Lissa hurried up the back stairs leading to the second floor, to the wing where Arturo, Tomasso and three other bodyguards resided. She knew which room was Tomasso’s and she stood in front of the door, there in the darkened hallway. No sound emerged from the other side. No light slipped under the door.
She turned the doorknob very slowly. It was locked. That didn’t surprise her in the least. It wasn’t that difficult to pick the lock and she did so quickly. She pushed the door open cautiously, slipped inside and closed the door silently.
She stood just to the right of the door, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was much darker in the room due to the fact that heavy drapes had been pulled across the windows. She heard her heart pounding. As a rule, she could overcome fear rather easily. It was a matter of discipline and resolve. But this was a different kind of fear. Completely different.
Lissa’s life had been destroyed by the attack on her family. Her parents had been brutally murdered. She’d nearly been murdered as well, and she’d been a very young child. That day was forever stamped in her mind, burned deep into her memories, but she kept that door carefully closed. The moment it was opened, the nightmares started. Standing there in the dark, she felt those murders and the memory of them all too close because the very air around her was fraught with danger.
She stayed still, inhaling to calm her pounding heart. The air was spiced with a dark, masculine scent. Dangerous to her. She recognized that immediately as she pulled her breath deep into her lungs – pulled him deep into her lungs. Prakenskii. No one else had those eyes. It didn’t matter what color they were or if he wore glasses or not. It was the eyes. Hawk-like. Piercing. Seeing everything. Seeing into one’s soul.
Then there was the blistering chemistry between them she couldn’t deny. She didn’t have chemistry with men. She didn’t allow it. She wasn’t finished with her work and it was too important to screw that up for a man.
He made no sound. No movement. But he was there, somewhere in the dark room. Close to her. Very close. Somehow he’d seen or heard or was alerted to the doorknob twisting, or her picking the lock. It was impossible, she hadn’t made a sound, but she knew he wasn’t in the bed. He was there, very, very close to her. She held her breath, listening for the sound of his breathing, but there was nothing at all to give him away. She had trapped herself in the room with a powerful predator.
Lissa acknowledged and tried to learn from every mistake she made. She didn’t just keep going on a path if it wasn’t the right one because of ego. Right now, she knew she was in over her head. Whoever this man was – Prakenskii or not – he was much better at cat and mouse than she was. She was used to being the cat. In this room, she definitely was the mouse. Very slowly she inched back toward the door, her hand moving toward the doorknob.
“Don’t.”
The single command was low. Soft. Close to her right ear. So close she felt his warm breath stir her hair, disturbing a few stray strands. The hair moved over her face, causing an electrical shock to chase across her entire body, bringing every nerve ending alive. Her breasts felt tight, swollen, aching. Her nipples tightened into two hard peaks. She shivered – a full-body shiver. He hadn’t touched her. She drew in another breath, suddenly terrified that this man – this stranger – had more power over her than anything else in her life ever had.
He couldn’t stop her from opening the door, yet she hesitated, her hand hovering over the doorknob indecisively when she was always decisive. Her hand trembled and then she dropped her palm onto the knob. It felt solid. Reassuring. His scent tilted her world and made her feel disoriented. Alarmed. Hunted.
His hand covered hers. Gently. So gently. Still. She couldn’t move. His body caged her in, inched forward just enough that she retreated before she even realized she’d given ground. Her arm was trapped behind her, and, consequently, one of her weapons was tied up, fingers still curled around the doorknob. His palm no longer surrounded the back of her hand. Instead, it was loose. A worry. A very lethal weapon.
“I want to leave this room. If you force me to scream, the other bodyguards will come running. Just step away.” She managed to get the order out without her voice shaking. The threat level was extremely high. Her body didn’t feel at all like her own. He stood facing her, his front solid. Muscular. Presenting her with numerous targets, yet she couldn’t take advantage. It was too easy, and she knew it was a trap. He was baiting her.
His hand came up – the one she’d known was going to be trouble – and cupped the side of her face, his thumb sweeping along her cheekbone. “But you won’t scream. If you brought them all here, you would force me to defend myself. I would, and I like most of the boys working for Luigi. With the exception of Enzo, who is a snake waiting to strike. In any case, I would kill them all and then your uncle would come…” He trailed off and swept his thumb over her lips. “You know you don’t want that.”