Power Play

by Landish, Lauren

  His chuckle is dark and wet, almost disbelieving. “Kill my father? You want me to simply kill my father?”

  His incredulous tone makes me smirk because I know he’s thought of a million ways to kill the man already. It’s the nature of his business. I’m just pushing up the timeline.

  I shrug, though he can’t see me, leaning back on the sofa to feel more comfortable than I feel. “I’m sure it’s not the first time you’ve thought of it. He’s old, and you run the family now, but with him alive, he still wields power. Make it a coup. Make it a quiet passing in his sleep, whatever you wish. But he will die. At your hand or at my behest. The question is, how many men will die along with him if there is a war?”

  He sneers, spitting out the word. “War?”

  But I can hear that he’s considering it, so I push harder. “How would it look for the family of an American businessman, with almost limitless resources, to come in and start slashing through your strongholds? Perhaps the fields of Brazil that you need for your operation, or the streets of Moscow, or right here in Brooklyn? I understand you have a few weapons warehouses there, as well as a data mining force.”

  I use the intel Caleb pulled on Nikolai before our first meeting to show that while he knows about me, I know all about Nikolai too.

  He’s quiet, though I can hear his quickened breathing. Growling, I deliver my final argument. “Your reach is considerable, so I would prefer to not become enemies. But I have friends in both high and low places as well. Consider my proposal carefully. And quickly.”

  I hang up, hoping that it’s enough. I may not have cared for my dad, but even I would’ve been hard-pressed to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger. I simply couldn’t have done it.

  Killing anyone isn’t easy and leaves scars on your soul, but your parent is a whole different degree of damage, and doing this will likely leave unknown trauma on Nikolai’s heart. Especially since their relationship is one of strain but not hate.

  Setting the phone down, Emma kisses me, telling me with her smacking lips that she’s proud of me. It’s a twisted, convoluted pride that by not killing Papa Romanov with my own bare hands, she feels like it’s acceptable. But whatever illogical reasoning is running through her mind, I’m appreciative for it.

  Caleb chooses that moment to come back, walking casually in the door and covering his eyes melodramatically. “Whoa, get a room. There’s literally more than a handful upstairs to choose from.” That he is able to joke around after what I’m sure has been a difficult night is testament to the strength of his spirit and the coping mechanism he’s perfected.

  I move Emma from my lap, and she curls up in the corner of the couch, watching with bated breath.

  “Claire came back. She found some stuff . . .”

  Telling my little brother about how our father died is harder than I’d thought it’d be. We both live with hatred for the man, disappointment in how he left us over and over again, but even so, he was our dad. And though he had his faults, we all do, but at the end of the checks and balance sheet, the result is the same.

  He was our father, and that alone makes his death painfully hard. Both for what we lost and for what we wished we’d had.

  “Why would Papa Romanov do that?”

  I shake my head, rubbing my face. “I don’t know. We thought this was all about the map and the stone, but they had business dealings in the past, according to Dad’s papers, so we may never know what the real motivation was. Matt said, ‘He wants it,’ and while my mind automatically jumped to the map and stone because that’s what we’re researching, there could be countless other things from Dad’s years of treasure hunting. Who knows? Maybe he didn’t like Dad going to Brazil, or maybe he did want the map, though there’s nothing that says he even knew about it. Chances are he didn’t, or we’d have never left there alive. I don’t know. The important thing is that he’ll pay.”

  Caleb tilts his head questioningly, unconvinced. “You think Nikolai will do it?”

  I glance to my phone, replaying the conversation in my head. “I think that despite his bluster, he’s a smart and strategic man. He knows his dad is going to die over this. The only question is whether he can make it benefit him and the family somehow. If he decides not to, we’ll have to handle it.”

  Caleb blinks slowly, his mind pondering the implications of what I’m saying. “I’m with you, Nathan. Whatever we need to do.”

  Impulsively, I give him a hug. Not a bro side-hug but a full-on, arms wrapped around him hug. I don’t think I’ve done this since we were boys, but as we vow to move forward, the two of us, no matter what, it seems timely. He squeezes me back so I think he feels the same.

  Pulling apart, I see the shine in Caleb’s eyes and feel the sting behind mine. He shakes his head, blustering, “All right, fuckers, I’m out then. Gonna head home. Still haven’t had a nap or pussy since we got back from Brazil. Holler if you need anything.”

  He tosses a two-fingered wave to Emma and then throws over his shoulder, “Glad you’re not dead.”

  The door shuts quietly behind him, and it takes me a second to realize he was talking to Emma.

  It’s not a welcome to the family party, but it’s progress. And we’ve got time because this is where she belongs. With me.

  “I think Caleb has the right idea. Come on,” I say, holding my hand out to her.

  Her nose crinkles cutely, and she glances toward the door. “Right idea?”

  But she places her soft hand in mine, trusting me and letting me pull her to her feet.

  I bend down, swooping her into my arms. “Pussy and a nap. In that order, kitty.”

  She blushes hotly, but as I carry her up the stairs to lay her on my bed, the heat turns to arousal. I rub my hands up her legs from her ankles to the soft juncture of her thighs, and she squirms sexily.

  “Are you sure? It’s been a crazy day. Do you need to, I don’t know, process or something?” But even as she’s giving me the out, offering me a chance to hit the pause button, I don’t want it.

  But I know what I do want.

  “Take your clothes off now.” My voice is no longer soft and sultry but forceful and demanding.

  Emma senses the change and pulls her shirt over her head. I need this. She knows it . . . but she’s still going to make me work a little bit for her obedience, giving me a little bit of mouth.

  “How come I’m the one getting punished? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  She’s teasing, but I can feel the way her body is begging for this. And the pounding pulse in my ears tells me just how much I need this too.

  She’s right. Today has been more than a lot. It’s been Earth-shattering and foundation-changing. My entire world has tilted on its axis in the past twenty-four hours, and in thirty or forty years, I can look back on today as the day my life changed forever. I can’t control a lot of the fallout from those changes, but this I can control.

  No. This is a new world, a new me. Because there is no more me. There’s only us, and with Emma, with us, I can lose control and set her free right along with me.

  “You’d better quit your backtalk, or I’ll have to stuff that mouth with something so you’re not able to sass me.” The dark promise brings sexy sparkles to both of our eyes, and Emma grins.

  Emma shoves her leggings down and off, and once naked, she climbs off the bed. Lowering to her knees and sitting back on her heels, she looks up at me. “Promise?”

  Gripping her hair, I tilt her head back, and she waits with her mouth open while I undo my pants and take my cock out with my other hand. Her tongue is dancing behind her lips, desperate for a taste of my cock.

  I trace the shape of her lips with my head, leaving a shiny smear of pre-cum. But I don’t let her lick her lips for the treat, instead shoving my thickness into her waiting mouth until my balls rest on her chin. She gags slightly, and I pull back just enough to let her breathe.

  “You’re mine, kitty. And I’m yours.”

  I hold h
er there for a moment, and Emma looks up at me, her eyes bright and her lips lifted in a hint of a smile as they stretch around me.

  I thrust into her hot mouth as she sucks me down like a fucking vacuum cleaner, and all too soon, I’m on the edge. But I won’t come until she’s totally wrung out, every pleasure possible twisted through her body until she breaks and I shatter along with her.

  Instead, I grab under her arms, hauling her up and placing her on the bed. “Face down, ass up.” And though she hurries to get into position, I slap her ass hard, loving the way my pink handprint shines on her skin.

  “Get inside me,” she orders, adding a new side to our ‘game.’ And though I shouldn’t give her what she wants, should tease her to the edge again and again just to prolong this for both of us, I can’t right now.

  She’s right. We’re a team now, and I need to give in, let all the emotions and mental games be washed away in pleasure and her body.

  And in our love.

  So I slam into her, stretching her tight pussy as her slickness tries to ease my way. She cries out, and in her, I am lost once again.

  Not Nathan Stone. Not Michael Stone’s son. Not the man asking a son to kill his father. Not a monster of his own making. Just simply me. The me I am with her. The me I want to be.

  And her, the beautifully imperfect, quirky, brave woman who wants me.

  Us.

  Chapter 47

  Emma

  “Are you sure about this? Like really sure-sure?” Claire asks for the millionth time. Actually, I think we’ve moved into billions now. Yeah, for the billionth time.

  Just like every other time, I pause my packing and give her my full attention. “I’m sure, certain, and positive. If you want more than that, you’ll have to unpack that box and get my thesaurus back out. I love him.”

  “What about your plans? Your dreams? The play?” she asks, trying a different tack. She’s already blown through arguments that Nathan is a bad guy again, even though she helped him when push came to shove. And then she’d played on his being a spoiled rich boy, also not true, and that he was trying to boss me around.

  She stopped that one real fast when I’d saucily told her that I liked it like that and maybe she should try letting someone boss her around for a change.

  Now it seems we’re moving away from Nathan and into the dissection of me portion of the evening.

  “I blew it on the play front by leaving,” I admit, but I honestly don’t care. “I’m just glad they got the original actress to come back on such short notice and she got rave reviews. I definitely torched that bridge, but I wouldn’t change what I did. And it worked out in the end.”

  I can’t believe I’m actually saying that, much less feeling it, but it’s the truth. I was over the moon with the opportunity, but I’m glad I spontaneously flew to Brazil to help Nathan.

  “So, what’s next for you?” Claire asks, her voice slightly defeated.

  “Now I’m going to keep working for Professor Ford, and I’ve decided to go back to graduate school.” Excitement coats the statement, but Claire balks.

  “What? Back to school?”

  “Yeah, I’m going to get my master’s at NYU . . . at least, that’s the plan. I really enjoyed the adventure and mystery of working on this for Nathan. I want to see and do more with that.”

  “Adventure? You mean going into cartel territory and almost dying?” Claire says incredulously. “Yeah, that sounds fun. And what about acting? You could do both like you have been. Just work for the professor and audition more.”

  Claire argues, obviously not satisfied with a reasonable plan that most sisters would be over the moon about.

  “I love it, and maybe I’ll still do some, but I don’t feel the same pull to be on Broadway. I feel like there’s more out there in the world that’s real, not pretend. I think a part of me was using that to escape my life, be someone else so I didn’t have to be myself. Now, I’m kind of excited about who I am and what I can do. Does that make sense?”

  “Shit, you’re playing hardball with the self-actualization,” Claire says, turning around to hug me before she steps back and stares deep into my soul. I stand, locking eyes with her openly, hoping she sees the truth.

  With a heavy sigh, she gives in, and I think maybe our relationship’s changed a little. Not that we won’t be as close as ever, but we’re more equal now than ever before.

  “Fine. I still have reservations about Nathan and his business dealings, in particular, but I’m not the one to pass judgement on him. At least not now. Not until I can separate my emotions from the facts.”

  The warning that she’s not giving up is so her. Her utter commitment is something I’ve always admired about her, but the flip side is that her stubborn streak is a mile wide and full of rapids that’ll sweep you under if you try to fight them.

  So I don’t fight and accept her for who she is. “He’s a good man. You’ll see, I promise. I don’t know a lot about his business, but I trust that he’s just as good there. I trust him.”

  “He’d better be a good man, to you and in general.” She plops down on the edge of my bed, fidgeting with the buttons on a sweater. “I guess it’s not like I’m apparently the best judge of character anyway.”

  I can read her eyes, and I know that there’s a subject that I need to clear between us because I don’t want it to fester. “Claire . . . Matt?”

  She reads my question and swallows, turning to look out my apartment window. “Yeah. We knew we weren’t supposed to. But we were partners, and there’s a closeness there that . . . we were on a case, a human trafficking ring upstate. We were undercover, the stress was off the charts, and after a close call, we just . . .”

  “Claire, you don’t have—”

  “No, you asked, and you deserve the truth,” Claire says. “I thought he was a rock. It was just a one-time indiscretion, but we were more than partners. We were friends. But I was blind and that nearly got you killed. Emma, I don’t blame you for what happened to Matt. I don’t blame Nathan . . . too much. I blame Matt, and I blame myself.”

  “You don’t need to blame yourself,” I tell her, sitting beside her and hugging her close. “You’re my big sister, and you’re one badass agent. That doesn’t mean you’re perfect.”

  Letting her go a bit, I keep my arm around her shoulder. “Your judgement is just fine. Matt had everyone fooled.”

  She snuggles into me, and I hope she’s taking my absolution to heart and not beating herself up too badly.

  “What’s happening with that?” I ask carefully. After the admission about her relationship with him, this is still shaky ground.

  “You know I waited a couple of days and then went to my boss, told him I was worried. It took about a week for alarms to be fully raised, and I told them I’d been looking into his disappearance. I turned in his laptop and let the forensic techs have their way with it. They figured out his secrets pretty fast.”

  Her head drops, and I worriedly ask, “You didn’t get in trouble too, did you?”

  “No, thankfully not. They’re digging, but nothing implicates me because I had no fucking idea about any of it.”

  She spits the words out like they burn her tongue. “They questioned me, but I think it’s likely they’ll have enough to keep them busy with the Russian mafia intel. Nothing will get traced back to here. Even if it did, Nathan could threaten to come after the bureau.”

  Nathan would never do that, but it’s a similar threat to what he’d implicated that night. An FBI agent on an off-book assassination mission is a black eye they definitely don’t want.

  “I’m sorry about Matt. I know the shock and everything he did still hurts. He was your partner and he betrayed you. Thank you for trusting Nathan and me that night. I know it was a big risk, but I think you can see that it was the right thing. He’s a good man. I love him.”

  I know I’ve already told her that repeatedly, but I think she’ll need to hear it a billion more times for it to truly
sink in.

  She smiles ever so slightly, glancing over at me. “I guess we’d better get the rest of your stuff packed if you’re moving in with him. Unless you want to move in with me? You’re always welcome at my place.”

  I return her smile, shaking my head. “I don’t want you to be subjected to walking in on us. But I’ll take you up on that for a sister sleepover sometime. For now, though, I’m ready to go home.”

  Home.

  Something I don’t know if I’ve ever truly felt. With my parents, I was always just a little outside. With my friends, even Carly to some degree, I didn’t know myself enough to truly fit in.

  But now I feel like I’ve discovered who I am. Not because of Nathan but because I’m finally willing to be honest with myself. He was just the shove I needed to fully jump off the safe path I’d been tip-toe traversing for so long.

  Now, I’m skydiving without a parachute . . . and I love it.

  Chapter 48

  Nathan

  I’m on edge. I’m not used to a waiting game while others make moves.

  Emma is packing her apartment up to come here.

  Permanently.

  A smile crosses my face at the thought, though a wiggle in the back of my head makes me question whether she’s going to show back up. I’d even offered to go with her and help as a way of reassuring myself, but she’d said she needed to do it with her sister.

  I wonder if it will always be that way, a majority of my heart trusting but that scared little boy in my past setting up screens and shields. Because that’s what it was, and Emma’s smile as she kissed me this morning told me she recognized it, shredded it, and tossed it in the trash.