by Bella Rose
The husky voice was undeniably male, both strange and familiar. Daniella squinted in the dark, trying to see whom it belonged to. It felt good to be in his arms. That was for sure. He had a firm chest beneath his tailored dress shirt. His sleeves were rolled to the elbows and she could feel the strength in his corded forearms.
“Why did you do that?” she asked breathlessly.
He chuckled. “Because you were going to break your neck.”
“Who are you?”
“You don’t know?” He seemed honestly surprised.
She felt a little miffed that he didn’t seem inclined to enlighten her. “It’s dark out here.”
“I’m guessing the darkness is what you were using to hide your decision to run away?”
“I’m not running away,” she argued. “I’m just trying to go meet my friends at the club.”
“Ah.”
The rumble of his voice in his chest sent a pleasant tingle through her body. He was warm and he smelled good. Considering she’d spent most of her growing-up years at an all-girls prep school, only to continue on to an all-girls college, she was sadly inexperienced with men. Now that she knew what she was missing, the club was looking more and more enticing.
“What?” She struggled to breathe normally. “Aren’t you going to threaten to go tell my brother or my father?”
“Why?” His calm tone was incredibly soothing. “Aren’t you a grown woman who can make her own decisions?”
“Way to make a girl feel stupid,” she said mournfully. “If I say no, I look like a complete nitwit. But if I say yes, I’m completely ignoring the fact that sneaking out is basically acknowledging that I’m not a grown woman. Or maybe it’s just alluding to the fact that my family doesn’t allow me to make my own decisions. I don’t know.”
“Sometimes families have a tough time recognizing that someone who used to be a child, is an adult,” he suggested. “Perhaps sitting down and having a rational discussion would be the best way to help them make that transition.”
His tone was so reasonable that she could almost believe what he said was true. She gently poked him in the chest. “You’ve obviously met my family, because you came from the direction of the back door. But you can’t possibly know my father or my brother very well, because you actually seem like you believe that nonsense you were just saying.”
“You don’t think I know your family, hmm?” There was open amusement in his voice now. She could sense he was smiling. “You truly have no idea who I am?”
“I told you, it’s dark.”
“Stand up then.”
Dani struggled to stand up without accidentally kneeing him in the groin, or something equally embarrassing. She felt like the most awkward teenager instead of the grown woman they’d only just been discussing.
Her rescuer gained his feet with the grace of an athletic individual completely comfortable in his own skin. He seemed to rise from the ground with almost no effort at all. It was rather intimidating. Then the barest hint of light from the carriage lamps outlined the features of his face and the bottom utterly dropped out of Dani’s stomach.
“Josef?” she gasped.
“Da.” He smiled, the expression appearing almost rakish in the half light. “I cannot believe you did not know it was me.”
“Me neither,” she said, swallowing the lump that had appeared in her throat.
In fact, she was dumbfounded. How could she have not known that the object of her every girlish fantasy had been cradling her against his chest?
“Are you all right?” He seemed worried. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? I did sort of treat you like a human football.”
“No! No harm done,” she said quickly. “So, are you going to tell Mikhail?”
“No.”
“So quickly!” She couldn’t decide if this was a trick of some kind. “My brother is your best friend. You used to rat me out to him quite regularly, as I recall.”
He leaned in close, so close that Dani almost forgot to breathe. “That was when you were a girl.” She felt as much as saw his gaze raking over her body. “I don’t think either one of us could make an argument that you’re not a woman grown now.”
Her tongue felt like a wad of cotton in her mouth. She struggled with a desire to seem worldly and experienced, even though she was anything but. “So you have no problem if I go clubbing with my friends?”
“No.”
“Not even if I should meet a man and decide I might like to dance with him?” she teased. “Since I’m an adult, I should be able to make those decisions for myself, right?”
“I don’t know.” His voice sounded tight. “Is that what you want? To find some stranger who will dance the night away? Or would you rather choose a man who would respect you and put your pleasure above his own?”
Dani couldn’t speak. Josef wasn’t really saying anything inappropriate, but her mind was drawing all sorts of erotic images. She couldn’t be sure if Josef was suggesting what she thought he was suggesting.
Was she brave enough to find out?
Chapter Three
Josef should have gone right back into the house and reported Daniella’s escape to Mikhail. The Mikalevichs were a powerful family within the city. They commanded respect, but the position also came with a fair amount of danger from outsiders trying to wrest that power away. The possibility of Daniella being taken and used either as bait or ransom was very real. She should not be allowed to cavort around the city without an escort.
She was staring at him. Josef wished she would stop. Then she cocked her head to one side, a long swatch of blond hair falling over her shoulder to rest against the curve of her breast. “What if I asked you to go with me?”
“Clubbing?” He hoped he didn’t sound as horrified as he felt. “You want me to go listen to bad music in a room packed with people all spinning in circles and calling it dancing?”
“Oh I’m sorry, Mr. Culture.” She was obviously mocking him. “Am I offending your high-class sensibilities?”
“Do I look like a fan of modern industrial clubs?” He held out his arms to show her his custom-tailored slacks and shirt. That didn’t even take into account his ridiculously expensive shoes. But what was he trying to prove?
“No.” She shook her head. “Definitely not the club type. Or at least not the sort of clubs I frequent.” She put one finger to her lips. “Although if you don’t go to my kind of club, I wonder what sort of place you do go to?”
This was going nowhere good. Josef could tell. “Nowhere you would find interesting, I’m sure.”
“Oh really?” She put one delicate finger in the center of his chest. The touch burned. “That sounds like a challenge.”
“Not a challenge,” he said quickly. “Although I’m getting the feeling that you like to turn just about anything into a dare of some kind.”
“Maybe I do?” She abruptly turned and walked away.
Josef started to follow, almost as if instinct would not allow him to let her walk away. Then he realized that she was merely retrieving the bag she’d dropped earlier. She held it up, making a big show of unzipping it and examining the contents.
“Hmm, I wonder if I have any clothes in here that might be acceptable in the stuffy old clubs frequented by your kind.” There was a good deal of mockery in her tone, but none of it struck him as mean.
“My kind?” He tasted the words, wondering when he’d become that sort of man. “You say that as if I’m already your father’s age.”
“Oh not quite that old.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Certainly closer than I am, though.”
“Yes, by a whopping two years, as I recall,” he said drily.
“All right.” She dragged a garment of some kind out of her bag and shook it out. “Since you’ve managed to ruin my plans for the evening, you get to provide me with new ones.”
“Excuse me?” His gut tightened with what he was pretty sure was panic.
She waved her hands. “Well go on, go back inside and make your excuses to my brother for skipping out on the rest of your evening. Then get your butt back out here and take me to the sort of place you hang out.” Even in the near dark he could tell her expression was pure mischief. “And don’t worry, while you’re inside I’ll be changing into something a little more appropriate.”
“Appropriate?” He was aghast.
“Well, perhaps,” she mused. “Or it might possibly give you a heart attack. I don’t know.”
He muttered a pointless plea in Russian and then turned to go back inside the house. Even as he let himself back in through the door and entered the kitchen, he was wondering if he had lost his mind.
The poker game was still in full swing. Boris and Vasily were yelling at each other, both on their feet with their fingers pointed at the other. Mikhail was laughing so hard that there were tears in his eyes. It looked as if none of them had missed Josef on his exceptionally long smoke break.
“Ah!” Vasily crowed. “There he is! Did you smoke the whole pack of cigarettes, my friend?”
“Only half,” Josef shot back. “I don’t suck them down as quickly as you do.”
“Because Vasily sucks like a woman!” Mikhail joked.
There was another round of ribbing at Vasily’s expense. Josef was beginning to wonder if they had always been this juvenile and he simply hadn’t noticed. It was like being back in middle school. All they lacked was a stash of pilfered magazines featuring half-naked women.
“Since all of you are having such a good time,” Josef said casually, “I’m going to call it a night while I still have enough money to pay my rent.”
“Loser!” Boris shouted. “That’s right, old man, go home and cry to your mother!”
Mikhail took an irritated swipe at Boris and the room dropped into an eerie silence. Josef sighed. There was no subject guaranteed to shut things down as efficiently as the topic of Josef’s mother.
“Apologize,” Mikhail snapped at Boris.
“Da, da,” Boris said eagerly. “I’m sorry, Josef. I meant no disrespect.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Josef said quickly. “My mother’s condition is certainly no doing of yours.”
“Go home,” Mikhail told him with a nod. “See your mother and give her my regards.”
Josef felt a twinge of guilt when Mikhail stood up and gave him a firm hug as though they were brothers. What would his friend say if he knew that Josef wasn’t going home, but intended to take Daniella away from Mikalevich property without permission?
Best not to even think about that.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Mikhail told Josef. “We’ll go pay that bastard Rusnak a visit. My father wants to get this deal tied up quickly.”
Josef nodded, ignoring the niggling doubt in his mind that the elder Mikalevich truly approved of this plan for Daniella’s apparent disposal.
* * *
Dani waited silently in the dark, wondering if Josef would ever come and half wishing he would not. She had changed into a dress, although there was barely enough material to call it a dress. The combination of pink fabric, gold hoops, and straps was very flattering to her diminutive figure. In fact, the dress made it seem as if she had real boobs. And the short skirt made her legs appear longer. Her shoes also helped her look taller. The gold heels were playful enough to satisfy her desire for lighthearted fun, but sexy enough to make her feel like a desirable woman.
The back door opened and a tall man stepped out. This time she instantly recognized Josef’s tousled raven-black hair. He was head-and-shoulders taller than Mikhail, and wider through the chest as well. Now that she had felt what was beneath Josef’s dress shirt, she was aching with curiosity to see the whole picture.
He glanced about, completely unhurried, and it took Dani a moment to realize that he was searching for her. She felt like a complete fool for hiding there in the shadows, shamelessly ogling him. Dropping her bag of clothes at the base of the tree, she stepped into the circle of light cast by the carriage lamps.
“There you are.” His low voice made her shiver with anticipation. “I was beginning to think you had sprouted wings and flown back up into the tree.”
“Oh I think I’ve already made peace with the fact that there will no going up that tree tonight. At least not for me.” She held out her hand. “Are you ready to introduce me to your version of clubbing?”
“I don’t know,” he drawled. “Did you bring your walker? Since I’m so old and boring, I’m surprised you didn’t accessorize accordingly.”
Feeling bold, Dani spun a circle. “No. I think I accessorized just fine. Don’t you?”
“You look great.”
The compliment fell flat, especially when she could see a great deal more appreciation in his eyes. Dani put her hands on her hips. “You know, a girl likes to feel that a guy finds her attractive. If you’re still single, that could be why.”
“Or I could be single because I choose to be,” he pointed out.
She took his arm, feeling relieved when he started out toward the sidewalk in front of her father’s house. “So where are we going?”
“My car, for starters.”
“So I finally get to ride in the Maserati, hmm?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been keeping tabs on my car?”
“I happen to like it.” Again she felt foolish. She was quickly reducing herself to that ridiculous girl with a crush on her brother’s friend. How unflattering.
He walked her to the passenger’s side of the sleek sports car. Opening the door, he made a solicitous gesture toward the seat. “Please get in and enjoy to your heart’s desire.”
“Oh I will,” she assured him.
Dani watched him run around to the driver’s door and wondered if she was coming on too strong. Did he even like her? Should she ask?
Josef got in and started the engine. The pleasing rumble chased away all of her doubts. If nothing else, she was getting the fun of riding in this spectacular automobile. The only thing better would be if he let her drive.
“You really like cars, don’t you?” He looked over, his curiosity plain in the muted orange light of the dashboard.
“I do,” she admitted. “My father and Mikhail would never really let me drive much, you know? But I had friends at school who had cars. I would borrow theirs, or steal one if I had to.”
“Now that sounds like the Dani I remember.”
Dani glanced over in surprise. “You haven’t called me that in years.”
“You seemed determined to leave the nickname behind.”
She wondered at that, mostly at what it revealed. “I suppose I never realized that you were paying that much attention.”
“You were hard to miss.” There was a brief pause, and then he spoke again. “Truthfully, you still are.”
“Tell that to my brother,” she said bitterly. “Mikhail has hated me from the moment I was born.”
“He doesn’t hate you,” Josef argued. “Mikhail is just very bad at showing affection or positive regard for anyone.”
“Which is why he treats you like crap,” Dani muttered.
Josef made a warning noise. “That’s not true. Mikhail has been my best friend since first grade. He has my back the same way I have his.”
She didn’t add that taking Mikhail’s sister off the property without permission hardly qualified as having Mikhail’s back. That wouldn’t get her what she desired.
They were pulling up in front of an old brick building. It was barely a dozen blocks from her house, but Dani had never been here. She gazed around with interest. “What is this place?”
“A club of sorts,” he answered vaguely.
Dani felt the first thrill of excitement sliding down her spine. “It looks old.”
“I suppose it is.” A valet opened his door and Josef exited the car, handing over his keys and a large bill.
Chapter Four
Josef had never brought a woman to Igor’s before. Walking into the smoky interior of the speakeasy-style club with Dani on his arm was a whole different experience from what he was used to. People were staring. He could feel it. More importantly, he could sense the appreciative gazes of the men.
It had been safe to bring her here only because no one would know who she was. Dani had been too long away from home at school. She had left the city as a tiny girl with blond pigtails and crooked front teeth. She had returned a vixen in a pink dress with full sensuous lips and hips that issued an invitation to any man who cared to notice.
“Look at the dancers,” Dani murmured appreciatively. She bounced up onto her toes, craning her neck to better see the couples out on the dance floor.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked, feeling his own body tighten in anticipation.
“Could we?”
The sheer innocence of her expression touched him deeply. In many ways, she was still the Dani he had known years ago—the girl with skinned knees and a perpetual smile who had always been up for having fun.
Taking Dani’s hand more firmly in his, Josef whirled her toward the dancers. He sought a place at the edge of the floor. The sultry music seemed to permeate everything, soaking into his soul and pushing away every inhibition he should have felt about having his friend’s sister in his arms.
Nothing mattered but the feel of Dani against him. She was a lovely partner. She was willing, lithe, and with a sensual rhythm to her movements that he found irresistible. She looked up into his face, holding his gaze. Her hand rested in his. His hand rested against her waist. Josef let the music determine where and how they moved. The voice of the woman on stage coaxed the lovers closer.
