no different from my family.
How was I so gullible?
I turn to head toward my desk, fuming. I watch the two men walk around, looking at all of my work and chatting away. My frustrations get the better of me, and my nerves scream for movement. Walking back toward them, I pick up the centerpiece of the wall of my personal works. “Do you like this one?” I ask Siya.
He nods. “They’re all beautiful.”
“You can have this one.” I place it in his hands with a snide smile. “This is the picture Demetri fucked me on only minutes after he robbed me. Maybe it will bring you good luck.”
Demetri chokes on his spit as I spin on my heels to go to the back room.
Siya chuckles and tells Demetri I have “spirit.”
I pace the small back room, practically wearing my heels down.Oh, I will show them spirit. My hand clenches at my side so I don’t go out there and throttle both of them. I hear the bell of the door, so I come back out to my desk, and Demetri strolls back inside, looking in control. I hate him for it.
“You embarrassed me in front of the enemy,” he replies slowly.
“And you tell lies when you promised you wouldn’t. I guess we’re even.” I hate that tears want to stream down my face.
“I would have never sold him anything, Katrina. It was all an illusion. He was testing us. His family helped kill my first wife, and now they’re sniffing around you. While you were getting your feelings hurt, I was trying to figure out how he planned to ruin everything I’ve worked forandprotect you.”
My heart gallops deep within my chest. His face is hard with the coldest expression I’ve ever seen on him. This is the boss of the Bratva staring me down.
“I thought I was clear that this is all yours. You do not need to worry about my clientele in here. I promised I’d never launder money through here.” I don’t know who to trust anymore, especially when he says, “I thought you knew me well enough to understand this.”
“I don’t need the guilt trip, Demetri. Next time, communicate with me, and then there won’t be a misunderstanding.”
“Have I ever told you that your mouth is going to get you in trouble one day?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time I got in trouble.”
“But it would be the first time you were spanked and liked it, no?”
My fingers make a motion to circle my face. “This isn’t a face that is turned on by your bullshit.”
“But knowing I hurt men does turn you on? I could have that arranged. Do you want me to do that? After all, what is a king without his sinful queen next to him? All you need to do is give the order.”
I weaken toward him, and his fingers thread softly through my hair after he closes the distance between us.
“I’m sorry. I saw Siya on the cameras, and I lost my composure. I never thought about how you might feel when I was trying to get him the hell out of your gallery. Forgive me?” He places a kiss on my cheek, my jaw, and by my ear.
“Stop talking about my gallery, and then no one will want to check out this place.”
He chuckles. “The problem with that is you’ve already made a name for yourself. Me not talking about it would be useless.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his face toward me. I want to feel his lips against mine. His mouth captures mine, and I open, allowing him to take control. The kiss is desperate, the kind that is trying to say something when no words will do justice.
His love is the type that lights the world on fire. It will either warm you at night or burn your soul. I always thought I knew what love would feel like. Before Demetri, I thought I was an expert. But this? This is new. This feeling is stronger than I could have ever imagined. Everything else was just me settling because I was scared. I’ve clearly never experienced love until my husband. I was so desperate for it I allowed myself to fake it. But not this time.
