Page 68 of Raven's Place

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Page 68 of Raven's Place

“The green one.”

Darius stood in my apartment, a haunting vision in a tailored gray suit, his damp hair pulled back from a freshly shaven face and bound by an elastic at the base of his skull. He was beautiful, and magnetic, and smelled so good; the rich scent of musk, man, and exotic spices soaked the air, filling my space with him.

“Hi,” I blurted for lack of anything better.

He swept back a rogue lock of hair that had escaped its confines and my stomach flipped. Him dressed like that had nearly gotten me and Sasha killed the day before. I didn’t know what it was about him wearing a suit but watching him coming down those stairs looking like sin incarnate had sent my whole system into a tizzy. It still was as I studied him now in the once safety of my bedroom.

“Hi,” he responded.

“I thought you were Sasha,” I explained, fidgeting with the hangers digging into my fingers. “We sometimes go for coffee before work.”

He reached into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out the book I’d loaned him. “I came to drop this off and answer yourquestions.” But rather than hold the book out, he eyed me. “Do you always keep your door unlocked?”

I laughed. “This is the most secure building in the city, and literally no one has access to this side, except family. Besides,” I tossed the skirt and blouse down on my rumpled bed, “it’s a pain running to open it every time the girls drop in. It’s just easier this way.”

“You could just give them a key,” he suggested, dropping a shoulder against the doorframe.

“Oh, we have keys to each other’s places,” I shot him a grin, “this is easier.”

“It’s not safe, Kami.”

I set my chosen outfit down over the other one and faced him properly. “There is nothing in the world that can touch me here.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Lock it. Please,” he added when I opened my mouth.

Any other time, I would have waved away the concern, but I was struck by the hard set of his jaw, the plea in his beautiful eyes. He was afraid for me. This feud with Volkov was putting him on edge.

“Okay.”

Satisfied, he straightened. His gaze moved along my barely clad frame with a hunger and need I recognized and felt to my core. My fingers tightened around my towel, a strip of fabric keeping me from what we both wanted.

His attention flicked between my eyes and my lips before settling down on the book in his hand.

“I stayed up all night to finish this book,” he murmured. “Because I needed a reason to see you.”

I bit my lip. “You didn’t like it?”

He raised his head, amusement sprinkling the frustration darkening the pale surface of his eyes. “I did. But it could have been the worst pile of garbage, and I would have plowed throughit because…” he hesitated. The book smacked the side of his thigh once. “You didn’t text.”

My lips parted in surprise. “Darius…”

He put a hand up. “I know, baby. I know I’m breaking the rules. I know I shouldn’t be here. I know I’m supposed to let you go.” He peered deeply into my eyes from the five feet separating us, his pain mirroring mine. “It’s taking everything not to find Volkov and settling this once and for all just so—”

“No!” I was across the room before he finished. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare…” I broke off when my voice cracked. “You promised.”

“Kami—”

I stabbed him in the chest with my finger. “You promised!” I snapped again. “You promised you wouldn’t take unnecessary risks. You said—”

He captured my hand and brought the fingertips to his lips. He kissed each one lightly, his eyes never leaving mine.

“I won’t hide from him, kitten. Eventually, I will have to face him.”

I knew that.

I knew Darius wasn’t a coward.

I knew he would have to face Volkov.


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