AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I want to play again.” She laughed. “Not right now. I might not be able to walk tomorrow. But sometime soon.”
His cock stirred under the water and he stifled a groan. Ruby needed time to recover — being a submissive took a toll that might sneak up on her — but it was music to his fucking ears that she wanted to return the playroom. It was what he’d hoped for, what his instinct had told him: that they were made for each other, that they belonged together.
Except for the significant matter of their different worlds and the fact that Ruby would never allow Olivia to be raised by a criminal like him.
“I’m happy you enjoyed yourself sweetheart.”
“Oh I did.” The purr in her voice threatened to get him going again.
He tipped his head back and let himself drift. Outside these walls, his life was a fucking mess, his future uncertain. Here everything was as it should be and the woman between his legs was the only thing that seemed to matter.
He was startled by the sound of his phone, next to the tub where he’d placed it in case there was an urgent work issue, something that had once been a rare occurrence and now seemed to happen multiple times a day.
Ruby sat up a little to reach for his phone. She handed it to him without looking at the screen and resettled herself between his thighs.
It was Max.
“What is it?” Roman asked.
“Erik’s on his way out of the city,” Max said. “Pavel is still on him.”
Roman’s pulse quickened. After nearly a week of being tailed by Roman’s men, maybe Erik was finally going to see Igor.
Or maybe he was going somewhere else. Who knew?
“Where’s he headed?” Roman asked.
“Looks like upstate,” Max said. “Pavel said he just crossed the bridge. He’s on the Thruway heading north.”
Ruby shifted, seeming to sense that something important was happening, and Roman stood and stepped out of the bath.
Water sluiced off his body as he grabbed a towel. “Tell Pavel to stay on him.”
“For how long?”
Roman knew what Max was asking: New York was a massive state. It was a good eight hours to the Canadian border and Erik’s destination could be anywhere along the way, not to mention any one of the neighboring states.
But Erik was leaving the city for the first time in a week, leaving the city in the middle of a turf war that was taking as big a toll on Igor’s resources as it was Roman’s.
Wherever Erik was going, it was important.
Roman stalked into the bedroom, mentally preparing himself for what was to come. “As long as it takes for him to get where Erik’s going.”
31
RUBY
“I’d feel better if you took Georgiy,” Ruby said, watching Roman open the duffel on the bed.
“Not a chance,” Roman said. “And you already won the Max round, so don’t push it.”
Ruby bit her lip and sat on the bed. Roman had wanted to leave Max with her and Olivia too, but Ruby had fought him on it. Max was Ruby’s security blanket against something happening to Roman. He would never be as safe without Max as he would with his best friend at his back.
And Ruby really needed him to be safe.
“I need to pack some weapons,” Roman said. “Do you want to leave the room?”
He was giving her an out. She’d gotten used to the fact that he carried a weapon, saw how careful he was about storing it in the safe next to his bed when he slept or in any number of other gun safes in the house. It was for self-defense, and if anyone was justified in needing a weapon to protect themselves, it was Roman after what had happened at the Orlovs’ funeral.
