Page 51

X: Something. Makes it sound smaller than it is.

Iris: This number is for business, remember?

My personal phone vibrates this time.

Nikolai: We shared something special in the office earlier, before that lunatic burst in. I know you felt it. I know you’re fighting it. And I should be too. But I can’t be cold and distant, not with you. So I’m riding this wave wherever it sends us.

My heart flutters. I want to believe all this so badly. Earlier, the tension was like a drug. Our intimacy was off the charts. When he was holding me, inside me, I was warmer than I’ve ever been. In my body and my mind.

It’s a bubbly feeling that tries to draw me in and make me forget. Pico walks tiredly over when I step into the living room. Rosa is snoozing on the couch, a blanket pulled over her. She looks small and exhausted. Guilt cuts at me. None of them would be in this mess if it wasn’t for me.

I pull Pico into my lap, scratching the top of his head with my index finger. He yawns and sinks against me.

Serena: I have to be careful. Going wild is one thing. But I can’t rush into a relationship or anything serious. Or anything even semi-serious. I have to take it slow. Well, emotionally.

We’re not taking it slow physically, but it’s like it’s got a force of its own, a crushing and heavy weight that makes me want to go to him over and over. I’ve never felt heat like that, the close intimacy of feeling like his body knows mine better than I know myself.

Nikolai: I get that. I lose my mind around you. But I’ll try to keep hold of it. For now.

Serena: Of COURSE, you had to add ‘for now’. I bet you’ve got that signature smirk on your face too.

Nikolai: Signature smirk?.

Serena: Don’t play dumb. All cocked to the side. Ready to laugh at the world.

I send the text, then pick up the burner phone and text him again.

Iris: Let me make contact with my friend. I can arrange a meeting for us.

X: That’s a smart idea. You always have smart ideas, Iris.

I smile, remembering before the party, when Iris and Serena were genuinely separated. Part of me misses it… so I love that he’s bringing it back.

I put both phones down, looking at my reflection in the huge widescreen TV. I’m sitting in an expensive apartment owned by my boss, using his men to keep my family safe, while working with him to take down his enemies. What happened to taking things slow?

CHAPTER 20

NIKOLAI

Serena sits in the passenger seat, her hands smoothing up and down her thighs. She’s wearing a summer dress, so that movement is pretty damn difficult not to pay attention to. Her soft hands press against her thick, tempting legs. I stir, trying to focus on the road, groin throbbing.

I must be an animal. I care about her. Want to protect her. Want to hold and cherish her. Want to support her family. And I still want to pull the car over and fuck her ragged.

She sees me looking and rolls her eyes. She can read me like a book. “You’re predictable,” she murmurs.

“I was thinking tactically,” I lie, as I drive through the sunlit city, the beach on one side and tall buildings on the other.

“Oh yeah? What were you thinking, then?” she replies.

“About the fact your friend insisted on meeting at the hotel,” I tell her. “And that she insisted on meeting both of us.”

“It’s suspicious,” Serena agrees, in a less anxious voice. She stops the movement of her hands and looks at me seriously. “I think it’s a good plan.”

“It’s our plan,” I tell her.

When Sasha said she’d only meet at the Delmaris, we knew there was a chance she was playing us. We debated not going, but then we worked up a plan together over a flurry of texts.

Iris: This could be a chance.