Still holding Victoria’s hand, he pulled her down beside him and she went willingly. I sat several feet away from them, wanting to give them some privacy yet wanting to be close enough to protect her if Volkov turned out to be a total creep. My fingers still itched to put a bullet in the bouncer who had touched my sister.
A waitress dressed in a simple white button-down and a short black skirt appeared at Volkov’s side. “Champagne, I think,” he told the girl without bothering to look at her.
“No.” Victoria shook her head and smiled as she forced her eyes away from him to look up at the waitress, who seemed almost surprised at the attention. “Vodka. Bring us a bottle and four shot glasses. Anya is joining us, right?”
Volkov’s surprise showed in his eyes for only half a second before he was tossing his head back and laughing out loud. “I can see now you will keep me on my toes, kotyonok. I like that. I like that a lot, actually.”
I sat back and tried to relax as the waitress walked away to get the vodka. “Not too much, Tor,” I cautioned her quietly.
She had to be more careful than others when she was drinking because of her health. If her blood sugar levels fell too low, it would be hard to tell if she was drunk or not because the signs mirrored someone who’d had too much to drink. I was always watching over her to make sure that she didn’t take things too far.
She gave a nod but didn’t say anything as she kept her full attention on Volkov. Apparently she didn’t want to talk about her illness in front of her new friend. “So you and my father… Is there a reason for the tension?”
The amusement drained out of his face and his eyes turned cool. “You could say we have recently become reluctant allies.”
Reluctant allies. Interesting acuity. That was the most diplomatic way to describe having to do my father’s bidding that I’d ever heard. Volkov was smart, I’d give him that. I glanced at the ink on his hands.
волк
It took me a second to decode the Russian text on four fingers of his left hand. Wolf. Fitting. I saw the five dots closer to his wrist on the same hand. That meant he’d done time. There were other markings but I wasn’t sure of their meanings. I could only assume it was what he’d been convicted of or some kind of code to tell others what his position was.
“So you don’t deal with Papa often?” Victoria was still trying to get Volkov to talk.
He shrugged and I was glad to see he didn’t fall under her spell easily. “Often enough. Vito and I have an understanding. Cristiano and I? Not so much.” He grinned. “My sister says it’s because we are too much alike.”
“You are.”
My head lifted at the sound of the new voice and I took Anya Volkov in for the first time. She was beyond beautiful, with her long, dark hair. She had the prettiest porcelain skin I’d ever seen and her big, blue eyes stood out amid her other features. Her lips were full and crimson with a light gloss coating them. I was sure she was younger than her brother by several years and put her age at twenty-five at the most. If I’d been a vain sort of female, I would have been instantly jealous of Anya and her perfect body. Instead, I felt an instant connection with her that made me wonder if we could possibly become good friends.
Unsmiling, Anya took both me and Victoria in. The expression on her face was detached, but her eyes couldn’t completely hide how much she was assessing the two of us. After a moment she tilted her head to the side. She pointed a finger at my sister. “Victoria.” The finger then went to me. “Scarlett.”
It was normal for strangers to get who we were wrong the first time they met us, but Anya’s perspicacity was strong. Victoria beamed up at her and stood. Even if she wasn’t wearing heels, she would have been taller than Anya. Victoria towered over her as she moved to embrace the other woman. “I knew I would like you when we spoke earlier.”
“Let’s say I was intrigued when Cristiano Vitucci’s sister called out of the blue to request an invite to my humble club.” Her lips lifted in a bitchy half-smirk as she glanced at her brother, who hadn’t moved. “Now I understand perfectly. Why am I not surprised, Adrian?”
He only grasped Victoria’s hand and pulled her back down beside him, as if he couldn’t stand to have her so far away. Anya rolled her eyes at him, but the waitress returned with the vodka and shot glasses. Taking the tray from the girl, she dismissed her and then sat down between me and Victoria.
“I would have picked tequila, myself, but to each their own.” She poured four shots, handed two to her brother and Victoria before offering me one. Sitting back, she tapped her glass to mine. “To new and unexpected friendships.”
I found myself grinning at her dry tone. Yes, I was really going to like this woman. “Salute.”
Chapter 5
Ciro
After the meetings with Vito all morning, I’d gone to check on my mother and had ended up falling asleep in her den for a few hours. By the time I’d gotten up, it was dinnertime and I had stayed to eat to make her happy.
With a full stomach and a few hours’ rest, I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep that night. I could have gone home or out to Connecticut to check on my MC connections, but instead I found myself back at the Vitucci compound. I mentally cursed myself for going back, but I couldn’t have stopped myself even if I’d wanted to. The need to be closer to Scarlett was too strong for me to fight it.
Vito was out with my father, the twins had apparently called it an early night, but Cristiano was in the family room watching an MMA fight. Any other time he would have been front and center at such a big fight, but because of the current Santino issues he was sticking closer to home.
I took one of the beers he offered and dropped down at the other end of the couch. The thing I liked about Cristiano so much was that we didn’t have to talk to communicate. We could just sit there and watch two men tear each other apart for sport and be comfortable with the silence. We’d become friends because it was expected of us. He’d become my brother because he was the only person who understood me.
We sat there together through the entire event before either of us spoke.
“Stone is still a powerhouse,” Cristiano commented as the camera zoomed in on the man who was still the heavyweight champion after a match that had been brutal and bloody. “I’d like to get him to fight New Years Eve here in New York. Think he would be interested?”
“If the money is right, I wouldn’t see an issue.” I lifted my third beer to my lips and took a long swallow. With each passing second I grew more tense. The beer wasn’t helping me control the need to climb the stairs and knock on Scarlett’s bedroom door.
“I offered him five million for a single fight last Christmas. He refused.”
“So sweeten the pot,” I suggested and set my now empty bottle on the coffee table with the other empties. “And if that doesn’t work, talk to his wife.”
“She’s not his wife.” He reached for the remote and turned the TV off. “And from what I heard, she’s a little firecracker. It might be interesting to introduce myself to her.”
I paused in the process of opening my fourth beer. Cristiano had a weakness for beautiful things—women included. Fuck, especially women. I could easily see him trying to move in on the MMA fighter’s woman and getting his head bashed in by the guy’s fists in the process. Stone wouldn’t care who the hell Cristiano was. “Keep your hands clean, Cristiano,” I warned him.
“For fuck’s sake, I said introduce myself,” he muttered. “Relax, fratello.”
“Let the professionals handle the haggling. You have plenty of entertainment around here.” I lifted the fresh beer to my lips and swallowed thirstily.
Cristiano shrugged. “For now.”
Shaking my head, I stood. “You’re an idiot. One day you’ll meet your undoing and I’m going to laugh when she twists you into knots.”
“Says the man who refuses to acknowledge that he’s already met his own undoing,” my friend muttered, and I stif
fened. “Deny it all you want, but Scarlett would be better off—”
“She’d be better off with a two-story house in the suburbs with a white picket fence and three kids running around. I’m not worthy of her,” I snarled at him. Just the thought of Scarlett as a mother made my chest tighten. She would be a great mom, but those kids would never be mine. I didn’t want kids. Ever. I wouldn’t subject an innocent little baby to being my child. “Now drop it.” I had thought about slitting his throat more than once since I’d realized my friend knew my secret. Right then, the idea held even more appeal.
He lifted his hands in surrender. “Keep telling yourself that. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Meanwhile, my sister will find a spineless weasel to marry and give her those three kids.”
“Remind me again why I haven’t killed you yet?” I downed the rest of the nearly full bottle of beer.
“I’m still wondering that myself.” He grinned and slowly got to his feet. “I’m tired. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“If I don’t slit your throat in your sleep,” I muttered half to myself.
“Feel free to take your usual room,” he called over his shoulder with a chuckle, possibly the only man alive who didn’t take my threats seriously. “Maybe you’ll grow a pair and find yourself in Scarlett’s room instead.”
Without thinking about what I was doing, I threw the now empty bottle at his head. He stepped through the doorway just as the bottle shattered against the doorframe. Heavy feet came running, but Cristiano only chuckled deeper. “Get a broom and clean up the mess,” he told the guards who had come in search of the reason for the noise.
“Fuck,” I muttered to myself and ran my hands down my face.
I shouldn’t have come back to the compound. Shaking my head at the ideas flashing through my head after Cristiano’s taunts, I went into the kitchen to make some coffee. I’d drink a cup and then head home. At least that’s what I kept telling myself as I made the coffee, but my eyes kept going to the back stairs that led straight to Scarlett’s room.
The coffeemaker was still dripping when I thought I heard a thump upstairs. Frowning, I headed for the stairs. Halfway up, I heard a giggle, followed by a groan, and I increased my pace.
“Are you trying to get us caught?” a voice I recognized all too well muttered as I grew closer to Victoria’s partially shut bedroom door.
“I think I had one too many shots of vodka with Anya,” a second voice said before the giggles came again. “Do you think she likes us?”
I stiffened at the mention of that particular name. Anya? Anya Volkov? I took the last step and quietly walked down the hall toward where I was sure I’d heard the two voices coming from.
“Don’t worry about if she did or didn’t,” Scarlett commanded. “Get in bed, Tor. I’m exhausted.”
“I really like him.” Victoria’s voice was softer now and I stopped just outside of her bedroom as I listened to the twins moving around.
“Really? I couldn’t tell.” Scarlett’s tone was dry. “Hold still, Tor. I’m going to hurt your arm if you keep doing that…Tor!”
“I can dress myself,” the other twin mumbled.
“Of course you can,” Scarlett soothed. “It will be quicker if I help, though. Just let me check your sugar levels. Then you can go to sleep and dream about your Russian wolf.”
My hands clenched into fists as I waited for her to finish helping her sister. They had snuck out. I should have known they would. How many times had I told Scarlett that it was dangerous for her to leave the compound without security with her and Victoria? They hadn’t gone just anywhere either. From the mention of Anya, I figured they had gone to Iron Hand and it was more than obvious to me that Adrian had been in attendance.
Had Scarlett wanted to go out and meet the Russian? Was she interested? Fuck, I’d gut that sonofabitch if he touched her.
“Sleep tight, Tor.” I heard her footsteps bringing her closer to the door.
“Night, Scarlett. Love you.”
The bedroom door was pulled open and Scarlett stepped out into the hall. She didn’t look toward the stairs as she closed the door and then headed for her own room across the hall.
“Enjoy your night out?”
She gasped and jumped at the sound of my voice. Turning to face me, she put a hand over her chest “You scared me,” she accused, her brown eyes flashing fire.
My eyes skimmed over her, taking in the little black dress she was wearing with heels so high the top of her head actually came to my chin. The dress was low cut, showing off an enticing view of her tits. The skirt went almost to her knees; which I guess I should have been thankful for. If she’d been walking around New York with her ass practically hanging out of her dress I probably would have gone on a damn killing spree to eradicate anyone who had seen her like that.
I took a step toward her and watched as her eyes dilated with a reaction that paralleled my own to her. “Where did you go?”
The tip of her tongue darted out of her mouth to dampen her bottom lip. “Just to a club,” she said with a shrug. “We were fine, Ciro. I have the gun you gave me.”
“Oh, yeah?” My gaze ate up the sight of her and I tried to curb my need to reach out and take what I wanted so damn bad. “Where is it?”
“Strapped to the inside of my thigh,” she assured me. “Along with my knife.”
Jesus Christ.
Without realizing I was doing it, I took another step closer to her, then another. I wanted to see the gun I’d given her strapped to her creamy thighs. The dark color of the metal against the perfect alabaster of her skin—it got me hard just imagining it. I wanted those long legs of hers to wrap around my waist while I dived into her with that gun still strapped to her thigh.
Before I lost complete control and did just that, I stopped a few inches from her. “You were with Volkov, weren’t you?”
She didn’t even flinch at the coldness of my tone when I’d seen grown-ass men piss themselves in the face of it. Scarlett knew I would never hurt her though. “Does it matter? We were just having fun, Ciro. There’s no crime in that.”
“He’s dangerous, Scarlett. You know nothing about him.” I turned away from her, my hands fisting at my sides so I wouldn’t touch her. “Don’t go near him again. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, making the globes of her tits lift, almost as if they were begging me to look—to touch them. “He’s no more dangerous than you or Cristiano. He seems like a nice guy. If I want to see him again, I will.”
“The fuck you will.” Jealousy raged through me and I couldn’t have held back then if I’d tried to. I reached for her and pushed her back against the wall beside her bedroom door. Her lips fell open, a soft breath escaping her that felt like a caress down my spine.
“Ciro.” Her hands pushed against my chest, but I saw the need rising in her eyes, saw the way her cheeks darkened with a desire she had no more control over than I did. “Wh-what are you doing?”
I had no answer for her. I wasn’t thinking. The rage I felt, the jealousy, was eating me alive and all I wanted to do was brand her in every way imaginable as my own. “Stay away from Volkov,” I muttered as I lowered my head and skimmed my nose down her throat. She smelled so damn good. It was a sweet, floral kind of scent that intoxicated me faster than alcohol ever could. Scarlett inhaled shakily and my hold tightened on her hip. “I’ll kill him if you don’t.”
Her fingers clenched around the material of my shirt, trying to pull me closer. “Why?” she demanded. “Why would you kill him? It’s not like you care if I hook up with him.”
“Try it and see,” I growled at her ear and felt her shiver.
“Ciro…”
“I’m completely serious, Scarlett.” I pressed my lips to the shell of her ear. Fuck, she tasted even better than she smelled. “If you want Volkov dead, see him again. I dare you.”
She pressed her forehead into my thro
at. “If you would open your eyes for two seconds you would know that I’m not interested in Adrian Volkov.” She released her hold on my shirt and pushed me back half a step. I went willingly, unable to even think about not giving her what she wanted. Lifting her eyes to mine, she shook her head. “Victoria has a thing for him, not me. The guy I want keeps saying he doesn’t want me, then goes apeshit when he thinks I’m into someone else.”
I clenched my jaw. “I’m no good for you, Scarlett.”
She shrugged. “So you keep telling me. Don’t worry though, Ciro.” She turned away from me, but not before I saw the flash of pain in her brown eyes. Before I could open my mouth—to call her back, to apologize, to do who the fuck knew what—her hand was reaching for the door. “I’m starting to believe you.”
Chapter 6
Scarlett
A weird sound coming from my phone pulled me out of a deep sleep. Groaning, because I just wanted the noise to stop so I could go back to sleep, I reached for the phone. Cracking one eye open so I could see how to turn it off, my gaze caught the sight of the name flashing across the screen.
I closed my eyes and opened them again, taking another look. The name was still the same. Hell. Frowning, I hit connect, too curious to think about sleep any longer. “I thought you Russians could handle vodka better than you did last night. Three shots and you called it quits.”
Anya Volkov snorted in my ear. “It’s called running a business, little Italian princess. I had to keep my head clear to deal with work.”
“Sure,” I yawned. “You just knew I’d outdrink you.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Anya blew out a long breath and I got the feeling that whatever was going to come out of her mouth was full of reluctance. I pushed the hair back from my face as I waited. “I have a favor to ask.”
I glanced at the clock beside my bed. Two seventeen in the afternoon. At least Victoria had let me sleep. That was a rare occurrence, and quickly got me wondering what the hell she was doing that she didn’t want me to know about. Sighing, I turned my attention back to Anya. “You can ask it, that doesn’t mean I’ll be able fulfill it.”