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Viktor sighed. “It makes the whole idea of an arranged marriage more palatable, less mediaeval. If I were to beat the bride—and we’re not talking light punishment, which is completely acceptable if not encouraged, by the way—but if I were to physically abuse her, they could back out without forfeiting their gains from the marriage.”
Bile rose to my mouth.
Continuing his ministrations, Viktor smiled at me a little sadly. “It’s a rough place, the underworld.”
Get a grip, Briana!Suddenly realizing this was the kind of thing Viktor thought I couldn’t handle, I swallowed back my disgust. “You’re not that guy, Viktor.”
His hand clenched on my foot. “Thanks, suits.”
I scanned over the contract while he worked the tender flesh of my feet. There it was again—the way the gerund rattled off the crux of a sentence as it shored up the phrase. I worried my bottom lip. Where had I seen that before?
“Who wrote this contract?” I asked.
There was a dark twinkle in Viktor’s eye. “You can’t tell? I would’ve thought that was the first thing you picked up on.”
I pursed my lips. “Quit screwing with me, mobster.”
“Charles Avery—your boss.”
If I wasn’t sitting down, I would have fallen over. A thousand questions welled up inside me, and I began to stammer them out, not pausing for breath.
Viktor laughed hard, enjoying this turn of events. He swooped up and pressed his lips to mine, cutting me off. I kissed him back.
“No, he didn’t know who I was when we met, but I’ve known what manner of creature your sophisticated Manhattan boss is since the day you landed the internship.” Those dark eyebrows wagged. “I always did my research when it came to you, suits.”
“Such a good big brother, always looking out for your baby sis,” I teased.
“At first.” His mouth found my collarbone, and his teeth scored the already marred skin. “But it didn’t take long to start caring about you for your own sake, Briana.”
I threw my arms around him and turned fully into his embrace. Viktor growled in approval as I pulled him close and pressed against him. My greedy fingers started exploring his body, pulling at his clothing and squeezing his flesh.
“Oh, will you two get a room!” Sophia howled as she barged through the partially closed door.
“We did,” Viktor ground out, not unkindly. “This had better be important, zaika.”
“It is, kozjól.” Sophia perched on the desk as we reluctantly untangled ourselves.
Viktor stayed close, resting his chin on the arm of my chair. The temptation to run my fingers through his short, dark hair was strong.The tamed grizzly....
“Spyder Security was contacted by Volkov,” Sophia chirped.
“What would Andrei want with more guards?” Viktor asked.
“AynaVolkov sent the email.” Sophia grinned wolfishly at us. “She’s asking for cyber assistance and promising a large, large sum.”
“And what were you doing spying on Spyder Security, little sister?” Viktor demanded, voice gruff. “Making more trouble for your already stretched-thin brother?”
“Her obsession with this company knows no bounds,” I added drily.
Sophia rolled her big blue eyes. “I only tried to hack them one time, last fall.”
“And how many times since?” I frowned at her.
She laughed. “That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I can still monitor incoming correspondences, but once they roll into the conversation bay, if you will, I can’t access them.”
“What does his bride want with a cyber security firm?” I jerked a thumb at Viktor, who winced. The jab about his impending marriage might be cruel, but it was still a sore spot even though I knew he wanted nothing to do with it.
“Spyder Security doesn’t just do cyber work, they also outsource personal guards, monitor corporations and investments, do mercenary work—the sky’s the ceiling.” A glaze shifted over her eyes. “What I wouldn’t give to knock them down a peg or two.”
