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The world tilted on its axis. I crumbled under Leander’s dark gaze, clinging to Misha again. “I’m going to be sick. I need to sit down. Now.”
Misha steered me toward the couch and gave a little push, sending me off across the ocean of carpet that took me all of three steps to traverse. I crashed into the corner, hanging on to the black leather with both hands.
Leander snapped his fingers at the blonde and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. She scurried away without a peep. As soon as the path was clear, he sat next to me.
The couch cushion dipped under his weight. I teetered to the right, slamming into him. He grabbed me by the back of my neck, forcing my head backward so he could look at me.
“You’re so pretty.” I breathed the words in pure awe, touching his face gently.
“What are you on?” His gaze bored straight into mine, his beautiful mouth pressed into a hard line.
“The couch,” I replied with the utmost seriousness. Boom. If these were the types of questions he had, I was golden. What the hell was I worried for?
Leander’s displeasure turned toward Sergei while he maintained a hold on my neck. “What did he take?”
I scooted closer to Leander, nuzzling his shoulder and inhaling the scent of his cologne. He smelled so fucking good. Like sex in the middle of some ancient forest, while it poured rain and poisonous flowers bloomed. At night. Naturally.
His fingers tightened on the back of my neck, but he didn’t shove me away. The subtle, controlling gesture only stoked the wild fantasy playing out in my head. If I could find a forest like that, I would fuck the shit out of him there. It was my new travel goal in life — track down the magical forest and have a sex marathon unlike anything humanly possible.
“He’ll be fine,” Sergei said with a chuckle. “Let’s get down to business.”
Leander caught my hand as it crept across his thigh. He squeezed it, hard, all while keeping his gaze fixed on Sergei. “I’d rather wait until my lawyer is in his right frame of mind.”
Sergei scoffed. “You came all this way. At least have a drink.”
“I’m afraid I’m not feeling very social at the moment. And it looks like Mr. Reeve has had his fill for the evening. I wouldn’t want either of us to overstay our welcome. I’ll see him home.” Leander stood again, leaving zero room for argument. His hand dropped from my neck and hooked around my waist. He hauled me to my feet roughly, his fingers digging into my hip.
“Do you need help?” Misha asked, stepping forward.
Leander’s voice was barely above a growl, matching the lethal look etched on his face. “No, thank you.”
My head swiveled toward Leander, brows raised. A shiver ran along my spine despite the sweat rolling down the small of my back.
Misha knew a hint when he heard one, stepping back with a nod.
“Welcome home, gentlemen,” Sergei said, raising his glass to us as we made our way to the door. “We’ll talk soon.”
The club was in full swing outside of Sergei’s private room. Strobe lights and neon colors assaulted me as soon as we stepped foot in the hallway. My head thumped, beyond the usual amount of pain I’d lived with ever since my little brain bleed a few months back. Speaking of which, it felt like a blood vessel was one techno beat away from exploding.
I yanked away from Leander as soon as we approached the main door. Bursting through it, I clawed open the rest of the buttons on my shirt, peeling the damp fabric away from my skin. I couldn’t count my heartbeats if I tried. Despite a cool summer night, Chicago felt like it was at the center of the goddamn equator.
“Get in the car,” Leander snapped, yanking open the passenger door on a waiting sedan.
I knew it. He was going to murder me right then and there. If I got in that car, it would be the last time anyone saw me alive. I wasn’t supposed to die like this. I was supposed to die in the magical forest, fucked to death, drained of my life force and bodily fluids. Not beaten to death with a crow bar by the most beautiful murderer to ever walk the Earth. Besides me, that is.
“Now, Bennett!”
As I turned to go, resolved to my fate, Misha appeared, tugging on my arm gently. “Bennett?”
I glanced between the two men, frozen in place. On one side, there was a panther, all-black and graceful lines. Silent and deadly. On the other, a bear, a force of nature, capable of crushing anyone or anything. Currently, their attention was on me. If they turned it to one another, who knew how bloody it would get.
Misha fished my cell phone out of his pocket and held it out to me, giving another small nod. An apology? A farewell? Good luck? I had no idea. Russians were so hard to read.
“Dasvidaniya,” he murmured. A formal goodbye, then. I was dead. I was fucking dead and Misha knew it.
Before I could dredge up any parting words, a hand seized the back of my neck in a vice grip and shoved me into the car.
Leander climbed in after me, slamming the door.
