“Why are you here?” he said, his voice patient but the question still clear in his tone.
“I-I wanted…” I stammered, hating that I did, but not sure how to respond, not sure that I could even say it out loud.
“There’s no assassin in the closet, and as good as Matthew’s work is, I don’t think you were waiting here to discuss it. So why are you here?”
“Umm,” I stammered again. “I, ah, wanted to introduce myself,” I finally said.
And that was true. In a way. It sounded so much better than “I wanted to cut to the chase and get the sex part of this sham marriage out of the way.”
I’d keep that little tidbit to myself. Men like him wouldn’t appreciate the honesty, and I didn’t want to do anything to rock the boat. In fact, I was here now to prove it.
“Introduce yourself, huh?” he said.
I thinned my lips, a moment’s temper rising up before I mercilessly cut it down. Still, I didn’t like the teasing in his voice, or in his eyes, and it was hard to think with him standing so close.
“Yes,” I said. Then I extended my hand, not able to stretch it completely because of how close he was. “I’m Daniela Carmelli.”
I felt like an idiot, my hand hanging there limply waiting for a handshake like I wasn’t married to him, like he wasn’t a fucking mobster.
“Vetrov,” he said.
“What?”
“Daniela Vetrov,” he repeated. As he spoke, he reached for my hand, and with surprising gentleness, pushed it back to my side. His touch set off a shiver of pleasure, the roughness of his fingertips so at odds with the gentle way he touched me.
“Is that...? Is that your last name?” I said.
“Yes.”
I swallowed. “Mine too now,” I said.
He nodded, but stayed quiet, and so did I, studying his face at the same time as I tried to understand what was happening. My body was lit with desire that grew more insistent as I stared at him, and I didn’t know what to do or how to feel about it.
“That’s all?” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I responded a beat later than I should have. He lifted his lips, that little smile deepening, and I knew he’d caught me.
“You only wanted to…introduce yourself?” he said.
“Yes. Did it seem like I wanted something else?” I asked.
Even if I hadn’t been breathless, even if I hadn’t been trying to avoid looking at his body, I would have been given away. The desire I felt was too strong to hide, and I suspected that Sergei was far more savvy than he pretended to be.
He looked down, let his eyes rest on the rise of cleavage that my dress revealed, then down my bare arms. “You could see how I might get a different impression?” he said, his eyes now back on my breasts.
“And,” I stopped, swallowed, and then began again. “And if that were the case, this…other impression, what would you say?”
The smile stayed on his face, but his eyes darkened. Slowly, he reached up and trailed three rough-tipped fingers against my neck. Then he leaned forward, brushed his lips against mine, the touch so light I would have thought I imagined it if not for the shock of electricity that shot through me.
“Good night,” he said.
Then he turned, leaving me a view of a back that was as strong and muscled as his front and a swarm of buzzing emotions.
I stared at his back as he went toward the closet, still trying to process what was happening. This was not at all what I’d had in mind. I wasn’t going to try to seduce him; my pride wouldn’t allow it. But to have him stand so close that our breaths practically mingled, have him touch me, his warm voice slipping over my skin like a caress.
Only then to have him send me away…
I should have been happy about that, should have been beyond relieved that he hadn’t wanted to press his claim.
I wasn’t.
* * *
Sergei
“Holy fuck,” I said as I stood in the shower with cold, but not nearly cold enough, water beating down on me.
When I’d walked in to find Daniela waiting on me, I hadn’t been surprised. It was a straightforward play, really. She’d offer herself to me, thinking she could fuck me right under her thumb, and then use me to protect Santo, maybe even get his business back for him.
So I’d been prepared, expected lingerie that would show off her luscious curves, expected the neutral Daniela to be replaced with a sex kitten ready to do anything to gain the upper hand.
What I hadn’t expected was her to be tentative at first, almost nervous, and then unable to hide how hard she was trying not to look at me as I undressed. That could have been a game, part of her ruse, but my gut told me it wasn’t.