An Indecent Longing

by Stephanie Julian

He was pretty sure this guy wouldn’t take that lying down and he’d probably take a swing at Ian. And wouldn’t that be a good way to blow off some steam?

  “Yeah, sure.” Ben, always the voice of reason. “We’ll just wait here. Right, Ian?”

  She hadn’t taken her eyes off him and now he saw the pleading in her gaze. As if she was afraid of what he would do.

  With a short nod, he took a step back and away, focusing on steadying his breathing so he didn’t give away his agitation. But he didn’t trust himself to speak.

  Leaning back against his car, Ian watched her walk with the other guy to his car and move even closer when he spoke to her.

  Ben leaned over to Ian at the same time. “Tone it down some or you’re going to start something that’s not going to end well.”

  “You trying to tell me I can’t take him?”

  Ben huffed. “Of course not. And even if he did manage to make it past you, I’d finish the job. But you go caveman on her and we won’t get her back to our place tonight.”

  “You actually think she’s planning to come back to our place? I think we’re about to get the brush-off.”

  “I think if we play our cards right, yeah. She’ll come back with us after dinner.”

  Ian wanted to believe that, but the conversation she was having with the goon seemed to be taking a turn she wasn’t happy with.

  After another minute or so, she reluctantly nodded and turned back to them with a look on her face that made Ian start to grind his teeth.

  “I’m sorry.” She shook her head, looking genuinely upset. “I need to leave. There’s been an…emergency and I have to be somewhere.”

  Ian tried not to let his aggression get too out of hand. “You know you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

  Her lips twisted in an approximation of a smile at Ian’s rough words. “I know that. But this is work and I have to go.”

  He couldn’t help but think she was lying. Everything about her body language and the way her gaze kept flashing back to the man now waiting by his car again screamed that she didn’t want to go but he had something on her that forced her compliance. Something that probably had to do with Antonoff.

  He nodded, the only response he could give without saying something he regretted. Hopefully Ben would be able to say something better.

  “We’ll call you later,” Ben said.

  Ian didn’t hear her response because he’d turned away to pull open the door and get in the car.

  Chapter Nine

  Dorrie turned to look out the back window as Gens drove away from the soccer field.

  Ian had already gotten in the car but Ben continued to watch as they drove away.

  “Everything okay, Dorrie?”

  No, not really but she couldn’t tell her father’s man that. So she nodded and forced a smile.

  “Yes, of course.”

  Gens nodded but she knew he wanted to say more. He just didn’t know what to say. A common problem when her dad’s men had to deal with her. She held an unusual place in his organization. Not really in it but still part of it. And because she was female, different rules applied.

  So as a general rule, her father’s men didn’t talk to her. Except for Gens.

  “Would you like me to take you home for a shower before I drive you to see Mr. Antonoff?”

  “I’ve got an extra set of clothes in my bag but thanks for the offer.”

  “No problem. Looked like a good game.”

  Making small talk with Gens kept her brain occupied for the drive to her dad’s. Gens had been with her dad for more than a decade. Karel had taken him in when his parents, good friends of Karel’s, had been killed in a targeted hit by a rival family. Karel treated him like the son he’d never had and Gens was intensely loyal.

  She often wondered if Gens had guessed her relationship to Karel, but he’d never said anything.

  Now she needed to ask him to keep a secret for her. Would he do it?

  “I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t say anything about the men I was with to Mr. Antonoff.”

  Gens fell silent for several seconds, and she forced herself to breathe through her worry.

  Finally, he caught her eye in the rearview. “Everyone’s entitled to a private life, Dorrie.”

  She sucked in a relieved breath. “Thank you, Gens. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem.”

  “Have you been back to see Blank? I was going to go to the office to release him this morning. Guess he’ll have to wait a few more hours.”

  Gens grinned. “I spent most of last night with him. He’s going a little stir-crazy so just tell him to shut up when starts to snap.” Gens sighed and his smile faded. “And a little heads-up. Karel found out about Blank. He didn’t hear it from me but I think Mr. Antonoff’s a little…upset that you didn’t tell him.”

  Guilt warred with her need for independence. She knew her dad only wanted to protect her but she knew he had kept secrets. Some he had to. And some… “Is something going on I need to know about?”

  Gens paused again. “That’s a question for Mr. Antonoff.”

  Well, damn. Maybe Ian and Ben were right about what had happened last night. Maybe those men really had been after her.

  She chewed on that in silence all the way to her dad’s house on the Main Line, which didn’t take long. She really wished she’d had more time to prepare. She wasn’t even sure what she needed to prepare for. Her dad had never really interfered in her life before, except to assign Blank to her for protection. She hadn’t fought him on that because she’d realized he only wanted to ensure her safety.

  But now… She wasn’t ready for her dad to know about her relationship with Ben and Ian. It was still so new and she wasn’t sure what to think of it herself yet.

  And her dad had pretty old-fashioned ideas about male-female relationships. Although, considering he’d had a daughter with his mistress…

  Sighing, she shook her head. She really wished she had the ability to turn off her brain sometimes.

  Focusing her attention out the front window, she realized they’d just made the turn onto her dad’s street. As they drove through the gates of his property, she took a deep breath, staring at the monstrosity of her father’s mansion.

  The house was a symbol. She understood that now. When she’d been twelve and only just beginning to understand why she could never tell anyone who her dad was, she couldn’t understand why she and her mom couldn’t come live with him in this huge house.

  He’d bought the house after his wife had committed suicide, wanting to get Risa out of the city and away from the memories. Even as a kid, Dorrie had realized that, though Risa lived in a mansion on the Main Line, her life wasn’t sunlight and roses. Risa’s emotional roller coaster with her mom had left permanent scars. Scars only Dorrie really ever saw because Risa never let anyone else close enough to see them. Not even their dad.

  Now, as Gens made the turn into the lane and the big black gates opened like magic, she sucked in a deep breath, resigning herself to an interrogation she really didn’t want to have.

  Gens pulled the car to a stop at the door and she turned before she got out of the car. “Thanks for the ride.”

  Gens nodded. “Sure, Dorrie. Just let me know when you’re ready to leave and I’ll be here.”

  She let herself out of the car, a little surprised none of her dad’s guards had come out of the house to do it for her. Typically, he had at least one man on the door.

  Shrugging it off, she let herself in through the open front door.

  “Hello?” she called out when she didn’t see anyone.

  “In the solarium, love.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. Now that was interesting. Her dad didn’t use endearments where others might hear him, especially not for her. That meant there must be no one else in the house.

  Making her way through the house to the back, where the solarium looked out over the most beautifully landscaped two acres of ground she’
d ever seen, she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.

  “There you are. How’s my brilliant beauty today?”

  Rising from the couch where he’d been doing the Inquirer crossword puzzle, her dad opened his arms and hugged her tight against him, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

  As always, affection from this man made her heart feel like it was caught in a grinder. A conflicting rush of emotion flooded her body. Love, amusement, exasperation, confusion.

  Her relationship with her dad couldn’t be defined in normal father-daughter terms. He’d always been a part of her life but he’d never been there for her on a daily basis. She’d never wanted for anything.

  But there was also that part that knew this man had been a member of the Philly Russian criminal organization for years. He’d worked his way up and recently had taken over the entirety of the Philly operation when David Oleksy had gotten out last year.

  “I’m good, Dad. But what’s going on?”

  Waving at the couch he’d been sitting on, he waited until she sat then claimed the cushion next to her. His blue eyes, so dark most people thought they were black, watched her with pinpoint focus.

  Her dad was a handsome man, his white-gold hair still thick but cut short and perfectly styled. He was the kind of guy who looked just as good in jeans as he did in a five-thousand-dollar suit. And his smile could be warm and inviting. Or make grown men quiver with fear.

  She’d never, not once, felt frightened of him, and neither had Risa. But she knew he instilled fear in some of the scariest men she’d ever seen.

  How he managed to walk that fine line was beyond her.

  “Why didn’t you tell me Blank had been shot?”

  Resisting the urge to fidget, she answered as truthfully as she could. “Because I knew you’d want me to take someone else. And I’m not comfortable with anyone else. And…I had a date last night. A new guard would’ve made it impossible for me to have a good time.”

  Her dad didn’t look surprised. Shit. That meant—

  “And how did your date go?”

  Shit, shit, shit. He’d known about her date. Probably also knew she hadn’t gone home last night.

  Oh man, she really didn’t want to have this discussion with her dad. She didn’t even want to have this conversation with her mom. But her dad had surprisingly few boundaries when it came to his daughters. So if he wanted to talk to them about dating and sex, he talked.

  Risa found it much easier to talk to their dad about sex. Probably because he’d been her only parent for so long. Dorrie just…couldn’t.

  Usually, he knew that and didn’t push. Apparently, today he was going to push.

  “It was fine.”

  She could tell he wanted to say more but she also knew he ran the risk of her freezing him out completely. It was how she handled any situation she didn’t want to deal with, and this qualified as one of those times.

  It frustrated the hell out of her dad, probably because Risa held nothing back. But he’d learned to cope, too.

  “There’ve been some developments around my business that make it imperative you have a guard at all times.” He held up one hand as she opened her mouth to speak. “I understand this is going to be a hassle but it’s nonnegotiable. At least until this situation is resolved.”

  “And what situation is that?”

  His eyebrows rose. “Do you really want to know?”

  Did she? Truthfully, she wasn’t sure. For so many years, she’d stuck her head in the sand. Maybe it was time she actually knew what was going on.

  Slowly, she nodded her head. “Yes, I think I should know.”

  Her dad didn’t answer right away, just continued to stare at her, as if he could read her mind. Then he nodded.

  “Let me call your sister down. It’s probably easier if I only have to go through it once.”

  He patted her leg then got up and headed for the door to the kitchen, where she heard him call up the stairs.

  This fancy house was rigged with a state-of-the-art intercom but Risa usually ignored it.

  Seconds later, her sister swept into the room. Dressed in denim shorts that had seen better days, a faded old Flyers tank top with no bra and barefoot, her hair in messy waves, she looked nothing like she would if she were going out. But apparently Risa had no intention of leaving the house today.

  “There you are! I’ve been dying to talk to you.” Risa grabbed her hand and tugged her to her feet. “Dad, we’re going upstairs—”

  “Hang on a minute. I need to talk to you both.”

  His tone stopped Risa in her tracks and she turned to look at him with narrowed eyes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  His expression never changed. “There may be some…pushback in the next few weeks from some new players in town.”

  Risa turned to face him fully, her hand tightening around Dorrie’s. “What new players? Why haven’t you mentioned anything before this?”

  “Because there’s been nothing to be worried about. And I’m not sure there will be. I just don’t want either of you to be caught unaware. You’re both going to have two guards with you at all times—”

  “Dad, no.” Dorrie shook her head. “I can’t live and work with two men following my every step—”

  “This isn’t up for debate.” Her dad’s firm tone cut through her complaints. “And I’m willing to be reasonable. I’m prepared to hire Adam Oleksy’s firm, if that makes it more…agreeable for you.”

  She couldn’t control her shock. He knew. He had to know about her and Ben. But did he also know about Ian?

  Fighting to keep a blush from giving away her thoughts, she squeezed Risa’s hand tight and tried to figure out something to say. All she could come up with was a nod and a hoarse, “Okay.”

  Luckily, her dad turned to Risa a second later. “And you are going to have Gens.”

  Risa’s hand jerked in Dorrie’s grasp. But that was her sister’s only outward sign of shock.

  “Aren’t you going to need him?”

  “I have other men available to me.”

  But Gens was his most trusted man. And he was putting him on Risa.

  Dorrie and her sister exchanged a glance.

  “All right, Dad. What aren’t you telling us?” Risa released Dorrie’s hand so she could put both hands on her hips. “What happened? Because something happened or you wouldn’t be acting like this.”

  His expression never changed. “I’ve received threats against both of you.”

  For Dorrie, the meaning of that didn’t sink in immediately. But Risa was more on the ball.

  “Both of us.” She sliced a glance at Dorrie. “You think someone knows.”

  Their dad nodded. “I think it’s a distinct possibility, yes.”

  Dorrie frowned. “Knows—oh.”

  Suddenly there was no air in the room.

  “Yes.” Her dad ran his hand down her messy ponytail. “Oh.”

  “Shit.” Risa wrapped her arm around Dorrie’s shoulders. “You don’t think they’ll out her, do you?”

  “Since I don’t know exactly where the threats are coming from yet, I have no idea.”

  Someone knew Karel was her father. They had to or they wouldn’t have threatened her life. There’d be absolutely no reason for anyone to threaten her unless they’d discovered who she was.

  “And if it came out, what would change?”

  Risa’s eyes widened but her dad… His expression sharpened.

  “The way people look at you will change. The way they treat you, how they act around you. Friends will shun you. Your practice will suffer. And if they reveal you, they out your mother, too.”

  Shit. Shit, shit, shit. She hadn’t considered that. Her mom ran an art gallery in Old City, a business she’d grown successfully after years of working for her parents’ auction house, one of the oldest and most respected in the city.

  Her mom had a fantastic reputation in the art world—a reputation that would probably
be annihilated if it came out that the father of her illegitimate daughter was an infamous Russian crime lord. The crime lord she called “Daddy.”

  Shit.

  She released a heavy sigh. “Someone tried to snatch me off the street last night.”

  Risa’s gasp sounded sharp in her ear but it was her dad’s expression that held her attention. He didn’t look surprised.

  “You knew. How?”

  He just continued to watch her until—

  “You had someone following me?”

  “Once I heard about Blank, yes.”

  He looked completely unrepentant and she knew he’d never apologize.

  “So you know I didn’t go home last night.”

  “Yes.”

  While her dad didn’t look at all uncomfortable discussing the fact that she’d spent the night at a man’s home, she wasn’t all that comfortable knowing he knew.

  And yes, she realized that was the least of her concerns right now because Risa’s head had whipped around to stare at her as if Dorrie had started shooting sparks out of her head.

  “You what now?”

  “Um…”

  “And now I’ll leave you two to talk.” Their dad leaned in to kiss each of them on the head before turning to walk away. “Dorrie, I’m sure you’ll be hearing from your security team shortly. Don’t leave until they contact you.”

  And then he was gone, leaving her alone with Risa, whose eyes couldn’t get any wider.

  “All right, sister. You better spill and I mean everything.”

  *

  The caller ID on Ian’s phone wasn’t unusual but it was unexpected for a Sunday morning.

  “Hey, Adam, what’s up?”

  “Ian. So I got a call this morning. Client asked for you and Ben in particular.”

  Now that was unusual. He and Ben hadn’t advertised their association with Adam and Tristan’s firm, hadn’t had the time, and hadn’t needed to. The firm’s client list had been backlogged when they’d joined and still was.

  “Who was it?”

  Adam’s sigh sounded amused and confused. “Karel Antonoff.”

  Ian set his coffee mug on the kitchen counter before he dropped it. “What the fuck?”

  Adam huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, that was my first reaction, too. And here’s the kicker. He wants you to protect Dorrie.”