Lying and Kissing

by Helena Newbury

  “And I’m here if you need me,” I said. I meant it, too. I owed her one. And I figured that an American in Moscow, under the protection of one of the most powerful families in Russia, was probably quite a useful thing to be.

  She nodded gratefully and was about to say something else when Vasiliy interrupted her. “And what about you, Roberta?” he asked. His voice still had that smooth tone. “I can call you Roberta, can’t I? Can I tempt you away from the CIA? I’m sure I could find something for a woman like you.”

  He locked eyes with her.

  She flushed.

  Oh.

  That was what was going on. I stood up quickly and made let’s go motions at Luka. Luka being Luka, he took his sweet time to get up, nod a goodbye to Roberta and allow me to lead him away from the table. We left Roberta looking panicked, as if she couldn’t decide whether being left alone with Vasiliy was the worst thing in the world or the best.

  “Your dad better not sleep with my boss,” I told Luka.

  “Ex-boss,” he rumbled. “It’s out of my hands. You think this is first time he’s done this?” He grinned, just a little cruelly. Goddamnit, he’s enjoying this! He seemed so much less troubled now, and it was more than just the Ralavichs no longer being a problem. It was finally having someone to open up to and trust, after all those years alone. I understood that, because I was feeling it, too.

  Being together, though, hadn’t cooled off the sex one bit. I’d taken the precaution of adding a safeword to our games, because that seemed sensible. But Luka’s big hands were still shredding plenty of pairs of panties, and sometimes whole dresses, and that was just the way I liked it.

  I glanced back at the table. Vasiliy was leaning forward a little; Roberta was leaning forward a lot. Oh, good grief.

  “She’ll be fine unless he shows her his gunshot wound,” said Luka knowledgeably. “Then, all is lost.”

  I glanced back again. Roberta was nodding. Vasiliy started to unbutton his shirt.

  Oh shit.

  “We Malakov men know how to handle American women,” said Luka proudly.

  He’d find out, soon. Nancy had promised to visit in a few weeks. And once Vasiliy had fully healed up and could spare him, I was planning to take Luka on a trip to the US and show him Wisconsin—cows, rain and all. And there’d need to be business trips, too—to New York, first, and then all over the US, to finalize the gun deals. With Ralavich gone, we could take over his US gun business cleanly and without violence. Soon, we’d be the main pipeline into the country.

  The idea didn’t scare me as much as it once had. Russian guns were coming into America one way or another—better we controlled it than someone like Ralavich. We could at least do it with the minimum of bloodshed. Once we controlled the whole supply, there’d be less need for in-fighting. And I’d persuaded Vasiliy to introduce my no guns to gangs who employ kids rule—it was a small victory, but at least it let me know we were heading in the right direction.

  “Oh, you know how to handle us, do you?” I asked.

  In answer, he pushed me up against a wall. Dammit, we were still just about within sight of Roberta...although, she was looking quite distracted. I looked back at Luka, feeling myself rapidly getting lost in those fiery, ice blue eyes. I could feel my breasts pillowing against his muscled chest, the hard bulge of his cock pressing against my thigh….

  “Oh, the hell with it,” I muttered. And kissed him.

  <<<<>>>>

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Acknowledgments

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Thirty-Four

  Thirty-Five

  Thirty-Six

  Thirty-Seven

  Thirty-Eight

  Thirty-Nine

  Forty

  Forty-One

  Forty-Two

  Forty-Three

  Forty-Four

  Forty-Five

  Forty-Six

  Forty-Seven

  Forty-Eight

  Forty-Nine

  Fifty

  Fifty-One

  Fifty-Two

  Fifty-Three

  Fifty-Four

  Fifty-Five

  Fifty-Six

  Fifty-Seven

  Fifty-Eight

  Fifty-Nine

  Epilogue