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“I can’t believe this! He didn’t tell Hannah?”
“I don’t know what he told Hannah.” That wasn’t entirely true. I assumed he wouldn’t tell her for the same reasons I didn’t tell Emmy, but I wasn’t about to offer up my thoughts on that topic. I had enough to worry about with Emmy.
Emmy opened her mouth again, most likely to say something that would make me feel like a bug under a fucking microscope, but Drago thankfully interceded.
“Ivan! We gotta go.”
I glanced at him gratefully.
“You don’t have to look so relieved to be leaving, you know,” Emmy said sourly.
I pulled her close to me, gripping her chin in my hand. “Emmy, I really am sorry you found out this way. I was trying to protect you, even if it might not seem like it. We’ll sort this out after I’m done with Orlov. Okay?”
She pouted in a way that was somehow both adorable and fucking sexy, but grudgingly nodded her head. “Okay,” she replied sulkily.
My lungs heaved a sigh of relief that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I landed a hard kiss on her mouth and intended to pull away, but when her body relaxed against me, trusting me again, I kind of fucking lost it a little.
When her fingers crept into my hair, nails scraping against my scalp, I was completely derailed. Still kissing her, I quickly shoved the table back and pulled her to straddle my lap. My hands gripped her ass as she grinded against me, completely lost to the passion that constantly burned between us. I heard a tiny moan vibrate against my chest and it made me almost manic to rip off her underwear and sink inside her.
My hands were under her skirt and sliding inside her panties to grip the cheeks of her ass when an irritated voice pulled me back to reality.
“Ivan! What the fuck? We don’t have time for you to fuck your girl. Let’s go,” griped Maxim.
I snapped back to reality and turned to look at everyone staring at us. Hannah was covering her eyes and my sister looked at me like I was an alien. The telltale heat of embarrassment flooded my cheeks, and I scowled in annoyance.
“We were just kissing,” I grumbled, standing up and pulling Emmy up next to me.
“Well, you were about to take a right turn into Fucksville, from where I’m standing,” Anya snickered.
I glowered at her to distract from the fact that she was absolutely right.
I turned to Emmy. “Stay with Nikolai. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning and we’ll talk about everything.”
She nodded and notably avoided everyone else’s stares, obviously also embarrassed at what we had been doing in full view of the room. “Okay. Please, be careful,” she urged in a soft voice that caused my chest to squeeze.
I pulled her against me, my arms clamping around her. “I’ll be fine. Don’t do anything or go anywhere. Understand?”
I could feel her head nodding against my shoulder. I gave her one last hard kiss and looked at Nikolai. “You keep your fucking eyes on her.”
Nikolai gave me a curt nod. I trusted him.
I gave her one last look and headed toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 42
Emmy
I plopped down in the booth, my mind unraveling like a skein of yarn. Hannah sat across from me and it was like staring into a mirror. I could see every bit of the shock, confusion, and disbelief that I was feeling etched across her features.
“I can’t believe Mom lied to us all this time,” Hannah said, reminding me of another aspect of this clusterfuck I hadn’t thought about. Mom. My mother had lied about who my father was for nearly two decades.
Why?
If what Ivan said was to be believed it was because my father was some kind of a lunatic kingpin, and I had no reason not to believe him. I shook my head. “I can barely wrap my head around this. We need to go talk to her. We need answers.”
Hannah nodded. Nikolai had walked up and was now stroking the back of her head, clearly unhappy with Hannah’s obvious distress. I shot him a suspicious look. “How much did you know about all of this?”
Nikolai narrowed his eyes at me and pressed his lips together, as if he was trying to trap the words behind his closed lips. “I found out a while ago. Ivan was worried about Armstrong making some kind of move and wanted me to keep an eye on you.”
