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“No one hurts women on our watch,” I tell her evenly, because I can’t tell her all of that. “No one in the Kings would agree to let you be harmed for information, at least not that I know of, and you best believe I’d have something to say if I knew of someone who would. That information is worth a lot, but it’s not worth your safety, Asha. Or any woman’s,” I add.
“That’s good to hear,” she says archly, but there’s a faint tremor in her words that I don’t miss. “So that’s all, then? I let you know when I’ve talked to Matvei, and then we make plans to meet?”
“It needs to be soon,” I caution her. “He’s making moves, and we need to know anything that he might let slip about what those are. Play to his ego if you have to, find out what will make him talk, and get him to trust you if you can. But this can’t wait long, Asha.”
“I’m going to be working on my days off, you know.” She raises an eyebrow. “But at least you’re going to make it worth my while.”
I’d do a lot more than that, if you’d let me.I keep those words locked tightly behind my lips, but it’s the hardest thing in the world to look at her, and not let a single flirtation slip out. If she were any other woman, I’d be halfway to getting her in my bed already.
But if she were any other woman, I don’t think I’d want her half as badly.
“You’ll be well compensated,” I tell her firmly. “And if at any point this becomes too dangerous, Asha, you tell me. You don’t need to feel obliged—”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” She finishes the last of her coffee and reaches for her purse. “I’ll call you, Finn. As soon as I talk to Matvei.”
There’s a clear inference in her words that she’ll callme, not the other way around—that she doesn’t expect to hear me for any reason. Which is fine, I tell myself as she gets up and gives me a quick, tight smile before walking away, towards the door of the coffee shop, and I sit there and watch her go.
It’s business.Justbusiness, and nothing else. What happened at the Ashen Rose stays there, just like any other client she sees.
But I can already tell that it’s going to be a hell of a lot harder to keep my head on straight while we do this job than I realized.
Asha
I’m not sure I’ve ever met a man who manages to infuriate and turn me on all at once as much as Finn does—who seems to have an uncanny ability to make me genuinelylikehim at the same time. I felt like I had to leave when I did, because if I hadn’t, I would have wanted to stay and keep talking to him. I might have said things that he doesn’t need to know. Told him things about myself that I haven’t talked about with anyone, even Nikolai.
We wouldn’t work,I remind myself as I walk back towards my apartment. Finn doesn’t have a yielding bone in his body, not really, and I’m not about to let him have the kind of power over me that he would, if I gave in to what he wants. Just being around him threatens the life I’ve carefully constructed for myself, and I’m beginning to wish I’d refused the job after all, for more than one reason.
But the money is good.Morethan good. By the time I’m finished with this, I’ll have enough tucked away that I can make decisions that seemed years down the line for me before this. I can stay at the Ashen Rose until I’m ready to go, and then I can just—leave. I can plot out my life however I choose from now on.
Finn doesn’t fit into that anywhere. If he were a different man, I’d just let him take me home and fuck him out of my system—but he’s not. He’s this strange mix of irritating and attractive and intriguing all at once. I know that if I let myself slip deeper into wanting him, it will only make my life far more complicated than it needs to be.
You’re finally getting over Nikolai. And before that—
I clench my teeth, forcing the painful memory away. Having my heart broken twice was enough. A third time wouldn’t be the charm—it might just kill me.
Instead, I force myself to focus on the job ahead, the steps that Finn laid out for me. Getting ahold of Matvei won’t be an issue—I can get his number from the club, and I don’t doubt he’ll want to see me. Nikolai already told me that Matvei contacted the club after he’d been thrown out, asking to speak to me privately, to see me again, demanding that he be allowed back for another session with me. Nikolai refused him, of course, and I have a feeling that Matvei will be even more pleased for a night with me outside of the rules and restraints of the club.
A shudder goes down my spine at that thought.Finn said he’ll keep me safe,I remind myself, but I don’t know if Finn realizes just how dangerous Matvei is. I wonder if I should have told Finn what Matvei did, if I should have expanded more on what happened beyond just saying that he had gotten out of line, and that he’d frightened me. But surely if Finn and the Kings are investigating Matvei’s activities in the city, they’re aware of what kind of man he is.
Finn had told me not to wait long. I’m working tonight—then off for the next two days. My stomach tightens at the idea of getting Matvei’s number tonight and calling him, but I tell myself that there’s no point in putting it off. The sooner this begins, the sooner it can be over.
It’s hard to focus on work, but I force myself through it, not wanting any of my clients—or, god forbid, Nikolai, to realize that anything is off. The last thing I want to deal with right now are questions from Nikolai.
Getting the number is easy enough. Callie is working the front desk tonight, and I tell her I need to look at a client’s file. I find Matvei Kotov in seconds—marked asrestricted, do not allow to reapply—and write down the number that he gave.
Easy. The hard part will be following through on it—and it is. Sitting on my bed hours later, my hair damp and loose around my shoulders after a shower, wrapped in my favorite well-worn, soft bathrobe, I look down at the sticky note I wrote the number on and my cell phone, and take a deep breath.
Finn promised me protection.I repeat that in my head as I pick up my phone, swallowing back the fear that coils deep in my belly, the memories of how things went that night at the Ashen Rose still present in my mind. The safest thing to do would be to throw the number away and tell Finn that I’ve changed my mind about the job. But for what he’s offering—
I dial the number before I can stop myself, waiting for Matvei to answer.
“Hello?” His voice is deep, thick with his accent, and for a moment, I can’t speak past the reminder of how that voice sounded, mocking me in the room at the Rose.
“This is Asha,” I say as confidently as I can, not wanting him to hear the tremor behind the words. “From the—”
“I remember you.” Even that has the hint of a threat, coming from him. “Your boss refused to let me see you again. Did he tell you I called?”
“He did. And about the—the refusal.” I swallow hard, desperately trying to keep the upper hand in this. “I was calling to arrange something with you privately.”
