by Lietha Wards
“What? This?” he traced his fingers down his jaw where he was punched. There was swelling and a telltale bruise. There was also a cut above his eye and more bruising on his torso from the accident. “I guess I’ll have to give up my modelling career.”
She looked sympathetic. “You joke about this? What did they do to you?”
“Nothing I can’t handle. It will disappear in a few days.”
“You have to be the bravest man I know.” Her fingers touched his brow and down the line of his jaw.
His eyes darkened. He bent, cupped her bottom, lifted her up against him and kissed her while walking out of the bathroom toward the bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips kissing him back.
He stopped at the foot of the bed and tossed her on it. She bit her lip to keep from squealing. Then he lowered his pants and stepped out of them before coming down on top of her. He untied her robe and pulled it apart. His mouth moved down her body to her abdomen. She arched toward him. His tongue circled her naval and she released a gasp of pleasure. Then he moved his arms under her thighs and pulled her up to meet him, his mouth covering her most intimate area. Her hands threaded in his hair and pulled, he groaned and moved his tongue against her.
“Oh God, Ryan!” she shuddered beneath him.
“Oh no you don’t. No orgasm yet.” He moved up over her. His mouth leaving a trail of kisses up her body until he met her mouth.
She moved her thighs over his hips. Despite his recent beating he was still able to enter her with a powerful thrust. He was relentless in his rhythm and she moved her hips to meet his. Then she exploded, and bit her lip again to keep from crying out.
He growled his own release and smothered her mouth with his. “Did I hurt you?”
“No way.”
He moved aside and propped his head up on his hand. One of his long legs stretched over hers. “Jesus, you’re just so sensitive to my touch.” His fingers traced the outside of one of her nipples and she gasped.
“I have a good teacher,” she whispered back. She was completely out of breath.
“It has nothing to do with teaching. You’re naturally responsive. Not a common trait despite what you think.”
“I can’t help it. You make me feel beautiful.”
“Make you? You are beautiful.”
She could feel her face heat up in a blush. She got her looks from her mother, as did Anna. Someone her father took away from her. Though, by the sounds of it, Anna did inherit something from him. “Ryan?”
“Umhmm.” His fingers were still tracing her upper body.
“Did you see the man with the birthmark?”
He stopped and met her eyes. He could see the fear there in recalling her experience with him. “I saw him. He left with your sister.” He lifted up further to stare down at her. “What did that bastard do to you?”
“Not what you’re thinking, Ryan, but it was still awful.”
She sighed and looked away. No, she wasn’t sexually assaulted by him but he touched her and did things to himself when he did. He hurt her, bruised her. Daily he would tell her he was going to kill her and do to her what he was doing to her sister next door. She could hear Anna’s screams. It sent her into a deep terror. Then there was the horror of what they were doing to Anna, now lies. She would stay angry. Fear was just not an option for her right now. She trusted Ryan. He wouldn’t let that man touch her again.
“Hey,” he said softly, placing two fingers under her jaw and turning her head to face him. “We’ll find him Katya.”
“Do you think that’s Anna’s accomplice?”
“He could be.” He bent over and kissed her. “No more talk of this. You need to relax and I still need a shower.”
She sighed. He was bossy, and abrupt. “Yes, we are making a mess here.”
He got up and walked naked to the bathroom.
She propped herself up on her elbows to watch him. He was definitely worth looking at. It was as if he was sculpted out of a block of fleshy stone, but the ink on him was sexier than hell. She took a deep breath of appreciation. It was hard to believe that moments ago, that man was part of her, making her lose her mind in him.
She must’ve drifted off because she heard his deep voice in her ear with what seemed like seconds later, but when she opened her eyes, it was dark in the room.
“Katya, move over, you’re a bed hog.”
A sleepy laugh escaped her and she moved aside. Soon a warm body was pressing against her back and a warm arm circled around her under her breasts.
“Eww, you’re still damp.” She wiggled.
“Shh, I’m tired.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “And if you keep moving against me like that, I’m going to fuck you again. Then neither one of us will get any rest.”
She smiled and drifted off to sleep. That would have been okay with her.
CHAPTER SIX
Katya opened her eyes to an ungodly noise. Her father’s bellowing followed by raucous banging on Ryan’s door. It was barely seven in the morning.
She quickly scrambled out of bed, grabbed her robe, and raced into her room. Her feet barely touched the carpet.
Ryan was just coming out of the bathroom, naked, when she rushed by in a panic. He chuckled, pulled on a pair of jogging pants and answered the door. What a surprise, it was Ivan.
“Put on a fucking shirt. The boss wants to see you.” He turned and walked away disgusted at the other man’s spectacular physique. Every time he opened the door he had less clothing on. He was sure the bastard was doing it purposely to get a rise out of him. It was working.
Ryan shrugged and grabbed a t-shirt, pulling it over his head as he left the room.
Katya was standing behind her door trying not to panic. That was too close for comfort for her. It still surprised her that nothing seemed to bother Ryan. She knew for a fact that her father would kill him where he stood if he found out they’d been sleeping together. It wasn’t like she wasn’t old enough to be sexually active, her sister had been years before, but it was her father. He wouldn’t tolerate this in his house. He had views about how his daughters should behave, despite how he expected his girlfriends to act.
She slapped her hand to her forehead and swallowed hard. That was just too close. She had to be more careful.
***
Ryan entered Peter’s office and it was already occupied by at least ten of his men.
Peter actually looked amused at Ryan’s choice of wardrobe dropping his rage momentarily. “No time to dress?”
“I just got out of the shower and was commanded down here immediately.” He nodded toward Ivan whose expression remained passive, but his eyes were loaded with hatred.
“I apologize for the quick notice, but it’s important.” He waved his hand to a chair in front of his desk.
Ryan sat down, crossed his legs and relaxed back in the chair, though he was completely alert. He was ready for anything and he didn’t trust Peter’s calm demeanor especially since he heard him screaming in the hall minutes ago.
“My men went back to the house and it was blown to bits—ashes! There were firemen and cops everywhere so they couldn’t get near it,” Peter stated while sweeping his arm to the men in the room
Ryan’s expression gave nothing away as he looked at them. They nodded to indicate that Peter was right. Well, he knew that. He resisted a smile.
“I’m thinking that after your escape, they got rid of the evidence and relocated.” He stared at him for a moment. “Is that what happened Ryan?”
“I grabbed your daughter and we tore out of there like our asses were on fire, if that’s what you’re asking. I didn’t stay behind and ask what they intended to do after I escaped.
Peter’s face reddened. “I don’t need your sarcasm. With the mood I’m in, I’ll fucking shoot you despite what an asset you are to me!”
Ivan chuckled.
“Shut up Ivan, you’ve been useless to me lately. I should shoot you too!”
That shut him up.
Ryan remained unaffected. “It was standing when Miss Nickolov and I left.” Well, technically.
The older man crossed his arms. “And how, exactly, did you manage that?”
Ryan didn’t answer.
“I mean, how did you possibly escape a house full of armed men? You were obviously outnumbered.”
“I’m not working with them Mr. Nickolov, if that’s what you are getting at. I certainly didn’t shoot myself.” He heard Ivan make a noise of disbelief under his breath. As usual, he ignored him. “As it is, they weren’t as smart as they thought they were. I’m smarter.”
Peter was frustrated and just about ready to explode. He was looking for someone to blame. He turned around and faced the window with his hands on his hips. These outbursts he’d been having were uncharacteristic for him, but he was not in control of his empire like he used to be. If need be, he would tear the city apart looking for these people that kept threatening his family and are destroying his business.
“If this was your family, Mr. Casey, how would you handle it?”
He thought of Georgy, and his wife and kids. “I’d kill them. I’d kill them all,” he answered truthfully. “I would leave them to rot for the crows.”
Peter felt himself smile. He couldn’t help but like this man. “You understand.”
“I understand what family means. I would kill for them, I would avenge them, yes.” This was quite an ironic conversation and Ryan had some serious trouble suppressing his rage.
He turned and faced Ryan. “If you understand this, then you know how important mine is to me.”
You mean, money, power and more money, Ryan thought to himself. It was hard not to let the sardonic smile spread across his face. Peter cared about nothing else. However, he didn’t get where he was by being stupid. This was leading to something. “I’d appreciate it if you got to the point Mr. Nickolov.”
Peter released a breath and nodded. He took his seat behind the desk and sliced an arm through the air. “I worked very hard for this. I can’t have some amateurs destroy what I have.”
“I have told you before. I’m no assassin.” And he was certain that the men Anna was working with were not amateurs.
Peter kept talking as if Ryan didn’t say anything. “I have a big shipment coming in tomorrow night by boat. The last two were hit. I lost millions. I need you to lead this one. I need you there for the transfer.”
“I’m not a mercenary Mr. Nickolov and I already told you my terms of hire.”
He pounded his fist on his desk and his complexion turned ruddy again. “I don’t give a fuck what you said. You singlehandedly took out those bastards that had my daughter When half a dozen of these idiots couldn’t find their dicks!” he waved a furious hand toward Ivan. “I need you to stop these sonsofbitches from destroying my empire!”
“I won’t do it.”
Ivan took a step toward him. Ryan felt it rather than seen it, but he called him on it.
“One more step Ivan and I will gut you like a fat fish,” he said in an even calm voice. The deadly undertone was apparent. His eyes never left Peter’s.
Ivan’s face distorted into rage and he took another step.
Peter held his hand up and Ivan stopped. He actually looked impressed at Ryan’s instincts. “Jesus, you keep surprising me.” He nodded at Ivan, who looked fit to kill, but stepped back. Then he returned his attention back to Ryan. “I’ll double your salary.”
“I’m still not interested.”
Peter’s jaw clenched and his face was beginning to turn red again. “Fine, what is it you want? How much?”
I want you dead, all of you. “There is no price. I’m here as your daughter’s security. I informed you before, I’m no assassin.”
“Everyone has a price. I could have anyone look after her in my crew, and cost me less than an eighth of what you charge. I only hired you to make her happy, and she’s still miserable towards me. I wonder if you’re even worth it Mr. Casey.”
Ryan took a deep breath for patience. “You forget. I saved her life twice.” He finally shifted his eyes to Ivan. “Could you do that?”
“You’re damn rights I can!”
“Can you?”
“Yes!”
“I remember you on the floor cowering with a dead woman when gunfire broke out.”
Ivan lunged at him then and Ryan moved quickly out of the chair, stepping aside and using the large man’s own hefty weight to toss him to the floor with a grunt.
“Enough!” Peter snapped. “Ivan get up. You’re making a fool out of yourself.” He shifted his attention to Ryan. “You are going to lead that transfer, or I’ll find whatever family you have, and slaughter them. Don’t think you know me Ryan.”
His threat didn’t affect him at all and there was a reason. “I have no family.”
Peter looked taken back. “That’s all you have to say?”
He shrugged.
“Does anything scare you, at all?”
Ryan met the man’s eyes unwavering. He didn’t answer his question. Instead he gave him reasoning. “If you pull me off of your daughter they’ll grab her again and use her against you. The way they keep taking her is to show you that they can get to you. Soon you’ll be getting pieces of Katya in the mail. Media attention will be through the roof next time, and the cops will look further than just a kidnap murder. The police are already suspicious because of Ivan’s long list of petty crimes following the shooting at the boutique.”
“You son of a—“
“Shut up!” Peter shouted at Ivan. “Did they tell you this?” he asked Ryan.
“In a matter of ways. The police are already questioning the attention you’ve been drawing this past month. It’s only a matter of time before they move in. All of those political assets you think will help you, won’t. They’ll break ties with you as soon as they realize the risk to their own careers. Now, I can make a suggestion on how to deal with these people, but I will not, under any circumstances waste my talents on a drug transfer.” His eyes assessed Ivan, who looked as though he wanted to shoot him. “You have plenty of men that can accomplish that without me. I’ll only be another gun.”
Peter swore and turned away for a moment. “You are a stubborn prick, but you are definitely not just another man.” He stared out the window for a while, in thought.
There were feet shuffling, throat clearing and obvious impatience from the men in the room as they awaited Peter’s decision.
“Do you think we can catch them?” he asked after a moment.
“Yes. I’ll tell you how.”
He turned back around, facing Ryan. “I should kill you. God knows I want to just because you’re so damn smug. However, you are right about the media attention and protecting my Katya. For once, I’m going to listen. Maybe it will change the outcome. If this doesn’t work, I’m going to slice you into pieces and feed you to the sharks.” He took a seat behind his desk again and waved an arm. “So talk.”
“Clear the room.”
“What?”
“You want to know how, and I want to help you. It’s just you and me.”
“No damn way!” Ivan protested.
Peter stared at him in thought, then he nodded. “Do as he says.”
“Boss—”
“Dammit Ivan, get out!”
Ivan grumbled, and waved a furious arm to the other men scooting them out of the room. After the door closed behind them, Ryan started talking.
It was several hours later that Ryan returned to his room. Katya was dressed in a casual denim short navy skirt and stylish top. She was waiting in the chair of his room that he usually occupied late at night. She stood abruptly when he entered and was ringing her hands.
“Ease your worries. I’m fine.”
She embraced him. “I can’t help it. After everything I’ve discovered over the past few weeks, I’m scared all of the time.”
He gripped her shoulders and eased
her back away from him. “I need you to stay focused. Stay strong for me.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “I will. I’ll use every ounce of strength in me to keep up the pretense.”
He smiled, “that’s my girl.”
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this though.”
“You have strength Kat. More than you think.”
She shrugged. She certainly didn’t feel all that strong after what she’d gone through. She also never had the opportunity to find out exactly what was in her. She always obeyed whatever her father asked of her; the private schools, the social functions. The degree she was working on was the only thing she managed to insist on from her father, and didn’t seem to care that she was doing something with her life. “What did my father want?”
“Me to help him with a drug transfer.”
Dread coursed through her. “You aren’t!”
He shook his head. “I have a suspicion that someone close to him is feeding information to your sister. I gave him a way to help figure out who it is.”
“How?”
“Don’t worry about that right now. Your father has asked to speak with you before breakfast—alone.” She turned white and her bottom lip started to tremble. “Kat, listen to me. If you go in there looking like that, he’ll know that something’s wrong. He’s a very smart man. You need to use what happened to you to calm yourself. Remember who he really is and concentrate on that. Use the anger and hate you have toward him. You need to lie convincingly.”
“I don’t want to do this. I may seem tough at times, but he does frighten me.”
“He doesn’t care about your emotional state, remember that. He’s fishing for information. So he’ll be looking for things in that area. You tell him exactly what I did. You didn’t hear or see anything, that they kept you in a cell. He also doesn’t know that I called in the drone. He’s under the impression that they blew it up to hide evidence after we escaped.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. She could do this. She had Ryan’s confidence in her backing her up.
“Come, I’ll take you down and wait outside.”
“Thanks.” She followed him out the door and stopped at the top of the stairs. There were people everywhere in the foyer and her father’s men were at the door patting them down as they entered. “What—?”
