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Sasha
I stare down into Natalya’s gray-green eyes, shimmering with tears that shouldn’t turn me on but do. I sense the tension in Yuri and Ilya, as well as the acrid scent of fear wafting off the thief mixing with the pungent odor of bleach. My focus, however, is homed in on this slight woman who has no idea what she’s just offered me. My cock is so hard I have to force myself not to adjust my jeans and the zipper that presses against it.
“Hold, Yuri.” I trust he’ll follow my command without question. At least none he’ll voice aloud.
No doubt word will reach the Pakhan about what went down here, but I can’t find it in me to care. It’s not as though my obsession with my solnishko is a secret from him, even if he doesn’t approve. Without taking my eyes off Natalya, I address her father.
“Your debt is now mine. Your daughter is now mine.” Her eyes widen and she sucks in a sharp breath that makes her small but perfect breasts rise. “You have one month to pay me the three million you stole from the boss, plus interest. For every day you are late, she will pay the price. Then I’ll come for your wife and other two children until you are left with nothing.”
I continue staring at Natalya, daring her to look away. Beneath my fingers, her pulse quickens. I glide my thumb along her jawline, savoring the smooth silkiness of her skin. She trembles under my touch.
“You said anything. Are you prepared for what that means, solnishko?”
Her eyes change from more green to more gray. She nods shakily. My grin is triumphant. At last, I shift my attention from her to my two associates and the sniveling coward who continues to quake with fear, his face red and tear-streaked. “One month.”
I nod at Yuri, who releases Boris and shuts off the meat slicer. The older man nearly collapses, but manages to stay upright. He barely casts a glance at his daughter. Shame clings to him. He won’t meet my eyes, either.
“I’ll have it for you by then. I swear.” His voice wavers.
Experience tells me not to believe him. What will I do if he fails to meet his end of the deal? Am I truly prepared to follow through on my threat? Worry about that another time.
I grip Natalya around the upper arm and lead her toward the exit. She digs in her heels and tugs, trying to loosen my hold on her. “Wait. Let me talk to my dad for just a minute.”
“You can talk to him when he brings me my money.”
“Please, Sasha.” She lays her small hand over mine, a desperate plea in her eyes.
Fuck. “You have one minute.”
She sags in relief, and I let go of her, already regretting it. Not only because I miss touching her, but because Natalya doesn’t need to know how helpless I am against her wishes. She approaches Boris and stops directly in front of him. Whatever she says is soft enough I don’t catch it, but it makes him stiffen. He finally meets her gaze, and then it drifts over her shoulder to meet mine. His Adam’s apple bobs with his hard swallow and he glances back at Natalya, giving her a jerky nod.
With a rigid spine, she returns to me. “I’m ready.”
“What did you say to him?” I’m curious.
She shakes her head. “Nothing that concerns you.”
I grip her chin and lift it, forcing her to crane her neck to meet my eyes. “Everything you do from this moment on concerns me, solnishko.”
Her mouth tightens and she refuses to answer. I let it go for the moment. There are other ways I can show her just how wrong she is. Natalya walks forward, sweeping past me with her head held high. I follow right on her heels, stopping when she bends to pick her bag up off the floor on the other side of the door. Before she can loop it over her head, I take it from her hands.
“Hey, give that back.” She tries to grab it, but I hold it out of her reach.
“I’ll carry it. There’s nothing in there you need right now.”
“You have no idea what I need,” Natalya says through clenched teeth.
I chuckle and palm her nape again, the silken strands of her hair gliding through my fingers. Then I lean down and brush my lips over her ear. She tries to jerk her head away, but I tighten my grip enough that she freezes. “That’s where you’re wrong. I know exactly what you need, and I’m going to give it to you.”
Because I can’t resist, I nuzzle the side of her face, breathing in her sweet and delicious fragrance. I press an open-mouthed kiss along the side of her neck and glide my tongue across her flesh, dragging in her flavor. She shudders. Having made my point, I straighten and peer down to find her wearing a heavy-lidded expression of arousal. Natalya blinks and her gaze shoots to mine. Any pleasure she experienced is wiped away and she goes back to glaring at me, anger radiating off her.
“Let’s go,” she bites out.
I place my hand on her lower back and guide her safely through the darkened interior until we step outside where my car is parked on the street. Not that I expect her to run, but I walk her around to the passenger side and open the door. She glances at me in surprise as though no one’s ever done that for her before. I may be a cold-blooded killer that most of Chicago fears, but this is my solnishko. The least I can do is treat her like the treasure she is.
Once she’s settled, I climb behind the wheel, set her bag on the floor behind her seat, and make my way down the brightly lit street. The deli is almost right in the center of West Town on Division Street. Locals call the area “Little Russia”. While I weave my way through the city toward my penthouse, I cast several glances over at Natalya. Tension radiates from her and she keeps wringing her hands in her lap, the nervous gesture bringing a slight grin to my lips.
“Why were you at the deli so late?”
