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I stare at him in disbelief. “How can you say that? You just pissed off Hiram Allens! EvenIknow that man controls half of New York.”
I can’t detect even a modicum of panic in Ruslan’s unwavering gaze. “You know who controls the other half of New York?” His eyes gleam. “Ido.”
He moves in and I’m forced to take a step back. He keeps going until my back is flush against the wall, right back in the position we started in. Pretty sure I’ve left indents in the wallpaper with my nails.
“Ruslan—”
“You’ve been introduced to onlyoneside of my life, Emma. You know the businessman, the CEO. What you don’t know is theotherpart of my life. The dangerous part.”
My palms are sweating now. All those rumors floating around about mob ties, cartels, and illegal underground dealings start floating to the forefront of my mind. “H-how dangerous?”
“Dangerous enough that bringing you as my date to an event like this would have been foolish.”
My mouth pops open. “That’swhy you chose Jessica?”
He nods, running a delicate finger along my bottom lip. “I don’t give a shit about Jessica Allens. She’s merely a prop. Butyou—you are different.”
I’m trying to resist his honeyed eyes, his hypnotizing words. But there’s a swoon on the horizon that’s every bit as dangerous as Ruslan is saying he is. I’m falling in all the wrong ways. The smart thing to do would be to tell him to leave me alone forever. I open my mouth to do exactly that. What comes out instead is:
“How am I different?”
“I wanted to hide you before. For your own good. But now… fuck that. You’re different because you’remine.” His breath is sweet in my face. “And since you’remine,you will never again accept a dance with any man. Especially notthatman.”
My eyebrows pull together as I try to remember anything beyond the last couple minutes. “Are you talking about the blonde guy I danced with?”
“His name is Adrik Makarov.”
From the bite in his voice, I can tell there’s no love lost there. “What is he, your mortal enemy or something?”
I’m mostly kidding but Ruslan doesn’t crack a smile. “I wouldn’t call him mymortalenemy. But ‘enemy’ is pretty damn close. Especially after tonight.”
“I am beyond confused right now. Who is he?”
He sighs and strokes his chin, eyes going hazy with memory. “Way back when, Adrik and I used to be friends. Things changed when I took over the family business. We went from friends to rivals and there have been moments over the years when that rivalry has gotten out of hand. He was here tonight to piss me off.”
I run my fingers along his jaw. “It seems like he succeeded.”
“Fuck him.” Ruslan shakes his head angrily. “The next time he bothers you, come straight to me. Promise me that.”
I nod because what other choice do I have? I knew from the start that getting involved with Ruslan meant playing dangerous games. Now that he’s showing me justhowdangerous, I can either try to figure it out on my own…
Or I can choose to trust him.
“I’d like a promise of my own,” I blurt suddenly. He raises an eyebrow and waits for me to elaborate. “I understand why I couldn’t be your date tonight. I get why you brought Jessica. But… I still don’t like it. I’m not sure I can handle another night like this one.”
Both his eyebrows lift this time and I hold my breath. What I’m asking for isn’t exactly part of our contract. In fact, I’m pretty sure most of this conversation breaks at least one of his intractable rules.
“Okay.”
My eyes go wide. “Okay?”
Ruslan nods. “No more superficial plus-ones. No more fake dates with other women. Just you.”
Have sweeter words ever been spoken?
49
EMMA
