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“In the morning, we’ll figure things out,” he said.
At least that’s what I thought he said because I was already well on my way to the best sleep of my life.
Chapter 14 - Mikhail
I slowly woke up from the most erotic dream of my life to realize it wasn’t a dream. Evelina lay curled up beside me, the curve of her breast peeking out over the top of the blanket. Her dark lashes contrasted starkly against her pale skin, and I slowly eased onto my side to watch her sleep. Just for a moment because she looked so innocent and peaceful.
Her mouth wasn’t set in stubborn lines; her brow wasn’t furrowed with worry. She looked completely content, and I liked to think I had a little something to do with that. And she was so very beautiful with her hair strewn across the pillow.
I shouldn’t have been waking up next to her or letting her into my bed in the first place. But she was shaken by the attack on her cousin’s house and seemed to blame herself. I didn’t want her to be alone, beating herself up over it. I had started out with the best of intentions.
But of course, that was what the road to hell was paved with, and it didn’t take long until I was under her spell once more. How was she so irresistible to me? Was I just trying to prove to myself that our first explosive time together had been a fluke? She was forbidden fruit, after all. Lush, ripe, forbidden fruit I couldn’t wait to taste. Surely the next time would be tame in comparison.
Instead, it was a hundred times more explosive. The way her body reacted to mine, the way she and I seemed to be on the same wavelength at all times, everything about being with her was better than I could have imagined. And God help me, ever since she came back into my life, I’d had more than a few fantasies about her.
Reality being so much better made me weak. Watching her now weakened me again, and I reached for her smooth shoulder. Stopping myself, I hurried out of bed. Waking up beside her was much too bizarre, and I needed to get my wits about me before she woke up.
Striding naked to the bathroom, I stepped under the shower, blasting the water until it turned cold. Only then did I think I had the fortitude to face her without spreading her thighs and diving between them.
Back in the bedroom, my bed was empty, the covers neatly pulled up over the pillows. I should have been relieved to not have to test my willpower, but I was disappointed to see she was gone. I forced myself not to look for her immediately but took my time shaving and getting dressed. There were people I needed to check in with, not least of all Evelina’s father, but I couldn’t stay away from her any longer and went to look for her.
The cook informed me she had grabbed an orange and disappeared. I did the same, not wanting to waste time over a full breakfast if Evelina wasn’t going to join me. I strolled out to the pool and through the garden, pretending I wasn’t still looking for her, finally sticking my head into her office.
She stood at the window, her hands on her hips as she turned to shake her head at me. “It’s about time,” she said. What was she so impatient about now? She waved me over and slid into her computer chair. “As soon as I’m connected, I can start downloading my backups and show you what I’ve collected so far.”
I suppressed a groan when I realized she still wanted to bring down the Novikoffs, surprised to see she expected me to help her. She smiled at me, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“You didn’t think I’d forget about it, did you? You weren’t trying to distract me last night, were you?”
I almost laughed. After all my justifications to excuse sleeping with her, I’d never considered that one. “You’re really determined, aren’t you?”
She nodded vigorously. “You know I am. And once you see everything for yourself, you’ll understand why. I’m really close, Mikhail.”
My mind raced like a hamster on a wheel, not really going anywhere. She was safe with me. What could it really hurt to give her internet access? If I thought things were starting to go off the rails, I could easily cut her off. And her enthusiasm made me curious to see what she’d found out about this enemy that was growing a bit too bold. Despite having no proof yet, they had most certainly been behind the attack on Ivan’s family home.
Not one of his many businesses, his home. It could have easily gone much worse than it did, and the Morozovs were my family’s ally—my friends. If the Novikoffs figured out Evelina was with me, my organization would be next. It was very close to personal now.
“Fine,” I said, taking out my phone to tell my head of security to turn the router back on.
She gaped at me. “You had it turned off in the whole house? You didn’t have any internet either?”
I laughed at her. “And somehow I survived. You know you haven’t had your phone since you’ve been with me, and you’re still alive.”
She rubbed her arms and scowled. “I’m all itchy, though.” A second later, she snickered, but I thought she was at least half serious.
Once she was connected, her fingers flew like slender hummingbirds across her keyboard, her vision laser-focused on her screens as her head darted back and forth between them. While she worked, she filled me in on what was happening. Something had to download, something else had to update.
I sat across from her desk, as enthralled as if watching a thriller. After about half an hour, she leaned back and clapped her hands.
“I can’t believe it,” she said, beaming. “I still have control of some of their cameras. They must be absolute idiots. If I found out someone had even one of my security cameras, I would have checked each and every last one of the others.” She shrugged. “Thank goodness for stupidity, I guess.”
I got up and moved to stand behind her, and she pointed out the camera feeds on one screen. Nothing much was happening, but she assured me she had started recording for when something did, then showed me the data she had collected during her time in New York. She had digital copies of everything from building deeds to bank records. I had to admit I was impressed.
“What now?” I asked, moving back to my chair. Watching her work was far more intriguing than what little was going on onscreen at the moment.
“We wait,” she said with a shrug. “Surveillance isn’t always that interesting. It’s mostly pretty boring, actually. Until something happens, that is.”
With her head bent over her keyboard, she told me she needed to update a few more things. While she worked, she had me set up her printer so she could get hard copies to take notes on, admitting with a pretty blush that she knew it was old school, but she liked to write longhand sometimes.
