“Ever since the Emancipation Proclamation, I’ve been pretty free to do whatever the hell I want.” More or less, she added to herself.
“Good, how about you get out of here with me?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because I’m fun, and you look like you can use a bit of fun.”
Tionne looked down into her glass and sighed. “I could. I really could.”
“Then do it.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Do you only do things that are a good idea?”
“Pretty much.”
“Even this?” To her surprise, the young man reached up and traced her tattoo. “Was this tattoo a good idea?”
“Yes.” And no matter how upset Misha made her, it always would be.
“What does the M stand for?”
Before Tionne could reply, Misha spoke in a firm voice from behind them. “Mine.”
Tionne closed her eyes and sighed. Of all the times he could have walked in, it had to be now. There was no doubt about it. She was truly cursed. Trying to keep her temper in check, she opened her eyes and turned around. “I was gone for five minutes.”
Misha ran his gaze over the waiter, who appeared confused as all hell. “And look what you managed to pick up in that time.”
“I didn’t pick anyone up. We were just talking.”
“He was touching you.” Misha stared at the young man, who wisely took several steps away from Tionne. “You know how I feel about that.”
“Says the man who brought a date. Where is she, by the way, headed to your room?”
“No, on the way back to the airport.”
Damn…maybe the night was looking better already. “I didn’t get to say good-bye.”
“Send her an e-mail.” Misha turned his cold glare to Tosh, who was standing back watching the entire exchange with a confused expression on his face. “You’re still here!”
“Ap-parently.” Tosh looked over at Tionne. “I’m missing something here? I thought you said you didn’t belong to anyone.”
“Telling that lie again, are you?” Misha said coolly.
“Remember that whole Emancipation Proclamation we were talking about earlier? Well, Misha is the only one who didn’t get the memo.”
“If you want to leave, I’ll take you.”
“So brave,” Misha chided as he took a step closer to them. “Yet so close to death.”
Tosh blanched. “Is he kidding?”
Tionne sighed and shook her head. “Sadly, no. It was very nice to meet you, but if you like living, you should probably leave.”
“I guess.” Tosh turned to leave, but Misha sidestepped into his way.
“And I suggest if you want to hold on to this job and your life, you learn to keep your hands far away from things that don’t belong to you. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Sorry, sir. Yes. I’m…” He stumbled over his words and his feet as he quickly fled the scene.
Tionne was torn between amusement and exasperation as she watched Tosh hurry away. “Nice.”
“I thought that was nice. He still has the ability to walk.”
“You are a serious coc—”
“What’s going on?” Nicholi asked as he and Lauren came out onto the patio. “We were almost run over by a very frightened-looking waiter.”
“Ask your cousin. No, don’t.” Tionne turned to Lauren. “Do you mind if I borrow Nicholi for a dance? I promise to bring him back in one piece.”
“Please do.”
“Is anyone going to ask me if I mind?” Misha growled.
“No.” She smiled. “I don’t think I am.”
Nicholi offered Tionne his arm and led her back into the room and over to the dance floor. She waited until he took her in his arms before she let out a heavy sigh. “Your cousin is evil.”
“No, he isn’t. He’s just really confused.”
“We’re all confused, Nicholi.” And Misha wasn’t doing anything to help clear things up with her. One minute he wanted her and the next he didn’t, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either. He was like a never-ending merry-go-round of fuckery, and she was convinced he was destined to drive her insane.
“Not you,” Nicholi said softly, bringing her attention and her gaze back to him. “You’ve known what you wanted from him for a very long time.”
Tionne looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t.”
Slightly annoyed, she glared up at him. “If he can act as if he doesn’t notice, why can’t you?”
“Where you’re concerned, Misha puts on a lot of acts,” Nicholi said drily.
Confusion filled her as quickly as irritation had mere seconds ago. “Now I truly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” Nicholi maneuvered them so she was the one facing their table instead of him. “Glance over at them, casually, mind you, and tell me what you see.”
Tionne leaned a little to the left and moved her head just a bit so she could peer around Nicholi’s massive frame without being too obvious. To her surprise, Misha was staring at them, and from the scowl on his face, he was none too pleased about something. Confused, Tionne looked up at Nicholi, who was smiling down at her. “What’s wrong with him?”
“The same thing that was wrong with you when you first saw Asha. The little green monster.”
“I wasn’t…”
Nicholi arched an eyebrow. “Yes.”
“Okay, maybe a little bit.” Also known as with every fiber of her being. “But Misha doesn’t have a reason to be. I didn’t even come with a real date.”
“Obviously you’ve vastly underestimated the effect your outfit is having on a good portion of the men tonight, Misha especially.”
“And you’re vastly underestimating your cousin’s stubborn will of steel. I could prance in front of him naked, and he would not be moved.”
Nicholi snorted. “I think you don’t give yourself enough credit, little one.”
“I think you give me too much.”
He moved them farther onto the dance floor and away from the prying eyes of Misha. “Do you want to put this to a test?”
“What sort of test?”
“We can call it a battle of the wills.”
“Me against Misha?” Heavyhearted, Tionne looked away. “No dice. He’ll win hands down.”
“No.” Nicholi removed his hand from the lower portion of her back, then used it to tilt her chin back in his direction. Once she was looking at him again, he moved his hand back into place. “Misha against Misha. Let’s put the one who wants you against the one who wants to protect you, and see which wins.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“By sending you home.”
Confused, Tionne frowned. “How exactly does me going home solve anything?”
“Because you’re not going to go home alone.”
Tionne stopped midstep, no longer caring about keeping time with the song. “Are you suggesting I pick up a strange guy and take him home with me?”
“No.” Nicholi pulled her a little tighter to him and forced her to begin dancing again, and as they moved, he took her farther and farther away from where their table was. “I’m suggesting we let him think that.”
“And when he comes to my place pissed as all hell, what am I supposed to do then? Say psyche, just playing? “
“No, you’re supposed to do what the two of you should have been doing since your twenty-first birthday. I mean I would say eighteen, but at twenty-one, you’re as legal as legal gets.”
“And what, exactly, do you think we should have been doing?”
Nicholi paused for a second. “Do you really need me to explain that to you? I mean, when a boy loves a girl, and they have feelings for each other, their feelings can turn sexual—”
Tionne slapped him on his shoulder. “Shut up. I don’t need the talk. I know
about that stuff. What I’m at a loss about, though, is how to get Misha to connect sexual things to me.”
“Oh, I think the connection has been made. A long time ago, in fact.” Nicholi maneuvered her off the dance floor and close to the exit. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a money clip. Without counting them, Nicholi took several bills from it, then handed the money to her. “I’m going to give you a ten-minute head start. Go home and wait.”
“And…” Tionne hedged. That couldn’t be the beginning and end of his plan.
“And nothing. He’ll come after you, and we’ll see which side wins.”
So far, she wasn’t loving this plan. “He could just come up there and yell at me.”
“Or you can put those ten minutes to good use and not have anything but those heels on when he joins you.”
Tionne looked down at her shoes, then back at Nicholi, who was smiling down at her. “The heels?”
“Oh yes.” He nodded. “They’re a winner.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I’m tired of watching two of the people I care most about hurting themselves. He loves you. You love him. He’s just a little bit more stubborn than the average bear, which means it’ll be on you to show him just how grown up you are. Come on.” Nicholi walked her outside and had the concierge hail her a cab. He waited with her until the car pulled up, then opened the door for her. “Remember, nothing but the heels.”
Still not convinced, Tionne eyed him warily. “You really think I can do this?”
“To be honest”—he smiled—“at this point, I don’t think you’ll even have to try very hard.”
It still sounded too good to be true. “And if it fails?”
“Then tomorrow you and Lauren will eat a pint of ice cream, and I will pound his head into the floor for hurting you.”
Tionne could find no fault with this part of the plan. “So it’s a win-win.”
“Pretty much. You in?”
“You’re devious.”
Nicholi smiled. “I know.”
Amused, Tionne rose onto her tiptoes and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek. “Wish me luck.”
“You’re not going to need it.”
Tionne wasn’t so sure about that, but at this point, she was running out of options and fast.
Chapter Eight
Misha didn’t know what upset him more. That Tionne snuck out of the benefit without him knowing, or that she’d left with that…busboy. The busboy who’d been pawing her as if she belonged to him. A lie of grand proportions that Misha refused to let go unchallenged. To add insult to injury, his cousin had seemed a little too pleased with himself when he told Misha the news. The unmistakable pride that shone in his eyes had Misha seeing red, and he took a good five minutes to let his cousin know exactly what he thought of him and his ill-timed humor, using as many expletives as he could in numerous colorful ways. Instead of giving him the fight he was so desperately looking for, Nicholi seemed to preen with every insult, leaving Misha no choice but to leave the benefit frustrated beyond belief.
His anger stayed with him on the drive to her condo, and the little control he had on his temper was holding on by a mere thread by the time he ended up in front of her door. He harshly ordered his security to wait outside. Without giving any thought to knocking as he had the last time he’d been there, Misha unlocked the door and pushed it open, then stormed into the condo with murder on his mind.
The sound of the door clicking closed behind him was the only noise in the otherwise silent house. To his irritation, her living room was bathed in warm candlelight but void of actual people, which left only two other rooms—not including the bathroom—for them to be in. One was the kitchen, and the other was the bedroom, and Misha was more than sure they hadn’t come back to her place for a midnight snack.
As he made his way to her bedroom, a noise to his left caught his attention. He turned to head in that general direction only to come to an abrupt stop when he spotted Tionne standing alone in the doorway that led to her kitchen. She was far less dressed than when he’d seen her earlier. Gone was the ball gown, and in its place was a midthigh silky white robe. Her ebony tinted hair was in soft waves around her shoulders, and, much to his dismay, she was still wearing the heels she’d worn to the benefit. He’d thought they were sexy when they were accompanying her gown, but now they were downright indecent.
The rant he’d perfected on the way up to her condo died suddenly behind his lips. Misha had been prepared for a lot of things when he came bursting in, but out of all the scenarios that had played on a loop in his mind, he’d never imagined the one before him now. Tionne in all her glory.
“You’re late.”
Tionne’s softly spoken words pulled him back from the edge of insanity, but just barely. “Am I interrupting?”
“Does it look like it?”
He made a show of looking around the candlelit room before turning his attention back to her. “A bit, yes.”
“Well, you’re not. Are we alone?” she asked as she brought her hands to the belt of her robe.
“I should be asking you that question. Anyone in here I need to kill?”
Her lips twitched as if she was trying to suppress a smile. “Not at this point in time. The guards?”
“Outside. Why? Think I’ll need them?”
“Not at all.” To his utter surprise, Tionne untied her belt, then took off her robe, dropping it carelessly to the floor as she revealed exactly what she was wearing beneath it. Absolutely nothing.
“What are you doing?” he murmured once he was able to get his lips to move again.
“I think it’s fairly obvious.”
“Think again.”
“I’m trying to seduce you, silly.” She started toward him slowly, with a sultry smile on her lips and a come-hither swing to her hips. “How am I doing so far?”
“Moja draga…” he whispered. “Don’t do this to me.”
She stopped just inches from him. The sweet smell of lavender wafted off her, teasing his senses with its subtle floral scent. “Do what?”
“Tempt me.”
“You know, for a while there, I didn’t think I ever could. Tempt you, that is.”
Misha let out a harsh sound that could barely be mistaken for laughter. “You are wrong. So very wrong.”
“You’re admitting you want me, then?”
“Too much.”
“How can you ever want someone too much?”
“I’m the savage they all accuse me of being, because when I’m with you, when I see you, hell even when I just hear your voice, it takes everything inside me not to just possess you. Mark you. Claim you for the world to see.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It is, because you’re young, too young for the way I feel about you.”
“Which is…”
“Utterly and completely obsessed,” Misha said, finally admitting out loud to her the deepest part of his heart.
“Still waiting for the bad part, because, so far, I’m not seeing it.”
Misha choked on a bitter laugh. “How can you? I’ve held you close to me, discouraged you from dating, when I should have, by all rights, let you go.”
Instead of looking condemningly at him, Tionne seemed slightly amused. “Do you really think I didn’t date in college? That I didn’t have chances to be with other men?”
Well, isn’t that obvious? “Yes.”
“Uh. No.” She laughed. “Your guards are good but not that good. If I’d wanted to, I could have made love several times over, but I never did, because the only person I could ever imagine being with was you.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself involved in.”
“I do. You’re a controlling egomaniac who I just so happen to be desperately in love with. Sometimes your bad outweighs your good, but even when that happens, I still love you.”
“You can’t say things like that and expect I�
��ll ever allow you to walk away.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.”
Misha just shook his head. “Dammit, Tionne. You need to be with someone your own age. Someone who doesn’t have to travel with guards or look over his shoulder. Someone who can give you time to find your own life and not try to tie you down with marriage and kids right now like I want to.”
“Let’s clear something up. I’m not an idiot,” Tionne said with a hint of frustration in her voice. “I know things aren’t going to be rainbows and butterflies all the time. You come with baggage and scary people and control issues. And you’re right. I’m not ready to be tied down to anything but a bed for now, and I probably won’t be for a while. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want it. I want to have a family, and when I do get married and have kids, I want it to be with you, because no one else compares to you. No one else could.”
Sighing, he laid his forehead against hers. “Tionne.”
“I’m yours. Whether you stay tonight or leave, I’m always going to be yours, because I love you.” Tionne cupped his cheeks in her hands and pulled back a little so they were staring into each other’s eyes. “Do you hear me? I. Love. You. If you don’t love me back, that’s one thing, but if you do, then show me.”
Misha considered himself to be a strong man, but even he wasn’t strong enough to fight this. “You might grow to regret this, but I never will.”
“Misha.”
“Yes.”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
So he did.
Tionne groaned as his tongue swept boldly in her mouth. Her intent was to silence his protest, but his brand of shutting up was so much better. And so were his kisses. Tionne never knew a kiss could be this good. She’d hoped, dreamed even, but nothing she ever imagined compared to the real deal, because it wasn’t just tongue and lips, it was sweet and tender and yet somehow still sexy and sensual. It was so much of everything that it was easy for Tionne to lose herself in his taste. In his touch.
Without breaking away from her mouth, Misha wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her a few feet off the ground. She gasped into his mouth, surprised at the sudden motion, then relaxed back into him as he began to walk them to her bedroom.
His Ward Page 11
