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“Now, come eat.”
And a new battle begins.
“I still need to go home, Maxim.” I take another step back when his dark eyes drift up from his cat to my face. Determination steels his expression. I’m probably not going to win this. But that’s never stopped me from trying before. Plus I have a little high over winning the name battle.
“You’ll call your roommate and tell her you’re going to be away for a little while.” He lifts a shoulder.
Natalie won’t give me a hard time. My not being home means her boyfriend can walk around in his boxers as much as he wants.
“Why do I need to be here? What exactly are you responsible for?” I uncross my arms from my chest and shift my weight to one foot. I haven’t been anyone’s responsibility for nearly a decade.
His dark eyebrow arches while he keeps stroking Max the cat.
“I’m going to find your brother. And while I’m doing that, I’m going to keep you safe from causing any trouble for the Romanov family.” He closes the gap between us with two steps. His gaze has me captive while he runs the back of his hand across my cheek. “And keep you safe from yourself.” His fingertips run along the faint scar on my cheek. Years ago, I would have jerked away from his acknowledging the mark on my face. But it is what it is. He can hate it or not. That’s his problem.
“I don’t need your protection, Maxim.” I roll my shoulders back. “I’ve handled things on my own for a long time. I do just fine.” He’s offering me a chance to unshoulder some of the weight I’ve been carrying, but it’s my weight, my problem. Not his.
His eyes move to the scar. “How did you get this,moy malen’kiy voin?” He leans down, brushing his lips across the white mark marring my cheek. “Did someone hurt you?” The question is raw, but his dark, dangerous eyes send a shiver through me when he brings them to meet my gaze. “Give me the name.”
This man has killed before. He hasn’t said so, but I know it. I can feel it inside of me. Maxim is a dangerous man. If I give him a name, he’ll wipe the person from existence.
“No one hurt me.” I wrap my hand around his wrist. “It was a car accident.” I choose the simplest truth.
“When?”
“A long time ago,” I assure him. “Are you going to help me find Gunner?” I pull him away from my scar. A dark day I don’t want to relive.
He drops his hand from my cheek and gives a curt nod. “You will stay here with me while we’re searching for him.”
“If I don’t?”
The side of his mouth kicks up into a seductive smile. “Sometimes,moy malen’kiy voin, I’ll give you a choice. This isn’t one of those times. If you don’t obey me in this, you’ll get more of my belt.”
My ass clenches at the mention of the whipping he gave me yesterday. Worse yet, my pussy does, too.
I look away. A coward’s action to hide the blush creeping up my neck, but if I don’t, he might see the truth of it. That it might have been painful and embarrassing, but when he held me, and touched me afterward, it was like a huge warm blanket being wrapped around me. It’s not something I’m used to.
It’s not something I should get used to.
He takes advantage and presses his mouth against my ear. “And if I have punish you again for disobeying me,moy malen’kiy voin, you’ll forfeit your pleasure.”
This man! How can he know exactly what to say to get my body to melt for him? I hate it.
Clearing my throat, I step back out of his reach. “Fine. I’ll stay. But you have to keep me up to date on what you find, and you have to let me help. Stop shaking your head… he’s my brother. If you need to question someone, I want to be there.”
“Fuck, no.” He folds his tree trunk arms over his chest.
“He’s my brother,” I insist. “I’ve been looking for him for three years. I can protect myself.”
“Ah, but I have your knife, and now yourgun, so how will you defend yourself?”
Okay, that’s a valid question. Those were my only two weapons.
“You’ll be there.” I grin. “You’ll keep me safe. I just want to be with you, that’s all.” I drop my shoulders. I won’t back down about this. “Please, Maxim. I just want to be involved.”
He stares at me a long moment, his jaw clenching and unclenching while thoughts fly through his mind.
“If I say you can be with me, you understand any stepping outside of my rules will result in a severe punishment.”
